DW Spectrum - Client Hardware Requirements

DW Spectrum Client Hardware Requirements

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Affected Roles: Owner, Administrator

Related Digital Watchdog VMS Apps: DW Spectrum® IPVMS

Software Version: DW Spectrum Client 6.0

Last Edit: November 5, 2024

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Recommended Hardware Specifications for DW Spectrum Client

The DW Spectrum IPVMS program can be installed on most modern computers with a 64-bit architecture. However, while DW Spectrum is a relatively lightweight application, it does require a varying amount of hardware resources, depending on the size of your DW Spectrum System and intensity that the software is used.

This article will outline the recommended hardware specifications required for DW Spectrum IPVMS.

**NOTE: 32-bit operating systems, Ubuntu 14.04, Windows 7, Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2008, and Windows Server 2008 R2 are no longer supported by DW Spectrum. Additionally, the desktop client will not function when using Macintosh OS X 10.11, 10.12, or 10.13.

**NOTE: It is highly recommended to use a separate computer from the device that is hosting the DW Spectrum Server application when viewing, rather than run both programs full-time on the same device. This will help to keep the server device’s CPU from being overused and mitigate processing issues.

Prerequisites

To use the DW Spectrum Client, a computer must meet the following prerequisites:

A supported 64-bit Operating System
- Windows 10, 11 Pro/Enterprise
- Windows Server 2016, 2019, 2022
- Ubuntu LTS 18.04, 20.04, 22.04
  - Ubuntu LTS 18.04 will no longer be supported upon the release of DW Spectrum Version 6.1
- MacOS 11, 12, 13, 14
OpenGL 2.1 Support or better
An Intel or AMD CPU

Hardware Recommendations

The following specifications and prerequisites will ensure a smooth user experience when using the DW Spectrum IPVMS with up to 64 devices in a layout.

Single Monitor Workstation

Type	Requirement
CPU	Intel i5 8^th gen or AMD Ryzen 5 3000 Quad-Core or better
RAM	8 GB DDR3 1600 MHz or better
Network Interface	1 Gbit or better
GPU	Intel HD Graphics onboard GPU or better
Storage	Dedicated SSD or NVME disk for the OS, 128 GB or larger

Dual Monitor Workstation

Type	Requirement
CPU	Intel i7 8^th gen or AMD Ryzen 7 3000 Quad-Core or better
RAM	16 GB DDR3 1600 MHz or better
Network Interface	2 x 1 Gbit or better
GPU	Intel HD Graphics onboard GPU or better
Storage	Dedicated SSD or NVME disk for the OS, 128 GB or larger

Quad Monitor Workstation

Type	Requirement
CPU	Intel i9 or AMD Ryzen 9 Quad-Core or better
RAM	32 GB or better
Network Interface	2 x 1 Gbit or better
GPU	GeForce GTX 1650 or better
Storage	Dedicated SSD or NVME disk for the OS, 128 GB or larger

**NOTE 1: DW Spectrum Client uses only the CPU for video decoding and can display up to 64 items on the viewing grid. The GPU is used for dewarping on the fly, drawing animations, controls, and rendering UI elements in the client.

**NOTE 2: We assume that only one instance of DW Spectrum Client will run on a single monitor system. If you intend to run two instances of the program on a single monitor, use the recommended specs of the “Dual Monitor Workstation”. For three or four instances of DW Spectrum Client, use the recommended specs for the “Quad Monitor Station”.

**NOTE 3: Please take notice that dewarping a fisheye camera will set the resolution to “High”. As a result, the specifications as mentioned above may not apply and are dependent on the cameras settings (e.g. resolution, framerate, etc.). It is better to take the suggestions mentioned below in the decoding capabilities paragraph.

Decoding Capabilities

Although it is difficult to offer recommended specifications with regard to decoding capabilities of a system due to the multiple variables of a stream, the following camera settings were taken into consideration:

Resolution of 1920 x 1080 or less
Framerate of 15 fps or fewer
Bandwidth of 2 Mbps or fewer
Group of Pictures (GOP) of 15 (IBBBBPBBBBPBBBBI)
H.264 compression method

Up to 8 High-Resolution Streams

Type	Requirement
CPU	Intel i5 8^th gen or AMD Ryzen 5 3000 Quad-Core or better
RAM	8 GB DDR3 1600 MHz or better
Network Interface	1 Gbit or better
GPU	Intel HD Graphics onboard GPU or better
Storage	Dedicated SSD or NVME disk for the OS, 128 GB or larger

Up to 16 High-Resolution Streams

Type	Requirement
CPU	Intel i7 8^th gen or AMD Ryzen 7 3000 Quad-Core or better
RAM	16 GB DDR3 1600 MHz or better
Network Interface	2 x 1 Gbit or better
GPU	Intel HD Graphics onboard GPU or better
Storage	Dedicated SSD or NVME disk for the OS, 128 GB or larger

Up to 32 High-Resolution Streams

Type	Requirement
CPU	Intel i9 or AMD Ryzen 9 Quad-Core or better
RAM	32 GB or better
Network Interface	2 x 1 Gbit or better
GPU	GeForce GTX 1650 or better
Storage	Dedicated SSD or NVME disk for the OS, 128 GB or larger

**NOTE: Please take into consideration that most monitors have a native resolution of 1920x1080. There is no benefit of displaying more than 1 Full HD camera in High Resolution on such a screen. The same applies to displaying more than 4 Full HD cameras on a 4K screen or more than 16 Full HD cameras on an 8K screen.

Hardware Decoding

Hardware decoding is a powerful feature available in the DW Spectrum Client, designed to leverage your system’s GPU for improved hardware performance. Supported on both Windows and Ubuntu operating systems, hardware decoding can be utilized with NVIDIA GPUs on both platforms, and with Intel GPUs on Windows systems.

Enabling hardware acceleration allows the Desktop Client to offload video decoding tasks from the CPU to the GPU, freeing up processing power for other operations. This is especially beneficial for systems with lower-end hardware or those needing to handle high-resolution video streams, such as 16MP or 32MP cameras. By offloading these tasks, hardware decoding enhances overall system performance and enables smoother video playback even on resource-limited machines.

Why No Minimum Hardware Requirements?

Although DW Spectrum Client is a very lightweight application that could even run on an Atom Powered Intel Compute stick, there are too many variables and use cases to determine viable minimum requirements.

A user who only reviews footage based on events/notifications and exports only small sections of footage would have very different requirements than a professional operator that interacts with many cameras/resources at the same time.

What About ARM-based Devices?

ARM is gaining popularity - Microsoft uses ARM in some of their Surface devices, and Apple has currently is offering the Macbooks and iMacs with their ARM-based chipsets.

ARM-based Desktop Client installation packages for Linux powered devices are reserved only for experimental builds and are unavailable to the public.

Do You Have Different Requirements?

Every project has its unique needs, but the recommendations above will fulfill the needs of most projects. If you have special requirements like displaying many high-resolution streams, using more than four monitors for a video wall, or other project-specific requirements, please reach out to your local DW Spectrum reseller to discuss these requirements and possible solutions.

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For More Information or Technical Support

DW Technical Support: https://www.digital-watchdog.com/contact-tech-support/

DW Sales: [email protected] | www.digital-watchdog.com