Cisco Video Surveillance 8620/8630 IP Camera Reference Guide, Release 1.0.5

General settings

This column shows the settings of your home page layout. You can manually select the background and font colors in Theme Options (the second tab on this page). The settings will be displayed automatically in this Preview field.

• Logo graph—Here you can change the logo that is placed at the top of your homepage. To to upload a new logo, follow these steps:

1. Click Custom and the Browse field will appear.

2. Select a logo from your files.

3. Click Upload to replace the existing logo with a new one.

4. Enter a website link if necessary.

5. Click Save to enable the settings.

• Customized button—If you want to hide manual trigger buttons on the homepage, uncheck this item. This item is checked by default.

Theme Options

Here you can change the color of your homepage layout. There are three types of preset patterns for you to choose from. The new layout will simultaneously appear in the Preview filed. Click Save to enable the settings.

Figure 5-2 illustrates theme options.

Figure 5-2 Theme Options

To set up the custom home page, follow these steps:

Step 1 Click Custom on the left column.

Step 2 Click the field where you want to change the color on the right column.

The palette window will pop up.

Step 3 Drag the slider bar and click on the left square to select a desired color.

The selected color will be displayed in the corresponding fields and in the Preview column.

Step 4 Click Save to enable the settings.

Log server settings

To set up the remote log, follow these steps:

Step 1 Select Enable remote log.

Step 2 In the IP address text box, enter the IP address of the remote server.

Step 3 In the port text box, enter the port number of the remote server.

Step 4 When completed, click Save to enable the setting.

You can configure the camera to send the system log file to a remote server as a log backup. Before utilizing this feature, we suggest that you install a log-recording tool to receive system log messages from the camera. An example is Kiwi Syslog Daemon.

System log

The system log displays the system log in a chronological order. The system log is stored in the camera buffer area and will be overwritten when reaching a certain limit.

Access log

Access log displays the access time and IP address of all viewers (including operators and administrators) in a chronological order. The access log is stored in the camera buffer area and will be overwritten when reaching a certain limit.

General settings > Upgrade firmware

This feature allows you to upgrade the firmware of your camera. It takes a few minutes to complete the process.

Note Do not power off the camera during the upgrade.

To upgrade the firmware, follow these steps:

Step 1 Download the latest firmware file from the Cisco website at this link: https://software.cisco.com/download/navigator.html.

The file is in.pkg file format.

Step 2 Click Browse… and locate the firmware file.

Step 3 Click Upgrade.

The camera starts to upgrade and will reboot automatically when the upgrade completes.

If the upgrade is successful, you will see “Reboot system now!! This connection will close”. After that, access the camera again.

The following message displays when the upgrade has succeeded:

The following message is displayed when you have selected an incorrect firmware file:

General settings > Reboot

This feature allows you to reboot the camera, which takes about 1 minute to complete. When completed, the live video page will be displayed in your browser. During the reboot process, the system displays an information message and a a progress bar shows the status of the process.

If the connection fails after rebooting, manually enter the IP address of the camera in the address field to resume the connection.

General settings > Restore

This feature allows you to restore the camera to factory default settings.

• Network—Select this option to retain the Network Type settings (see the “Network > General settings” section).
• Daylight Saving Time—Select this option to retain the Daylight Saving Time settings (see the “Import/Export files” section).
• Custom Language—Select this option to retain the Custom Language settings.
• VADP—Retain the VADP modules (third-party software stored on the SD card) and related settings.
• Focus position—Retain the lens focus position using the previously saved position parameters.

If none of the options is selected, all settings will be restored to factory default. A status message and progress bar is displayed during the restoring process.

Import/Export files

This feature allows you to Export / Update daylight saving time rules, custom language file, configuration file, and server status report.

• Export daylight saving time configuration file—Click to set the start and end time of DST (Daylight Saving).

To export, follow these steps:

1. In the Export files column, click Export to export the daylight saving time configuration file from the camera.

2. In the File Download dialog box that pops up, click Open to review the XML file or click Save to store the file for editing.

3. Open the file with a text editor such ac Microsoft Notepad and locate your time zone; set the start and end time of DST.

4. When completed, save the file.

• Update daylight saving time rules—Click Browse… and specify the XML file to update.

If the incorrect date and time are assigned, you will see a warning message when uploading the file to the camera.

The message “The file must have a.xml filename suffix” displays when attempting to upload an incorrect file format.

• Export language file—Click to export language strings.
• Update custom language file—Click Browse... and specify your own custom language file to upload.
• Export configuration file—Click to export all parameters for the device and user-defined scripts.
• Update configuration file—Click Browse... to update a configuration file. The model and firmware version of the device should be the same as the configuration file. If you have set up a fixed IP or other special settings for your device, it is not suggested to update a configuration file.
• Export server status report—Click to export the current server status report, such as time, logs, parameters, process status, memory status, file system status, network status, kernel message, and so on.

Tip If a firmware upgrade is accidentally disrupted, for example, by a power outage, you still have a last resort method to restore normal operation. See the following for how to bring the camera back to work:

Applicable scenario:

- Power disconnected during firmware upgrade.
- Unknown reason causing abnormal LED status, and a Restore cannot recover normal working condition.

You can use the following methods to activate the camera with its backup firmware:

1. Press and hold down the reset button for at least 1 minute.
2. Power on the camera until the red LED blinks rapidly.
3. After boot up, the firmware should return to the previous version before the camera hung. (The procedure should take 5 to 10 minutes, longer than the normal boot-up process.) When this process is completed, the LED status should return to normal.

General settings

Video settings

• Video title—Enter a name that will be displayed on the title bar of the live video.
• Show timestamp and video title in video and snapshots—Enter a name that will be displayed on the title bar of the live video. A zoom indicator will be displayed on the Home page when you zoom in/out on the live viewing window. You may zoom in/out on the image by scrolling the mouse wheel inside the live viewing window, and the maximum zoom in will be up to 4 times.
• Position of timestamp and video title on image—Select to display time stamp and video title on the top or at the bottom of the video stream.
• Timestamp and video title font size—Select the font size for the time stamp and title.
• Video font (.ttf)—You can select a True Type font file for the display of textual messages on video.
• Mount type—Select the way in which the camera is mounted: Ceiling, Wall, or Floor.
• Color—Select to display color or black/white video streams.
• Power line frequency—Set the power line frequency consistent with local utility settings to eliminate image flickering associated with fluorescent lights. After the power line frequency is changed, you must disconnect and reconnect the power cord of the camera for the new setting to take effect.
• Video orientation:

– Flip—Vertically reflect the display of the live video

– Mirror—Horizontally reflect the display of the live video. Select both options if the camera is installed upside-down (for example, on the ceiling) to correct the image orientation. If you have preset locations, those locations will be cleared after flip/mirror setting.

– Rotate—Indicates clockwise rotation. Rotation can be applied with flip, mirror, and physical lens rotation settings to adapt to different mounting locations.

The camera may be installed on a vertical, side-facing, or tilted surface in order to accommodate the interior or exterior design of a building. The interior of a building can be shaped as a narrow rectangular space, such as corridor. The conventional HD image, such as that of a 16:9 aspect ratio, will be incongruous with its wide horizontal view. With video rotation, the camera can more readily cover the field of view on a tall and narrow scene.

Day/Night settings

• Switch to B/W in night mode—Select this to enable the camera to automatically switch to Black/White during night mode.
• IR cut filter—With a removable IR-cut filter, this camera can automatically remove the filter to let IR light enter the light sensor during low light conditions.

– Auto mode—The camera automatically removes the filter by judging the level of ambient light. The Day/Night Exposure Profile will not be available if Auto mode is selected.

– Day mode—The camera switches on the IR cut filter at all times to block infrared light from reaching the sensor so that the colors will not be distorted.

– Night mode—The camera switches off the IR cut filter at all times for the sensor to accept infrared light, thus helping to improve low light sensitivity.

– Synchronize with digital input—The camera automatically removes the IR cut filter when a digital input is triggered.

– –Schedule mode—The camera switches between day mode and night mode based on a specified schedule. Enter the start and end time for day mode. Note that the time format is [hh:mm] and is expressed in 24-hour clock time. By default, the start and end time of a day mode are set to 07:00 and 18:00.

• Light sensor sensitivity—Tune the responsiveness of the IR filter to lighting conditions as Low, Normal, or High.

When completed with the settings on this page, click Save to enable the settings.

IR Control

• Turn on built-in IR illuminator in night mode—Select this to turn on the camera onboard IR illuminator when the camera detects low light condition and enters the night mode.
• Turn on external IR illuminator in night mode—Select this to turn on the external IR illuminator when the camera detects low light condition and enters the night mode. A Digital Output connection to external IR is needed.
• Smart IR:

– Anti-overexposure—When enabled, the camera automatically adjusts the IR projection to adjacent objects in order to avoid over-exposure in the night mode.

The Smart IR function is more beneficial when the spot of intrusions or an object of your interest is close to the lens and the IR lights. For example, if an intruder has a chance of getting near the range of 3 meters, Smart IR can effectively reduce the over-exposure. For a surveillance area at a greater distance, for example, 5 meters or farther away, the Smart IR function may not bring as significant benefits as in close range.

The following figure shows these examples:

1—Smart IR disabled; distance: 5M

2—Smart IR enabled; distance: 5M

3—Smart IR disabled; distance: 3M

4—Smart IR enabled; distance: 3M

Tip If there is an object in close proximity, the IR lights reflected back from it can mislead the Smart IR calculation of light level. To solve this problem, you can place an Exposure Exclude window on an unavoidable object in the Exposure setting window. See the “Exposure” section.

You can also configure the Exposure Exclude window in a night mode Profile setting so that your day time setting is not affected.

Image settings

On this page, you can make various image adjustments.

Normal light mode is for normal situations and Profile mode is for special situations.

• Enable to apply these settings at—Appears on the Profile mode tab only. Select the mode this profile is to apply to: Day mode or Schedule mode. Manually enter a range of time if you choose Schedule mode.
• White balance—Adjust the value for the best color temperature.

To adjust the white balance to the best color temperature, follow these steps:.

1. Place a sheet of paper of white or cooler-color temperature color, such as blue, in front of the lens, then allow the camera to automatically adjust the color temperature.

2. Click the On button to Fix current value and confirm the setting while the white balance is being measured.

You may also manually tune the color temperature by pulling the RGain and BGain slide bars.

• Image Adjustment:

– Brightness—Adjust the image brightness level, which ranges from 0% to 100%.

– Contrast—Adjust the image contrast level, which ranges from 0% to 100%.

– Saturation—Adjust the image saturation level, which ranges from 0% to 100%.

– Sharpness—Adjust the image sharpness level, which ranges from 0% to 100%.

– Gamma curve—This option is disabled when the WDR function is enabled. Adjust the image sharpness level, which ranges from 0.45 to 1, from Detailed to Contrast. You may let firmware Optimize your display or select the Manual mode, and pull the slide bar pointer to change the preferred level of Gamma correction towards higher contrast or towards the higher luminance for detailed expression for both dark and lighted areas of an image.

• Defog—Defog helps improve the visibility quality of captured image in poor weather conditions such as smog, fog, or smoke.
• Highlight mask—Strong light sources will be masked from the scene, and the image contrast will be strengthened. This function is useful to prevent the spot-light effects in a high dynamic scene. False color may be observed around the edges of strong light sources.
• 3d Noise reduction—Adjust the 3D noise reduction strength, which ranges from Low to High.

This applies to the onboard 3D Noise Reduction feature. Use the slider to adjust the reduction strength. Applying this function to the video channel will consume system computing power.

3D Noise Reduction is mostly applied in low-light conditions. When enabled in a low-light condition with fast moving objects, trails of after-images may occur. You may then select a lower strength level or disable the function.

• Enable digital image stabilizer—If you experience problems such as vibration on a pole mount, try enable the image stabilizer.
• Scene mode: deblur—When enabled, shutter time will be fixed to 1/120 second to reduce image smear. This feature is designed to apply with human movement at the pace of 1.4~2.2m/s. The deblur function is related to Motion detection where motion-alerted pixels need to be suppressed in order to increase the accuracy of motion detection. In certain conditions, shadows or light changes can all cause false alarms in motion detection. The deblur function uses the same detection window as that of the Motion detection.

You can click Restore to recall the original settings without incorporating the changes. When completed with the settings on this page, click Save to enable the setting. You can also click Profile mode to adjust the settings described above in a tabbed window for special lighting conditions.

Exposure

On this page, you can configure the Exposure measurement window, Exposure level, Exposure mode, Exposure time, Gain control, and Day/Night mode settings. You can configure two sets of Exposure settings: on the Normal light mode tab for normal situations, or on the Profile mode for special situations, such as the day/night/ schedule mode.

Normal light mode

• Measurement Window—This function allows you to set measurement window(s) for low light compensation. For example, where low-light objects are posed against an extremely bright background. You may want to exclude the bright sunlight shining through a building's corridor.

– Full view—Calculate the full range of view and offer appropriate light compensation.

– Custom—This option allows you to manually add customized windows as inclusive or exclusive regions. A total of 10 windows can be configured.

The inclusive window refers to the “weighed window”; the exclusive window refers to “ignored window.” It adopts the weighed averages method to calculate the value. The inclusive windows have a higher priority. You can overlap these windows, and, if you place an exclusive window within a larger inclusive window, the exclusive part of the overlapped windows will be deducted from the inclusive window. An exposure value will then be calculated out of the remaining of the inclusive window.

– BLC (Back Light Compensation): This option will automatically add a “weighted region” in the middle of the window and give the necessary light compensation.

– HLC (Highlight Compensation)—Firmware detects strong light sources and compensates on affected spots to enhance the overall image quality. For example, the HLC helps reduce the glares produced by spotlights or headlights.

• Exposure control:

– Exposure level—You can manually set the Exposure level, which ranges from –2.0 to +2.0 (dark to bright). You can click and drag the semi-circular pointers on the Exposure time and Gain control slide bars to specify a range of shutter time and Gain control values within which the camera can automatically tune to an optimal imaging result. You may prefer a shorter shutter time to better capture moving objects, while a faster shutter reduces light and needs to be compensated by electrical brightness gains.

– Exposure mode—You can click and drag the semi-circular pointers on the Exposure time and Gain control slide bars to specify a range of shutter time and Gain control values within which the camera can automatically tune to an optimal imaging result. You can also configure the iris size to control the amount of light. For example, you may prefer a shorter shutter time to better capture moving objects, while a faster shutter reduces light and needs to be compensated by electrical brightness gains.

- Auto—If you set Exposure mode as Auto, the Exposure time and Gain control will not be configurable because the sensor library will automatically adjust the value according to the ambient light. Then you can configure iris mode as “indoor” or “outdoor” to reach the best image quality.

– Iris mode—Select Indoor or Outdoor iris mode to adapt to the installation. The preset iris aperture setting will apply.

• AE Speed Adjustment:

– Enable AE speed adjustment—This function applies when you need to monitor fast changing lighting conditions. For example, the camera may need to monitor a highway lane or entrance of a parking area at night where cars passing by with their lights on can bring fast changes in light levels. The same applies if the camera is installed on a vehicle, and when it needs to adapts to fast changes of light when entering and leaving a tunnel.

• WDR:

– Enable WDR Pro—Refers to the Wide Dynamic Range function that enables the camera to capture details in a high contrast environment. Use the check box to enable the function.

– Enable WDR enhanced—This function allows users to identify more image details with an extreme contrast from an object of interest with one shadowed side against a bright background, for example, an entrance. You may select the Enable WDR enhanced check box, and then use the slide bar to adjust the strength from low to high to reach the best image quality.

You can click Restore to recall the original settings without incorporating the changes. When completed with the settings on this page, click Save to enable the settings.

If you want to configure another sensor setting for day/night/schedule mode, click Profile mode to open the Profile of exposure settings page.

Profile mode

To set up a profile, follow these steps:

Step 1 Select the Profile mode tab.

Step 2 Select the applicable mode: Night mode or Schedule mode. Manually enter a range of time if you choose the Schedule mode. These options appear only if you first enable Enable to apply these settings at.

Step 3 Configure other settings in the tab. See the previous discussions for detailed information.

Step 4 Click Save to enable the setting and click Close to exit the page.

Focus

Focus here refers to the Remote Focus, applicable to cameras that are equipped with a stepping motor lens. The automated focus adjustment function eliminates the needs to physically adjust camera focus. In an outdoor deployment consisting of a large number of cameras, the auto focus function can be helpful when these cameras become out of focus after days or weeks of operation. And that can easily result from the effects of natural forces, for example, shrink and expand due to a wide range of operating temperatures and the vibration caused by wind.

Auto Focus

To perform the automated Focus function, follow these steps:

Step 1 Select from the bottom of the screen whether you want to perform focus adjustment on the Full view or within a Custom focus window.

You can create a custom window and click and drag the window to a desired position on screen.

Step 2 It is recommended to Reset to the default back focus position of the sensor board.

Step 3 You can use the Open iris check box (default) to increase the iris size for a better focus adjustment result.

Step 4 Click to select the Fully-opened iris or the Full-range scan buttons.

When a full-range scan is selected, a full-range scan through the camera's entire focal length can take about 30 to 80 seconds. If not, the auto focus scan will only go through the length where optimal focus may occur, and that takes about 15 to 20 seconds. In theory, best results of the auto scan can be acquired when the camera's iris is fully open.

Step 5 Wait for the scan to complete.

After a short while, the clearest image obtained should be displayed and the optimal focus range achieved. Use the arrow marks on the sides to fine-tune the focus if you are not satisfied with the results. You may still need to use the arrow marks to fine-tune the focus depending on the live image on your screen. “>” means moving from wide to tele end; and “<” tele to wide.

The methodology of using the Resize Buttons at the upper left corner of the streaming window is the same as that on the home page.

Focus window

By default, the optimal focus is found on a full view window. You may designate a custom window within your current field of view to acquire the best focus out of it. However, you can not place a focus window on a distant background, for example, a hallway that stretches away for 3 meters or farther. Doing so you will not benefit from the Focus window function.

• Full view—The focus tuning takes place by referring to the full view.
• Custom—You can create a focus window and drag it to a place of interest in your view window. It is recommended to use this function only when you have a solid object in your view window that is showing a consistent color or texture.

This function will not take effect if you set the focus window on a distant background.

Privacy Mask

Click Privacy Mask to open the settings page. On this page, you can block out sensitive zones to address privacy concerns.

To set the privacy mask windows, follow these steps:

Step 1 Click New to add a new window.

Step 2 You can use four mouse clicks to create a new masking window, which is recommended to be at least twice the size of the object (height and width) you want to cover.

Step 3 Enter a Window Name and click Save to enable the setting.

Step 4 Click the Enable privacy mask check box to enable this function.

Up to five privacy mask windows can be configured on the same screen.

If you want to delete the privacy mask window, click the x mark on the side of window name.

Stream settings

The camera supports multiple streams with frame sizes ranging from 480 x 272 to 1920 x 1080 pixels.

• Stream 1—You can define the “Region of Interest” (viewing region) and the “Output Frame Size” (size of the live view window)
• Stream 2—The default frame size for Stream 2 is set to the 1280 x 720
• Stream 3—The default frame size for Stream 3 is set to the 640 x 360
• Stream 4—The default frame size for Stream 3 is set to the 1920 x 1080

Click Viewing Window to open the viewing region settings page. On this page, you can configure the Region of Interest and the Output Frame Size for a video stream. For example, you can crop only a portion of the image that is of your interest, and thus save the bandwidth needed to transmit the video stream.

To set up those settings for a stream, follow these steps:

1. Select a stream for which you want to set up the viewing region.

1. Select a Region of Interest from the drop-down list. The floating frame, the same as the one in the Global View window on the home page, will resize accordingly. If you want to set up a customized viewing region, you can also resize and drag the floating frame to a desired position with your mouse.

2. Choose a proper Output Frame Size from the drop-down list according to the size of your monitoring device.

Note All the items in the “Region of Interest” should not be larger than the “Output Frame Size” (current maximum resolution).

• The parameters of the multiple streams are as follows:

When completed with the settings in the Viewing Window, click Save to enable the settings and click Close to exit the window. The selected Output Frame Size will immediately be applied to the Frame size of each video stream. Then you can go back to the home page to test the digital PTZ function. For more information about the digital PTZ function, see the “PTZ > PTZ settings” section.

Click the stream item to display the detailed information. The maximum frame size will follow your settings in the above Viewing Window sections.

This camera offers real-time H.265, H.264, and MJPEG compression standards (Triple Codec) for real-time viewing. If the H.264 or H.265 mode is selected, the video is streamed via the RTSP protocol. There are several parameters through which you can adjust the video performance:

• Frame size—You can set up different video resolutions for different viewing devices. For example, set a smaller frame size and lower bit rate for remote viewing on mobile phones and a larger video size and a higher bit rate for live viewing on web browsers, or recording the stream to an NVR. A larger frame size takes up more bandwidth.
• Maximum frame rate—Limits the maximum refresh frame rate per second. Configure the frame rate higher for smoother video viewing and for recognizing moving objects in the field of view. If the power line frequency is set to 50Hz, the frame rates are selectable at 1fps, 2fps, 3fps, 5fps, 8fps, 10fps, 12fps, 15fps, and up to 50fps. If the power line frequency is set to 60Hz, the frame rates are selectable at 1fps, 2fps, 3fps, 5fps, 8fps, 10fps, 12fps, 15fps, and up to 60fps. You can also select Customize and manually enter a value.

The frame rate will decrease if you select a higher resolution.

• Intra frame period—Determine how often for firmware to plant an I frame. The shorter the duration, the more likely you will get better video quality, but at the cost of higher network bandwidth consumption. Select the intra frame period from the following durations: 1/4 second, 1/2 second, 1 second, 2 seconds, 3 seconds, and 4 seconds.
• Smart Stream III

– Dynamic Intra frame period—High quality motion codecs, such as H.265, utilize the redundancies between video frames to deliver video streams at a balance of quality and bit rate.

The encoding parameters are summarized and illustrated in Figure 5-3. The I-frames are completely self-referential and they are largest in size. The P-frames are predicted frames. The encoder refers to the previous I- or P-frames for redundant image information.

Figure 5-3 H.264/H.265 Frame Types

By dynamically prolonging the intervals for I-frames insertion to up to 10 seconds, the bit rates required for streaming a video can be tremendously reduced. When streaming a video of a static scene, the Dynamic Intra frame feature can save up to 53% of bandwidth. The amount of bandwidth thus saved is also determined by the activities in the field of view. If activities occur in the scene, firmware automatically shortens the I-frame insertion intervals in order to maintain image quality. In the low light or night conditions, the sizes of P-frames tend to be enlarged due to the noises, and hence the bandwidth saving effect is also reduced.

Streaming a typical 2MP scene normally requires 3~4Mb/s of bandwidth. With the Dynamic Intra frame function, the bandwidth for streaming a medium-traffic scene can be reduced to 2~3Mb/s, and during the no-traffic period of time, down to 500kb/s.

Figure 5-4 shows dynamic intra frame with static scenes. Figure 5-5 dynamic intra frame shows activities in scenes

Figure 5-4 Dynamic Intra Frame with Static Scenes

Figure 5-5 Dynamic Intra Frame with Activities in Scenes

With the H.265 codec in an optimal scenario and when Dynamic Intra frame is combined with the Smart Stream function, an 80% of bandwidth saving can be achieved compared with using H.264 without enabling these bandwidth-saving features.

– Smart FPS—In a static scene, the algorithm re-encodes old frames when no motions occur in scene. When motions occur, the encoding returns to normal to deliver real-time streaming.

Figure 5-6 Smart FPS

By queuing and re-encoding the old frames from a static scene, both the computing efforts and the size of P frames are reduced. It is beneficial for keeping up with the frame rate requirements.

A default frame difference threshold, 2%, is embedded in firmware for returning from Smart FPS to normal encoding when motions occur.

Note Compared with Smart Stream II, Smart Stream III has two more configurable options: Smart Q, and Smart FPS

– Smart codec—Smart codec effectively reduces the quality of the whole or the non-interested areas on a screen and therefore reduces the bandwidth consumed.

You can manually specify the video quality for the foreground and the background areas.

Select an operation mode if Smart codec is preferred:

- Auto tracking—The Auto mode configures the whole screen into the non-interested area. The video quality of part of the screen returns to normal when one or more objects move in that area. The remainder of the screen where there are no moving objects (no pixel changes) will still be transmitted in low-quality format.

-Manual—The Manual mode allows you to configure 3 ROI windows (Region of Interest, with Foreground quality) on the screen. Areas not included in any ROI windows will be considered as the non-interested areas. The details in the ROI areas will be transmitted in a higher-quality video format.

As shown in Figure 5-7, the upper screen may contain little details of your interest, while the sidewalk on the lower screen is included in an ROI window.

As the result, the lower screen is constantly displayed in high details, while the upper half is transmitted using a lower-quality format. Although the upper half is transmitted using a lower quality format, you still have an awareness of what is happening on the whole screen.

Figure 5-7 ROI Window

- Hybrid—The major difference between the “Manual” mode and the “Hybrid” mode is that in the “Hybrid” mode, any objects entering the non-interested area will restore the video quality of the moving objects and the area around them. The video quality of the associated non-interested area is immediately restored to normal to cover the moving objects. In the “Manual” mode, the non-interested area is always transmitted using a low quality format regardless of the activities inside.

– Quality priority—Use the slide bar to tune the quality contrast between the ROI and non-interested areas.

The farther the slide bar button is to the right, the higher the image quality of the ROI areas. The farther the slide bar button to the left, the higher the image quality of the non-interested area.

In this way, you may set up an ROI window as a privacy mask by covering a protected area using an ROI window, while the remaining screen become the non-interested area. You may then configure the non-interested area to have a high image quality, or vice versa.

You should also select the Maximum bit rate from the pull-down menu as the threshold to contain the bandwidth consumption for both the high- and low-quality video sections in a smart stream.

• Bit rate control—Constrained bit rate:

A complex scene generally produces a larger file size, meaning that higher bandwidth will be needed for data transmission. The bandwidth utilization is configurable to match a selected level, resulting in mutable video quality performance. The bit rates are selectable at the following rates: 20Kbps, 30Kbps, 40Kbps, 50Kbps, 64Kbps, 128Kbps, 256Kbps, 512Kbps, 768Kbps, 1Mbps, 2Mbps, 3Mbps, 4Mbps, 6Mbps, 8Mbps, 10Mbps, 12Mbps, 14Mbps, ~ to 40Mbps. You can also select Customize and manually enter a value up to 40Mbps.

– Target quality—Select a desired quality ranging from Medium to Excellent.

– Maximum bit rate—select a bit rate from the pull-down menu. The bit rate ranges from 20kbps to a maximum of 40Mbps. The bit rate then becomes the Average or Upper bound bit rate number. The camera will strive to deliver video streams around or within the bit rate limitation you impose.

– Policy—If Frame Rate Priority is selected, the camera will try to maintain the frame rate per second performance, while the image quality will be compromised. If Image quality priority is selected, the camera may drop some video frames in order to maintain image quality.

– Smart Q—Select ON or OFF to enable or disable the feature. Smart Q is scene-aware.The Smart Q reduces frame size and bit rate consumption through the following:

- Dynamically adjusting the image quality for scenes in different luminosities, and hence reduces the occurrence of noises in low light frames. Less noises means less of the bandwidth consumed.

- Endorsing different qualities for the I frames and P frames, and hence reduces the frame size. The higher the quality of the I frame, the larger the GOP (Group of Pictures). More block skips will occur and more P frames will be included in the GOP, and therefore the bit rate consumption is reduced.

- Dividing a single frame into different sections, and giving these sections different quality values. For example, a highly complex image section (high frequency area), such as an area with dense vegetation, screen windows, or repeated patterns (wall paper), can be given a lower quality value. For a highly complex area, having a lower quality value actually poses little effects on human eyes.

High quality is unnecessary in no motion area, especially in low light, high noises, and high frequency scenes. Unnecessary quality is unrecognized by human eyes and wastes the bit rate. The quality areas in a scene are determined by the SoC encoder.

The Smart Q streaming can save up to 50% to 80% of bandwidth in different illumination conditions while keeping the same imaging quality. These numbers come from the comparison between Smart Stream II and Smart Stream III streaming.

• Bit rate control—Fixed quality:

If Fixed quality is selected, all frames are transmitted with the same quality; bandwidth utilization is therefore unpredictable.

– Quality— The video quality can be adjusted to the following settings: Medium, Standard, Good, Detailed, and Excellent. You can also select Customize and manually enter a value.

– Maximum bit rate—With the guaranteed image quality, you might still want to place a bit rate limitation to control the size of video streams for bandwidth and storage concerns. The configurable bit rate starts from 1Mbps to 40Mbps.

The Maximum bit rate setting in the Fixed quality configuration can ensure a reasonable and limited use of network bandwidth. For example, in low light conditions where a Fixed quality setting is applied, video packet sizes can tremendously increase when noises are produced with electrical gains.

If JPEG mode is selected, the camera sends consecutive JPEG images to the client, producing a moving effect similar to a filmstrip. Every single JPEG image transmitted guarantees the same image quality, which in turn comes at the expense of variable bandwidth usage. Because the media contents are a combination of JPEG images, no audio data is transmitted to the client. There are three parameters provided in MJPEG mode to control the video performance:

– Frame size—You can set up different video resolution for different viewing devices. For example, set a smaller frame size and lower bit rate for remote viewing on mobile phones and a larger video size and a higher bit rate for live viewing on web browsers. Note that a larger frame size takes up more bandwidth.

– Maximum frame rate—Limits the maximum refresh frame rate per second. Set the frame rate higher for smoother video quality. If the power line frequency is set to 50Hz (at the 5MP resolution), the frame rates are selectable at 1fps, 2fps, 3fps, 5fps, 8fps, 10fps, and up to 25fps. If the power line frequency is set to 60Hz, the frame rates are selectable at 1fps, 2fps, 3fps, 5fps, 8fps, 10fps, and up to 30fps. You can also select Customize and manually enter a value. The frame rate will decrease if you select a higher resolution.

– Video quality—Refer to the previous page setting for an average or upper bound threshold for controlling the bandwidth consumed for transmitting motion jpegs. The configuration method is identical to that for H.264/5.

For Constant Bit Rate and other settings, see the explanations earlier in this section.

Note Video quality and fixed quality refers to the compression rate, so a lower compression rate value will produce higher quality.

Converting high-quality video may significantly increase the CPU loading, and you may encounter streaming disconnection or video loss while capturing a complicated scene. In the event of occurrence, we suggest you customize a lower video resolution or reduce the frame rate to obtain smooth video.

Audio Settings

• Mute—Select this option to disable audio transmission from the camera to all clients. If muted, no audio data will be transmitted even if audio transmission is enabled on the Client Settings page. In that case, this message is displayed: “The media type has been changed to video only because the media from server contains no audio.”
• Microphone source—If an external microphone is selected, you can select the audio input as the external microphone.
• Internal microphone input gain—Select the gain of the internal audio input according to ambient conditions. Adjust the gain from 0% to 100%.
• External microphone input gain—Select the gain of the external audio input according to ambient conditions. Adjust the gain from 0 to 100%.
• Audio type—Select audio codec and the sampling bit rate.

– G.711 also provides good sound quality and requires about 64Kbps. Select pcmu (u-Law) or pcma (A-Law) mode.

– G.726 is a speech codec standard covering voice transmission at rates of 16, 24, 32, and 40kbit/s.

Audio Clips

– Output gain: Use the slide bar to change the audio output gain value.

– Audio clip: When the camera's audio input is connected to a microphone, you can record a short period of audio (1 to 10 seconds). You can also use the camera's embedded microphone to record an audio clip, if available. Because the memory space is limited, a recording count down will be available on screen. You can also upload an audio file to the camera's flash memory. With amplified speakers, you can playback the audio, e.g., to deter an intruder. A maximum of 2 audio clips are supported. The maximum size of the audio file to be uploaded is 2,000 Kbytes. The voice alert is enabled in Event settings > action > Play Audio Clip. The action can be associated with triggering conditions.

Figure 5-8 Audio Clip Settings

When completed with the settings on this page, click Save to enable the settings.

Network Type

• LAN—Select this option when the camera is deployed on a local area network (LAN) and is intended to be accessed by local computers. The default setting for the Network Type is LAN. Remember to click on the Save button when you complete the Network setting.

– Get IP address automatically—Select this option to obtain an available dynamic IP address assigned by the DHCP server each time the camera is connected to the LAN.

– Use fixed IP address—Select this option to manually assign a static IP address to the camera.

Enter the Static IP, Subnet mask, Default router, and Primary DNS provided by your ISP or network administrator.

- IP address—Static IP address of the camera.

- Subnet mask—This is used to determine if the destination is in the same subnet. The default value is “255.255.255.0”.

- Default router—This is the gateway used to forward frames to destinations in a different subnet. Invalid router setting will disable the transmission to destinations across different subnets.

- Primary DNS—The primary domain name server that translates host names into IP addresses.

- Secondary DNS—Secondary domain name server that backups the Primary DNS.

- Primary WINS server—The primary WINS server that maintains the database of computer names and IP addresses.

- Secondary WINS server—The secondary WINS server that maintains the database of computer names and IP addresses.

– Enable UPnP presentation—Select this option to enable UPnP presentation for your camera so that whenever a camera is presented to the LAN, the shortcuts to connected cameras will be listed in My Network Places. You can click the shortcut to link to the web browser. Currently, UPnP is supported by Windows XP or later. To utilize this feature, make sure the UPnP component is installed on your computer.

– Enable UPnP port forwarding—To access the camera from the Internet, select this option to allow the camera to open ports automatically on the router so that video streams can be sent out from a LAN. To utilize of this feature, make sure that your router supports UPnP and it is activated.

• PPPoE (Point-to-point over Ethernet)—Select this option to configure your camera to make it accessible from anywhere as long as there is an Internet connection. To utilize this feature, it requires an account provided by your ISP.

To acquire your camera’s public IP address, follow these steps:

1. Set up the camera on the LAN.

2. Go to Configuration > Event > Event settings > Add server (see the “Add server” section) to add a new email or FTP server.

3. Go to Configuration > Event > Event settings > Add media (see the “Add media” section).

Select System log so that you will receive the system log in TXT file format that contains the camera public IP address in your email or on the FTP server.

4. Go to Configuration > Network > General settings > Network type. Select PPPoE and enter the user name and password provided by your ISP. Click Save to enable the setting.

The camera will reboot.

5. Disconnect the power to the camera; remove it from the LAN environment.

If the default ports are already used by other devices connected to the same router, the camera will select other ports for the camera.

If UPnP is not supported by your router, you will see the following message: “Error: Router does not support UPnP port forwarding.”

To enable the UPnP user interface on your computer, follow these steps (you must log on to the computer as a system administrator to install the UPn components):

1. From the Start menu, click Control Panel, then click Add or Remove Programs.

2. In the Add or Remove Programs dialog box, click Add/Remove Windows Components.

3. In the Windows Components Wizard dialog box, select Networking Services and click Details.

4. In the Networking Services dialog box, select Universal Plug and Play and click OK.

5. Click Next in the following window

6. Click Finish. UPnP is enabled.

UPnP networking technology provides automatic IP configuration and dynamic discovery of devices added to a network. Services and capabilities offered by networked devices, such as printing and file sharing, are available among each other without the need for cumbersome network configuration. In the case of cameras, you will see camera shortcuts under My Network Places.

Enabling UPnP port forwarding allows the camera to open a secondary HTTP port on the router—not HTTP port—meaning that you have to add the secondary HTTP port number to the camera’s public address in order to access the camera from the Internet. For example, when the HTTP port is set to 80 and the secondary HTTP port is set to 8080, the following table shows the camera’s IP address

If the PPPoE settings are incorrectly configured or the Internet access is not working, restore the camera to factory default; see the “General settings > Restore” section for details. After the camera is reset to factory default, it will be accessible on the LAN.

• Enable IPv6—Select this option and click Save to enable IPv6 settings. This only works if your network environment and hardware equipment support IPv6. The browser should be Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.5, Mozilla Firefox 3.0 or above.

When IPv6 is enabled, by default, the camera will listen to router advertisements and be assigned with a link-local IPv6 address accordingly.

– IPv6 Information—Click this button to obtain the IPv6 information. If your IPv6 settings are successful, the IPv6 address list will be listed in the pop-up window.

To link to an IPv6 address, follow these steps:

1. Open your web browser.

2. Enter the link-global or link-local IPv6 address in the address bar of your web browser.

3. Press Enter on the keyboard or click Refresh button to refresh the web page.

If you have a secondary HTTP port (the default value is 8080), you can also link to the web page using the following address format (see the “HTTP streaming” sectionfor detailed information):

http://[2001:0c08:2500:0002:0202:d1ff:fe04:65f4]/:8080

If you choose PPPoE as the Network Type, the [PPP0 address] will be displayed in the IPv6 information column.

– Manually setup the IP address: Select this option to manually set up IPv6 settings if your network environment does not have DHCPv6 server and router advertisements-enabled routers. If you check this item, the following blanks will be displayed for you to enter the corresponding information:

- Optional IP address / Prefix length

- Optional Default Router

- Optional primary DNS

HTTP streaming

To utilize HTTP authentication, make sure that your have set a password for the camera first; see the “Security > User accounts” section for details.

• Authentication—Depending on your network security requirements, the camera provides two types of security settings for an HTTP transaction: basic and digest. If basic authentication is selected, the password is sent in plain text format and there can be potential risks of it being intercepted. If digest authentication is selected, user credentials are encrypted using MD5 algorithm and thus provide better protection against unauthorized accesses.
• HTTP port / Secondary HTTP port—By default, the HTTP port is set to 80 and the secondary HTTP port is set to 8080. They can also be assigned to another port number between 1025 and 65535. If the ports are incorrectly assigned, warning messages will be displayed.

To access the camera on the LAN, both the HTTP port and secondary HTTP port can be used to access the camera. For example, when the HTTP port is set to 80 and the secondary HTTP port is set to 8080, the camera IP address on the LAN is http://192.168.4.160 or http://192.168.4.160:8080.

• Access name for stream 1 ~ 4—This camera supports multiple streams simultaneously. The access name is used to identify different video streams. You can click Media > Video > Stream settings to set up the video quality of linked streams. For more information about how to set up the video quality, see the “Stream settings” section.

When using Mozilla Firefox to access the camera and the video mode is set to JPEG, you will receive video composed of continuous JPEG images. This technology, known as “server push,” allows the camera to feed live pictures to Mozilla Firefox.

URL command: http:// ip address : http port / access name for stream 1, 2, 3, 4

For example, when the Access name for stream 2 is set to video2.mjpg:

1. Launch Mozilla Firefox or Netscape.

2. Type the above URL command in the address bar. Press Enter.

3. The JPEG images will be displayed in your web browser.

Note Microsoft Internet Explorer does not support server push technology; therefore, you will not be able to access a video stream using http://ip address:http port/access name for stream 1, 2, 3, 4.

RTSP Streaming

To utilize RTSP streaming authentication, make sure that you have set a password for controlling the access to video stream first. See the “Security > User accounts” section for details.

• Authentication—Depending on your network security requirements, the camera provides three types of security settings for streaming via RTSP protocol: disable, basic, and digest. If basic authentication is selected, the password is sent in plain text format, but there can be potential risks of it being intercepted. If digest authentication is selected, user credentials are encrypted using MD5 algorithm, thus providing better protection against unauthorized access.
• Access name for stream 1 ~ 4—This camera supports multiple streams simultaneously. The access name is used to differentiate the streaming source. If you want to use an RTSP player to access the camera, you have to set the video mode to H.264 or H.265 and use the following RTSP URL command to request transmission of the streaming data.

rtsp:// ip address : rtsp port / access name for stream 1 to 4

For example, when the access name for stream 1 is set to live.sdp:

1. Launch an RTSP player.

2. Choose File > Open URL. A URL dialog box will pop up.

3. Type the above URL command in the text box.

4. The live video will be displayed in your player.

• RTSP port; RTP port for video, metadata, audio; RTCP port for video, metadata, audio:

– RTSP (Real-Time Streaming Protocol) controls the delivery of streaming media. By default, the port number is set to 554.

– The RTP (Real-time Transport Protocol) is used to deliver video and audio data to the clients. By default, the RTP port for video is set to 5556.

– The RTCP (Real-time Transport Control Protocol) allows the camera to transmit the data by monitoring the Internet traffic volume. By default, the RTCP port for video is set to 5557.

The ports can be changed to values between 1025 and 65535. The RTP port must be an even number and the RTCP port is the RTP port number plus one, and thus is always an odd number. When the RTP port changes, the RTCP port will change accordingly. If the RTP ports are incorrectly assigned, the following warning message will be displayed.

• Multicast settings for streams—Click the items to display the detailed configuration information. Select the Always multicast option to enable multicast for video streams.

Unicast video transmission delivers a stream through point-to-point transmission; multicast, on the other hand, sends a stream to the multicast group address and allows multiple clients to acquire the stream at the same time by requesting a copy from the multicast group address. Therefore, enabling multicast can effectively save Internet bandwith.

The ports can be changed to values between 1025 and 65535. The multicast RTP port must be an even number and the multicast RTCP port number is the multicast RTP port number plus one, and thus is always odd. When the multicast RTP port changes, the multicast RTCP port will change accordingly.

If the multicast RTP video ports are incorrectly assigned, the following warning message will be displayed:

• Multicast TTL [1~255]—The multicast TTL (Time To Live) is the value that tells the router the range a packet can be forwarded.

The Multicast metadata port is utilized by Cisco VADP (Video Audio development platform) modules to transfer video analytics results, PTZ stream, textual data, and event messages between the camera and the client side running and observing the video analysis. If your client side computer is located outside the local network, you may need to open the associated TCP port on routers and firewall.

SIP

SIP is short for Session Initiation Protocol. If necessary, you can change the default port number, 5060, to one between 1025 and 65535.

• Two way audio port—The camera supports two way audio communication so that operators can transmit and receive audio simultaneously. By using the camera built-in or external microphone and an external speaker, you can communicate with people around the camera.

As JPEG only transmits a series of JPEG images to the client, to enable the two-way audio function, make sure the video mode is set to H.264 on the Media > Video > Stream settings page and the media option is set to Media > Video > Stream settings on the Client Settings page.

Requirements for QoS

To utilize QoS in a network environment, the following requirements must be met:

• All network switches and routers in the network must include support for QoS.
• The network video devices used in the network must be QoS-enabled.

QoS models

CoS (the VLAN 802.1p model)

IEEE802.1p defines a QoS model at OSI Layer 2 (Data Link Layer), which is called CoS, Class of Service. It adds a 3-bit value to the VLAN MAC header, which indicates the frame priority level from 0 (lowest) to 7 (highest). The priority is set up on the network switches, which then use different queuing disciplines to forward the packets.

In the setting column for CoS, enter the VLAN ID of your switch (0~4095) and choose the priority for each application (0~7).

If you assign Video the highest level, the switch will handle video packets first.

Note ● A VLAN Switch (802.1p) is required. Web browsing may fail if the CoS setting is incorrect.

• The Class of Service technologies do not guarantee a level of service in terms of bandwidth and delivery time; they offer a “best-effort.” You can think of CoS as “coarsely-grained” traffic control and QoS as “finely-grained” traffic control.
• Although CoS is simple to manage, it lacks scalability and does not offer end-to-end guarantees since it is based on L2 protocol.

QoS/DSCP (the DiffServ model)

DSCP-ECN defines QoS at Layer 3 (Network Layer). The Differentiated Services (DiffServ) model is based on packet marking and router queuing disciplines. The marking is done by adding a field to the IP header, called the DSCP (Differentiated Services Codepoint). This is a 6-bit field that provides 64 different class IDs. It gives an indication of how a given packet is to be forwarded, known as the Per Hop Behavior (PHB). The PHB describes a particular service level in terms of bandwidth, queueing theory, and dropping (discarding the packet) decisions. Routers at each network node classify packets according to their DSCP value and give them a particular forwarding treatment; for example, how much bandwidth to reserve for it.

Use the setting options of DSCP (DiffServ Codepoint) to specify the DSCP value for each application (0~63).

Note Different vendors of network devices might have different methodologies and unique implementations. You should enter a DSCP tag value according to the information provided by the network devices.

SNMP Configuration

• Enable SNMPv1, SNMPv2c—Select this option and enter the names of Read/Write community and Read Only community according to your NMS settings.
• Enable SNMPv3—This option contains cryptographic security, a higher security level, that allows you to set the Authentication password and the Encryption password.

– Security name—According to your NMS settings, choose Read/Write or Read Only and enter the community name.

– Authentication type—Select MD5 or SHA as the authentication method.

– Authentication password—Enter the password for authentication (at least 8 characters).

– Encryption password—Enter a password for encryption (at least 8 characters).

Account Management

The administrator account name is “root”, which is permanent and can not be deleted. If you want to add more accounts in the Account management window, apply the password for the root account first.

Administrators can create up to 20 user accounts.

To create a new user, follow these steps:

Step 1 Click to unfold the pull-down menu. Select New user.

Step 2 Enter the new user name and password. Type the password identically in both text boxes.

Some, but not all special ASCII characters are supported: !, $, %, -,., @, ^, _, and ~. You can use them in the password combination.

The strength of your password combination is shown on the right, use the combination of alphabetic, numeric, upper case, and lower case characters until the password strength is good enough.

Step 3 Select the privilege level for the new user account. Click Add to enable the setting.

The privilege levels are:

• Administrator—Full control
• Operator—Control DO, white-light illuminator, snapshot, and PTZ; unable to enter the camera Configuration page
• Viewer—Control DO, white-light illuminator, view, listen, PTZ, and talk through the camera interface

Access rights are sorted by user privilege (Administrator, Operator, and Viewer). Only administrators can access the Configuration page. Viewers can only access the main page for live viewing.

Here you also can change a user’s access rights or delete user accounts.

1. Select an existing account to modify.

2. Make necessary changes and click Update or Delete to enable the setting.

Privilege Management

• Digital Output & PTZ control: You can modify the management privilege as operators or viewers. Select or deselect the check boxes, and then click Save to enable the settings. If you give Viewers the privilege, Operators will also have the ability to control the camera through the main page.
• Allow anonymous viewing—If you check this item, any client can access the live stream without entering a User ID and Password.

Create and Install Certificate Method

Before using HTTPS for communication with the camera, a Certificate must be created first. There are two way to create and install a certificate:

Method 1: Create Self-Signed Certificate

Step 1 Select this option from a pull-down menu.

Step 2 In the first column, select Enable HTTPS secure connection, then select a connection option: HTTP & HTTPS or HTTPS only.

Step 3 Click Create certificate to generate a certificate.

The Certificate Information will automatically be displayed. You can click Certificate properties to view detailed information about the certificate.

Step 4 Click Save to preserve your configuration, and your current session with the camera will change to the encrypted connection.

Step 5 If your web session does not automatically change to an encrypted HTTPS session, click Home to return to the main page. Change the URL address from “http://” to “https://” in the address bar and press Enter on your keyboard. Some Security Alert dialogs will pop up. Click OK or Yes to enable HTTPS.

Method 2: Create and Install Certificate

Step 1 Select the option from the Method pull-down menu.

Step 2 Click Create certificate to proceed.

Step 3 Certificate information will show up in a pop-up window after clicking Create. Then click Save to generate the certificate request.

Step 4 The Certificate request displays. If you see a “pop-up blocked” message in the bar, click OK and click on the Information bar at the top of the page to allow pop-ups.

Step 5 Look for a trusted certificate authority, such as Symantec VeriSign Authentication Services, that issues digital certificates. Sign in and purchase the SSL certification service. Copy the certificate request from your request prompt and paste it in the signing request window of the CA. Proceed with the rest of the process as CA instructions on their web page.

Step 6 Once completed, your SSL certificate should be delivered to you via an email or other means. Copy the contents of the certificate in the email and paste it in a text/HTML/hex editor/converter, such as IDM Computer Solution UltraEdit.

Step 7 Open a new edit, paste the certificate contents, and press ENTER at the end of the contents to add an empty line.

Step 8 Convert file format from DOS to UNIX. Open File menu > Conversions > DOS to Unix.

Step 9 Save the edit using the “.crt” extension, using a file name like “CAcert.crt.”

Step 10 Return to the original firmware session, use the Browse button to locate the crt certificate file, and click Upload to enable the certification.

Step 11 When the certificate file is successfully loaded, its status will be stated as Active. A certificate must have been created and installed before you can click the Save button for the configuration to take effect.

Step 12 To begin an encrypted HTTPS session, click Home to return to the main page. Change the URL address from “http://” to “https://” in the address bar and press Enter on your keyboard. Some Security Alert dialogs will pop up. Click OK or Yes to enable HTTPS.

General Settings

• Maximum number of concurrent streaming—Simultaneous live viewing for 1~10 clients (including stream 1 to stream 4). The default value is 10. If you modify the value and click Save, all current connections will be disconnected and automatically attempt to re-link (IE Explorer or Quick Time Player).
• Connection management—Click this button to display the connection status window showing a list of the current connections. Only consoles that are currently displaying live streaming will be listed in the View Information list.

– IP address—Current connections to the camera.

– Elapsed time—How much time the client has been at the web page.

– User ID—If the administrator has set a password for the web page, the clients have to enter a user name and password to access the live video. The user name will be displayed in the User ID column. If the administrator allows clients to link to the web page without a user name and password, the User ID column will be empty.

– There are some situations that allow clients access to the live video without a user name and password:

- The administrator does not set up a root password. For more information about how to set up a root password and manage user accounts, see the “Security > User accounts” section.

- The administrator has set up a root password, but set RTSP Authentication to “disable.” For more information about RTSP Authentication, see the “RTSP Streaming” section.

- The administrator has set up a root password, but allows anonymous viewing. For more information about Allow Anonymous Viewing, see the “Account Management” section.

– Refresh—Click this button to refresh all current connections.

– Add to deny list—You can select entries from the Connection Status list and add them to the Deny List to deny access. Those checked connections will only be disconnected temporarily and will automatically try to re-link again (IE Explore or Quick Time Player). If you want to enable the denied list, check Enable access list filtering and click Save in the first column.

– Disconnect—If you want to break off the current connections, select them and click this button. Those checked connections will only be disconnected temporarily and will automatically try to re-link again (IE Explore or Quick Time Player).

Filter

• Enable access list filtering—Check this item and click Save if you want to enable the access list filtering function.
• Filter type—Select Allow or Deny as the filter type. If you choose Allow Type, only those clients whose IP addresses are on the Access List can access the camera, and the others cannot. If you choose Deny Type, those clients whose IP addresses are on the Access List will not be allowed to access the camera, and the others can.

Then you can Add a rule to the following Access List. The IPv6 access list column will not be displayed unless you enable IPv6 on the Network page. For more information about IPv6 Settings, see the “Network > General settings” section for detailed information.

There are three types of rules:

– Single—This rule allows the user to add an IP address to the Allowed/Denied list.

– Network—This rule allows the user to assign a network address and corresponding subnet mask to the Allow/Deny List. The address and network mask are written in CIDR format. If IPv6 filter is preferred, you will be prompted by the Add ipv6 filter list window. Enter the IPv6 address and the two-digit prefix length to specify the range of IP addresses in your configuration

– Range—This rule allows the user to assign a range of IP addresses to the Allow/Deny List. This rule only applies to IPv4 addresses

Administrator IP address

• Always allow the IP address to access this device—You can check this item and add the Administrator IP address in this field to make sure the Administrator can always connect to the device.

Digital PTZ Operation

The digital PTZ control settings section includes the following options. For digital PTZ related details, see the “Preset and Patrol Settings” section.

• Select stream—Choose the video stream that you want to control.
• Pan and tilt buttons—Click to pan or tilt the camera. Click the Home button to move the camera to its configured home position.
• Pan speed, Tilt speed, Zoom speed—Select the pan speed, tilt speed, and zoom speed for the camera from 5 to –5 (fast to slow).
• Auto pan/patrol speed—Select the speed from 1~ 5 (slow/fast) to set up the Auto pan/patrol speed control.
• Go to—If you have configured preset positions, choose one to go to.

You can use your mouse to pan or tilt the camera by dragging the video image. You can use your mouse wheel to zoom the camera by clicking the video image and then scrolling the wheel.

When completed with these settings, click Save to enable the settings on this page.

Home Location Settings

• Set current position as home—Click this button to set the current camera position (pan, tilt, zoom) as the home position.
• Restore home position to default—Sets the camera to the factory default PTZ settings.

Preset and Patrol Settings

You can select some preset positions for the camera to patrol.

To set up a patrol schedule, follow these steps:

Step 1 Enter a name for the preset location in the Name field and then click Add.

Step 2 Select the preset locations on the list, and click .

The selected preset locations will be displayed on the Patrol locations list.

Step 3 Set the Dwell time for the preset location during an auto patrol.

Step 4 If you want to delete a preset location from the Patrol locations list, select it and click Remove.

Step 5 Select a location and click to rearrange the patrol order.

Step 6 Select patrol locations you want to save in the list and click Save to enable the patrol settings.

Step 7 To implement the patrol schedule, go to the Home page and click on the Patrol button.

Note ● The Preset Positions will also be displayed on the Home page. Choose one from the Go to menu, and the camera will move to the selected preset position.

• Click Patrol on the Home page—The camera will patrol along the selected positions repeatedly.

Misc Settings

• Zoom factor display—Select to display the digital zoom factor on the video stream.

Event

To configure an event with reactive measures such as recording video or snapshots, it is necessary to configure the server and media settings so that the camera will know what action to take (such as which server to send the media files to) when a trigger is activated. An event is an action initiated by a user-defined trigger source. In the Event column, click Add to open the event settings window. Here you can arrange three elements—Schedule, Trigger, and Action—to set an event. A total of three event settings can be configured.

• Event name—Enter a name for the event setting.
• Enable this event—Select this option to enable the event setting.
• Priority—Select the relative importance of this event (High, Normal, or Low). Events with a higher priority setting will be executed first.
• Detect next event after x seconds—Enter the duration in seconds to pause motion detection after a motion is detected. This can prevent event-related actions to take place too frequently.

Schedule

Specify the period of time during which the event trigger will take effect. Select the days of the week and the time in a day (in 24-hr time format) for the event triggering schedule. For example, you may prefer an event to be triggered only during the off-office hours.

Trigger

This is the cause or stimulus that defines when to trigger the camera. The trigger source can be configured to use the camera built-in motion detection mechanism or external digital input devices.

There are several choices of trigger sources. Select the item to display the detailed configuration options.

• Video motion detection—This option makes use of the built-in motion detection mechanism as a trigger source. To enable this function, you need to configure a Motion Detection Window first. For more information, see the “Applications > Motion detection” section.
• Periodically—This option allows the camera to trigger periodically for every other defined minute. Up to 999 minutes are allowed.
• Digital input—This option allows the camera to use an external digital input device or sensor as a trigger source. Depending on your application, there are many choices with digital input devices on the market which help detect changes in temperature, vibration, sound, light, and so on.
• System boot—This option triggers the camera when the power to the camera is disconnected and reconnected.
• Recording notify—This option allows the camera to trigger when the recording disk is full or when recording starts to overwrite older data.
• Audio detection—A preset threshold can be configured with an external microphone as the trigger to system event. The triggering condition can be an input exceeding or falling below a threshold. Audio detection can take place as a complement to motion detection or as a method to detect activities not covered by the camera view.
• PIR—Applies to the Cisco Video Surveillance 8620 only. This option allows the camera to trigger an event when the built-in PIR (Passive Infrared) sensor detects any motion objects by their thermal to prevent the occurrences of false alarms.
• Camera tampering detection— This option allows the camera to trigger when the camera detects that is being tampered with. To enable this function, you need to configure the Tampering Detection option first. See the “Applications > Tampering detection” section for detailed information.
• Manual Triggers—This option allows you to enable event triggers manually by clicking the on/off button on the homepage. Configure one to three associated events before using this function.
• Shock detection—A shock accelerometer comes with the camera. If impact to the camera occurs, such as someone tries to destroy the camera, the impact can be detected and reported. The Shock detection configuration is located in Configuration > Applications > Shock detection. See the “Applications > Shock detection” section.
• Cisco VADP—It is presumed that you already uploaded and enabled the Cisco APP Package modules before you can associate Cisco APP Package triggers with an Event setting.

Click on the Set VADP Trigger button to open the VADP triggers menu. The triggering conditions available software modules known as Cisco APP Packages will be listed. Use the arrow buttons to select these triggers. You may implant these modules for different purposes such as triggering motion detection, or applications related to video analysis, etc. See the “Applications > Package management” section for the configuration options with Cisco App Package modules.

Once the triggers are configured, they will be listed under the VADP option.

Action

Define the actions to be performed by the camera when a trigger is activated.

• Trigger digital output for x seconds—Select this option to turn on the external digital output device when a trigger is activated. Specify the length of the trigger interval in the text box.
• SD—Select this option to back up media files on an SD card if the network is disconnected. This function will only be displayed after you set up a network storage (NAS). The media to back up can include snapshot images, video, or system logs depending on your event settings.

Add server

It is necessary to configure the server and media settings so that the camera will know what action to take (such as which server to send the media files to) when a trigger is activated. Click Add server in the Action display to open the server setting window. You can specify where the notification messages are sent to when a trigger is activated. A total of five server settings can be configured.

There are four choices of server types available: Email, FTP, HTTP, and Network storage. Select the item to display the detailed configuration options. You can configure either one or all of them.

Server type: Email

Select to send the media files via email when a trigger is activated.

• Server name—Enter a name for the server setting.
• Sender email address—Enter the email address of the sender.
• Recipient email address—Enter the email address of the recipient.
• Server address—Enter the domain name or IP address of the email server.
• User name—Enter the user name of the email account if necessary.
• Password—Enter the password of the email account if necessary.
• Server port—The default mail server port is set to 25. You can also manually set another port.

If your SMTP server requires a secure connection (SSL), select This server requires a secure connection (SSL).

To verify if the email settings are correctly configured, click Test. The result will be shown in a pop-up window. If successful, you will also receive an email indicating the result.

Click Save server to enable the settings.

After you configure the first event server, the new event server will automatically display on the Server list. If you wish to add other server options, click Add server.

Server type: FTP

Select to send the media files to an FTP server when a trigger is activated.

• Server name—Enter a name for the server setting.
• Server address—Enter the domain name or IP address of the FTP server.
• Server port—By default, the FTP server port is set to 21. It can also be assigned to another port number between 1025 and 65535.
• User name—Enter the login name of the FTP account.
• Password—Enter the password of the FTP account.
• FTP folder name—Enter the folder where the media files will be placed. If the folder name does not exist, the camera will automatically create one on the FTP server.
• Passive mode—Most firewalls do not accept new connections initiated from external requests. If the FTP server supports passive mode, select this option to enable passive mode FTP and allow data transmission to pass through the firewall. The firmware default has the Passive mode check box selected.

To verify if the FTP settings are correctly configured, click Test. The result will be shown in a pop-up window. If successful, you will also receive a test.txt file on the FTP server.

Click Save server to enable the settings.

Server type: HTTP

Select to send the media files to an HTTP server when a trigger is activated.

• Server name—Enter a name for the server setting.
• URL—Enter the URL of the HTTP server.
• User name—Enter the user name if necessary.
• Password—Enter the password if necessary.

To verify if the HTTP settings are correctly configured, click Test. The result will be shown in a pop-up window. If successful, you will receive a test.txt file on the HTTP server.

Click Save server to enable the settings.

Network storage

Select to send the media files to a networked storage when a trigger is activated. See the “$paratext>” section for details. Only one NAS server can be configured. Click Save server to enable the settings.

Additional Actions

• SD Test—Click to test your SD card. The system will display a message indicating the result as a success or a failure. If you want to use your SD card for local storage, format it before use.
• View—Click this button to open a file list window. This function is only for SD card and Network Storage. If you click the View button for an SD card, a Local storage page will prompt so that you can manage the recorded files on SD card. For more information about Local storage, see the “Local storage > SD card management” section. If you click the View button for a Network storage, a file directory window will prompt for you to view recorded data on Network storage.
• Create folders by date, time, and hour automatically—If you select this item, the system will automatically create folders by the date when video footages are stored onto the networked storage.

The following is an example of a file destination with video clips:

Click 20150120 to open the directory:

Add media

Click Add media in the Action display to open the media setting window. You can specify the type of media that will be sent when a trigger is activated. A total of five media settings can be configured. There are three choices of media types available: Snapshot, Video Clip, and System log. Select the item to display the detailed configuration options. You can configure either one or all of them.

Media type: Snapshot

Select to send snapshots when a trigger is activated.

• Media name—Enter a name for the media setting.
• Source—Select to take snapshots from any of the video streams.
• Send x pre-event images—The camera has a buffer to temporarily hold data up to a certain limit. Enter a number to decide how many images to capture before a trigger is activated. Up to seven images can be generated.
• Send x post-event images—Enter a number to decide how many images to capture after a trigger is activated. Up to seven images can be generated. For example, if both the Send pre-event images and Send post-event images are set to 7, a total of 15 images can be generated after a trigger is activated.
• File name prefix—Enter the text that will be appended to the front of the file name.
• Add date and time suffix to the file name—Select this option to add a date/time suffix to the file name. The date and time suffix format is YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS.

Click Save media to enable the settings.

After you set up the first media server, a new column for media server will automatically display on the Media list. If you wish to add more media options, click Add media.

Media type: Video clip

Select to send video clips when a trigger is activated.

• Media name—Enter a name for the media setting.
• Source—Select a video stream as the source of video clip.
• Pre-event recording—The camera has a buffer to temporarily hold data up to a certain limit. Enter a number to decide the duration of recording before a trigger is activated. Up to 9 seconds can be set.
• Maximum duration—Specify the maximum recording duration in seconds. The duration can be up to 10 seconds. For example, if pre-event recording is set to 5 seconds and the maximum duration is set to 10 seconds, the camera continues to record for another 4 seconds after a trigger is activated.
• Maximum file size—Specify the maximum file size allowed. You may need to stitch the video clips together when searching and packing up forensic evidence.
• File name prefix—Enter the text that will be appended to the front of the file name.

Click Save media to enable the settings.

Media type: System log

Select to send a system log when a trigger is activated.

Click Save media to enable the settings, then click Close to exit the page.

In the Event settings column, the Servers and Medias you configured will be listed; make sure the
Event > Status is indicated as ON, in order to enable the event triggering action.

When completed, click the Save event button to enable the settings and click Close to exit Event Settings page. The new Event / Server settings / Media will appear in the event drop-down list on the Event setting page.

When the Event Status is ON, the event configuration above is triggered by motion detection, the camera will automatically send snapshots via e-mail.

If you want to stop the event trigger, you can click on the ON button to turn it to OFF status or click the Delete button to remove the event setting.

To remove a server setting from the list, select a server name from the drop-down list and click Delete. You can delete a server setting only when it is not applied in an existing event setting.

To remove a media setting from the list, select a media name from the drop-down list and click Delete. You can delete a media setting only when it is not applied in an existing event setting.

Customized Script

This function allows you to upload a sample script (.xml file) to the web page, which will save you time on configuring the settings. There is are limited number of customized scripts you can upload; if the current amount of customized scripts has reached the limit, an alert message will prompt.

Click Add to upload a file. Click in the script display to modify the script online.

How does Motion Detection Work?

There are two motion detection parameters: Sensitivity and Min. Item Size. Sensitivity is a value that expresses the sensitivity to moving objects. A higher sensitivity setting allows camera to detect slight movements while a lower sensitivity setting will neglect them.

The minimum item size is a threshold value that determines how many “alerted pixels” can trigger an event. When the size of an intruding object is larger than the minimum size, and its movement persist for 0.3 second, the motion is judged to exceed the defined threshold; and the motion window will be outlined in red. With a large minimum item size, the size of moving object is considered as smaller than the minimum item size, no motion alarm is triggered. With a smaller minimum item size, the same moving object triggers the alarm.

For applications that require a high level of security management, it is suggested to use higher sensitivity settings. However, a higher sensitivity level can also produce false alarms due to fast light changes when switching between the day and night modes, AE switch, turning the light on or off, and so on.

Recording Settings

Insert your SD card and click SD test to test

Note Remember to format your SD card via the camera web console (in the Local storage SD card management page) when using it for the first time. See the “Local storage > SD card management” section for detailed information.

Click Add to open the recording setting window. On this page, you can define the adaptive recording, recording source, recording schedule, and recording capacity. A total of two recording settings can be configured.

• Recording name—Enter a name for the recording setting.
• Enable this recording—Select this option to enable video recording.
• With adaptive recording—Select this option will activate the frame rate control according to alarm trigger. The frame control means that when there is a triggered alarm, the frame rate will raise up to the value you configured on the Video quality page. See the “Media > Video” section for more information.

If you enable adaptive recording on a camera, only when an event is triggered on Camera A will the server record the full frame rate streaming data; otherwise, it will only request the I frame data during normal monitoring, thus effectively saves bandwidths and storage space.

Note To enable adaptive recording, make sure you have set up the trigger source such as Motion Detection, DI Device, or Manual Trigger.

When there is no alarm trigger:
- JPEG mode: record 1 frame per second
- H.264 or H.265 mode: record the I frame only

When the I frame period is >1s on Video settings page, firmware will force decrease the I frame period to 1s when adaptive recording is enabled.

The alarm trigger includes: motion detection and DI detection. See the “Event > Event settings” section.

• Pre-event recording and post-event recording—Available when you enable With adaptive recording. The camera has a buffer that temporarily holds data for a period of time. Therefore, when an event occurs, the camera can retrieve image frames taken several seconds ago. Enter a number to define the duration of recording before and after a trigger is activated.
• Priority—Select the relative importance of this recording (High, Normal, or Low). Recording with a higher priority setting will be executed first.
• Source—Select a video stream as the recording source.

To enable recording notification configure Event settings first. See the “Event > Event settings” section.

Follow these steps to set up recording:

1. Trigger: Select a trigger source.

– Schedule—The server will start to record files on the local storage or network storage (NAS).

– Network fail—Since network fail, the server will start to record files on the local storage (SD card).

2. Destination: You can select the SD card or network storage (NAS) for the recorded video files. If you have not configured a NAS server, see the following steps.

NAS server

1. Click Add NAS server to open the server setting window.

2. Fill in the information for your server.

– In the Server name field, enter the name of the NAS server.

– In the Network storage location field, enter the network storage path in the format \\ server_name or IP_address \ folder_name

– In the Workgroup field, enter the workgroup of the NAS server.

– In the Username and password field, enter information for your server

3. Click Test to check the setting. The result will be shown in a pop-up window. If successful, you will receive a test.txt file on the network storage server.

4. Click Save to complete the settings and click Close to exit the page.

The following options appear when you add a NAS server:

• Capacity—You can choose either the entire free space available or limit the reserved space. The recording size limitation must be larger than the reserved amount for cyclic recording. The reserved space is a small amount of space used only for the transaction stage when the capacity is about to be used up or recycled.
• Enable cyclic recording—If you check this item, when the maximum capacity is reached, the oldest file will be overwritten by the latest one. The reserved amount is reserved for the transaction stage when the storage space is about to be full and new data arrives. The minimum for the Reserved space must be larger than 15 MB.
• Recording file management—You can manually assign the Maximum duration and the Maximum file size for each recording footage. You may need to stitch individual files together under some circumstances. You may also designate a file name prefix by filling in the responsive text field.
• File name prefix—Enter the text that will be appended to the front of the file name.

If you want to enable recording notification, click Event to configure event triggering settings. See the “Event > Event settings” section for more details.

When completed, select Enable this recording. Click Save to enable the setting and click Close to exit this page. When the system begins recording, it will send the recorded files to the network storage. The new recording name will appear in the drop-down list on the recording page.

To remove a recording setting from the list, select a recording name from the drop-down list and click Delete.

• Click recording (Name)—Opens the Recording Settings page to modify.
• Click ON (Status)—The Status will become OFF and stop recording.
• Click NAS (Destination)—Opens the file list of recordings. For more information about folder naming rules, see the “Add server” section.

SD card status

This column shows the status, file system, size, and usage information for your SD card. Remember to format the SD card when using for the first time. If the SD card status field shows “Detached,” there is no SD card.

SD card format

The Linux kernel EXT4 file system format applies to SD card larger than 32GB. However, if EXT4 is applied, the computers running Windows will not be able to access the contents on the SD card unless using some third-party software.

SD card control

• Enable cyclic storage—Check this item if you want to enable cyclic recording. When the maximum capacity is reached, the oldest file will be overwritten by the latest one.
• Enable automatic disk cleanup—Check this item and enter the number of days you wish to retain a file. For example, if you enter “7 days,” the recorded files will be stored on the SD card for 7 days.

Click Save to enable your settings.

Searching and Viewing Records

To set up search criteria for recorded data, use the following options. If you do not select any criteria and click Search button, all recorded data will be listed in the Search results area.

• Trigger types—Select one or more trigger types.
• Media type—Select the media type (Video clip, Snapshot, or text).
• Time—Use the options to search the last x minutes, hours, day, or weeks, to search designated from and to dated and times.

Click Search and the recorded data corresponding to the search criteria will be listed in Search results area.

Search Results

The Search results window includes four columns: Name, Trigger time, Starting Time, and Ending time.

From the drop-down list at the bottom left, choose the number of entries to be displayed on one page.

You can sort the search results by any column by clicking the column title. Click as needed choose ascending or descending order.

• Play—Click on a search result which will highlight the selected item. A Play window will appear on top for immediate review of the selected file.
• Download—Click on a search result to highlight the selected item in purple. Then click the Download button and a file download window will pop up for you to save the file.
• Lock/Unlock—Select the check box in front of a desired search result, then click this button. The selected items will become Locked, which will not be deleted during cyclic recording. You can click again to unlock the selections.
• JPEGs to AVI—This functions only applies to JPEG format files such as snapshots. You can select several snapshots from the list, then click this button. Those snapshots will be converted into an AVI file.
• Remove—Select the desired search results, then click this button to delete the files.