Configuring video streams of cameras

Before you start monitoring video in Security Desk, you should decide how you want to use each video stream, and configure the appropriate settings for it.

To configure a camera’s video streams:

1. From the Config Tool home page, open the Video task.
2. Select the camera to configure, and then click the Video tab.
3. If the camera supports multiple video streams, select a video stream tab at the bottom of the Video tab.
4. In the Video quality section, set the video quality settings (resolution, frame rate, and so on) for the selected video stream.

   

5. In the Stream usage section, specify the purpose for the selected video stream.
   NOTE: A stream can be assigned all, some, or none of the usage options. A stream that has no usage assigned is not generated by the video encoder, which conserves CPU on the unit.

   • Live:

     Default stream used for viewing live video in Security Desk.
   • Recording:

     Stream recorded by the Archiver for future investigation.

     TIP: The quality of the recording stream can be temporarily boosted when the recording is triggered by certain types of events.
   • Remote:

     Stream used for viewing live video when the bandwidth is limited.
   • Low resolution:

     Stream used instead of the Live stream when the tile used to view the stream in Security Desk is small.
   • High resolution:

     Stream used instead of the Live stream when the tile used to view the stream in Security Desk is large.
6. In the Network settings section, click Connection type and select how communication between the Archiver and the camera is established for sending or receiving video streams:
   • Best available:

     Lets the Archiver select the best available connection type for the stream. The best available types rank in this order, according to availability:

     • Multicast (not available for the recording stream).
     • UDP
     • TCP
     • RTSP over HTTP
     • RTSP over TCP
   • Unicast UDP:

     Forces the stream to be sent in UDP to the Archiver. The stream must be formatted using the RTP protocol.
   • Unicast TCP:

     Forces the stream to be sent in TCP to the Archiver. Here, TCP is taken in the broad sense. For some types of cameras, the Archiver establishes a TCP connection to the unit and receives the stream in a proprietary protocol. For others, the stream is sent over HTTP. Typically, the stream is not formatted according to the RTP protocol by the unit. The Archiver has to convert the stream to the RTP protocol to be archived or retransmitted to the system.
   • RTSP stream over HTTP:

     This is a special case of TCP connection. The Archiver uses the RTSP protocol to request the stream through an HTTP tunnel. The stream is sent back through this tunnel using the RTP protocol. This connection type is used to minimize the number of ports needed to communicate with a unit. It is usually the best way to request the stream when the unit is behind a NAT or firewall, because requests sent to HTTP ports are easily redirected through them.
   • RTSP stream over TCP:

     This is another special case of TCP connection. The Archiver uses the RTSP protocol to request the stream in TCP. The request is sent to the RTSP port of the unit.
7. Click Apply.
8. Configure the other video streams available on the camera.