My DVR is in the safe and I do not have a monitor set up for constant live views. On the desktop I use an app to access the system. I can bring up a live view but it's not good for long term monitoring as it eventually times out.
The phone app allows continuous live view.
The DVR files are .dav format and I can view footage if played on the DVR. If I want to share the footage then I must download the file to the desktop, run a program to convert from .dav to .mp4 then able to share.

How does the Blue Iris software function for live viewing?