Controlling PTZ cameras

From any video-related task in Security Desk, you can control PTZ cameras that are displayed in the canvas.

What you should know

Some PTZ camera models support the following two additional PTZ controls:

Zoom box:
Zoom in on an area by drawing a box on the video image. This works like the digital zoom for fixed cameras.
Center-on-click:
Center the camera on a point of the video image with a single click.

To enable these commands, you must configure the PTZ for zoom box and center-on-click in Config Tool. For more information about configuring PTZ motors, see the Security Center Administrator Guide).

TIP: It is easier to use the PTZ controls when the on-tile video controls are hidden. You can hide the on-tile video controls from the Options dialog box.

You might be locked from controlling the PTZ if a user with a higher user level is currently controlling it. If you have the same user level as another user, the priority is decided on a first come first served basis.

To control a PTZ camera:

To display the PTZ camera, double-click or drag it from the area view or report pane into a canvas tile.
To expand the tile, double-click on the tile toolbar.
Zoom in and out one of the following ways:
- Move your mouse pointer over the tile, and then move the zoom slider handle up to zoom in or down to zoom out.
  TIP: You can also use your mouse wheel to zoom in and out.
- If your PTZ camera supports the Zoom box feature, draw a box on the video image to zoom in.
To pan the PTZ motor, you can either:
1. Click on the PTZ camera tile.
  A white arrow appears.
2. Click on the white arrow once to change it to a blue arrow.
  A blue arrow indicates the direction of movement. The longer the arrow, the faster the motor moves. The shorter the arrow, the slower the motor moves.
3. Click your mouse pointer in the direction you want the PTZ motor to move.
1. Click once on the blue dot in the middle of the PTZ tile.
2. Click your mouse pointer in the direction you want the PTZ motor to move.
  Blue arrows are following your movements.
To command the PTZ camera to go to a specified preset position, do any of the following:
- In the video tile, click the (Go to PTZ presets) button, and then select a preset from the list.
- In the widget, click a numbered quick access button.
- In the widget, click the (toggle to advanced mode) button, select a preset from the Presets list, then click the (Preset) button.
If your PTZ camera supports the Center-on-click feature, click in the video image to center the image on that point.