Camera - Hardware tab

This section lists the settings found in the Camera Hardware tab, in the Video task.

In the Hardware tab, you can associate other hardware devices (PTZ motors, speakers, microphones, and so on) to this camera and configure specific hardware settings. When the unit is initially added to the system, all hardware devices belonging to the same unit are configured by default. You can manually associate your camera to other devices, according to how they are physically connected.

PTZ configuration

If the PTZ motor is not integrated to your camera, you need to configure the PTZ motor separately before you can control it in Security Desk. When you turn the PTZ switch on, additional settings appear.

Protocol:
Protocol used by the PTZ motor.
Serial port:
Serial port used to control the PTZ motor.

Click to set the Idle delay, Idle command, and Lock delay parameters.
Enhanced PTZ:
Turn this option on to enable the zoom-box, center-on-click, and enhanced zoom PTZ commands.
Calibrate:
Click to calibrate the PTZ.
NOTE: Not all cameras require PTZ calibration.
PTZ address:
Number identifying the selected PTZ motor on the serial port. This number is important because it is possible to connect more than one PTZ motor on the same serial port. This number must correspond to the dip switch settings on the PTZ hardware.
Max zoom factor:
The maximum zoom factor allowed for this camera.

If you observe positioning or rotation issues when controlling a PTZ camera, you can click Specify rotation and direction offsets for the following additional options:

Pan offset:
Enter the pan offset (in degrees) needed to align the camera with the position shown in Security Center.
Tilt offset:
Enter the tilt offset (in degrees) needed to align the camera with the position shown in Security Center.
Invert rotation direction:
If the camera does not rotate in the same the direction as shown in Security Center, select this option to invert the direction of rotation.

Idle delay

The Idle delay is the amount of time a PTZ motor becomes locked for when a user does one of the following:

Moves an idle PTZ (which generates the PTZ activated event). After the idle delay period, the PTZ stopped event is generated. If users continue to move the PTZ, then the idle delay countdown timer continuously restarts.
Zooms a PTZ motor (which generates the PTZ zoom by user event). After the last zoom operation and the idle delay period ends, the PTZ zoom by user stopped event is generated.

Example

The idle delay is 120 seconds. If a user zooms several times, and each zoom action is less than 120 seconds apart, only one PTZ zoom by user event is generated. If another user performs a zoom on the same PTZ before the idle delay expires, the PTZ zoom by user event is generated again, logged to the second user, and the countdown timer is restarted. The PTZ zoom by user stoppedevent is only generated after the Idle delay expires, and is logged to the second user.

Idle command

When the PTZ becomes idle (after the idle delay expires and the PTZ stoppedor PTZ zoom by user stopped event is generated), this option determines the next action of the PTZ.

None:
The PTZ remains idle until a user starts controlling it.
Preset:
The PTZ moves to a preset position when it becomes idle.
Pattern:
The PTZ motor starts a PTZ pattern when it becomes idle.

Lock delay

The Lock delay is the amount of time a PTZ motor becomes locked for when a user clicks the Lock PTZ button ( ) in the PTZ widget. After the lock delay period, the PTZ automatically unlocks.

Speaker and microphone

Even if the unit your camera belongs to does not support audio, you can still link your camera with audio devices (speaker and microphone) found on other units.

Camera tampering

Select this option to let Security Center process Camera tampering events issued by the unit. This setting is only available if the video unit is capable of detecting camera tampering.

Minimum duration:
Typically, any dysfunction that prevents the scene from being viewed properly (partial or complete obstruction of the camera view, sudden change of the field of view, or loss of focus) can be seen as an attempt to tamper with the camera. You can control how sensitive the unit is to these changes, by specifying how long the dysfunction must last before the unit generates a Camera tampering event.
Alarm for dark images:
Select this option for total obstructions to be considered as dysfunctions.

Audio alarm

Select this option to let Security Center process audio alarms issued by the unit as Audio alarm events. This setting is only available if the video unit is capable of raising audio alarms.

NOTE: The Alarm level sets the value used to trigger audio alarms on the unit. A unit can be configured to issue audio alarms when the sound level rises above or falls below the set value. The alarm level can be set in the range 0-100%, where 0% is the most sensitive and 100% the least sensitive.

Image rotation

Use this setting to correct the orientation of the image when the camera is mounted upside down or at a 90 degree angle. This method uses the camera's capability to perform image rotation.

This feature is only available if it is supported by the camera hardware.
The rotation options vary depending on the model of the camera.
Rotating the image using the Image rotation feature is preferable to using the Video rotation feature, however if using image rotation adversely affects video frame rate, try using video rotation instead.

Video rotation

Use this setting to correct the orientation of the image when the camera is mounted upside down or at a 90 degree angle. This method uses Security Center to rotate the video.

Using Video rotation adds extra load on the client workstations. For this reason, it is preferable to use Image rotation, if it is available for the camera.
This feature is not available for PTZ cameras or cameras that use panomorph (fisheye) lenses.

Lens type

Use this setting to select the lens type for cameras with interchangeable lenses. Depending on the selected lens type, you might have additional settings to configure, such as dewarping a fisheye lens.