AXIS 25788R2 User Manual

AXIS 231D/232D

Network Dome Camera

User’s Manual

About This Document

This manual is intended for administrators and users of the AXIS 231D/232D Network Dome Camera, and is applicable for Firmware release 4.30. It includes instructions for using and managing the AXIS 231D/232D on your network. Previous experience of networking will be of use when installing and using this product. Some knowledge of UNIX or Linux-based systems would also be beneficial, for developing shell scripts and applications. Later versions of this document will be posted to the Axis Website, as required. See also the product’s online help, available via the Web-based interface.

Safety Notices Used In This Manual

Caution! - Indicates a potential hazard that can damage the product. Important! - Indicates a hazard that can seriously impair operation. Do not proceed beyond any of the above notices until you have fully understood the implications.

Intellectual Property Rights

Axis AB has intellectual property rights relating to technology embodied in the product described in this document. In particular, and without limitation, these intellectual property rights may include one or more of the patents listed at http://www.axis.com/patent.htm and one or more additional patents or pending patent applications in the US and other countries. This product includes software developed by the OpenSSL Project for use in the OpenSSL Toolkit: http://www.openssl.org/

Legal Considerations

Camera surveillance can be prohibited by laws that vary from country to country. Check the laws in your local region before using this product for surveillance purposes. This product includes one (1) MPEG-4 decoder license. To purchase further licenses, contact your reseller.

Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC)

This equipment generates, uses and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and used in accordance with the instructions, may cause harmful interference to radio communications. However, there is no guarantee that interference will not occur in a particular installation. If this equipment does cause harmful interference to radio or television reception, which can be determined by turning the equipment off and on, the user is encouraged to try to correct the interference by one or more of the following measures: Re-orient or relocate the receiving antenna. Increase the separation between the equipment and receiver. Connect the equipment to an outlet on a different circuit to the receiver. Consult your dealer or an experienced radio/TV technician for help. Shielded (STP) network cables must be used with this unit to ensure compliance with EMC standards.

USA - This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the

limits for a Class A digital device, pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference when the equipment is operated in a commercial environment. This equipment generates, uses and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and used in accordance with the instruction manual, may cause harmful interference to radio communications. Operation of this equipment in a residential area is likely to cause interference, in which case the user will be required to correct the interference at his own expense.

Canada - This Class A digital apparatus complies with Canadian

ICES-003.

Europe - This digital equipment fulfills the requirements for

radiated emission according to limit A of EN55022/1998, and the

AXIS COMMUNICATIONS

<Product Name> Quick User’s Guide

requirements for immunity according to EN55024/1 998 residential,

commercial, and industry. Warning! This is a Class A product. In a domestic environment this product may cause radio interference, in which case the user may be required to take adequate measures.

Japan - This is a class A product based on the standard of the Voluntary

Control Council for Interference by Information Technology Equipment (VCCI). If this equipment is used in a domestic environment, radio disturbance may arise. When such trouble occurs, the user may be required to take corrective action.

Australia - This electronic device meets the requirements of the Radio

communications (Electromagnetic Compatibility) Standard 1998 AS/NZS

3548. Warning! This is a Class A product. In a domestic environment this product may cause radio interference, in which case the user may be required to take adequate measures.

Liability

Every care has been taken in the preparation of this manual; Please inform your local Axis office of any inaccuracies or omissions. Axis Communications AB cannot be held responsible for any technical or typographical errors and reserves the right to make changes to the product and manuals without prior notice. Axis Communications AB makes no warranty of any kind with regard to the material contained within this document, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. Axis Communications AB shall not be liable nor responsible for incidental or consequential damages in connection with the furnishing, performance or use of this material.

Trademark Acknowledgments

Acrobat, Adobe, Boa, Ethernet, IBM, Internet Explorer, Linux, Macintosh, Microsoft, Mozilla, Netscape Navigator, UNIX, Windows, WWW are registered trademarks of the respective holders. Java and all Java-based trademarks and logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and other countries. UPnP is a certification mark of the UPnP Communications AB is independent of Sun Microsystems Inc.

Implementers Corporation. Axis

Axis Customer Services

Should you require any technical assistance, please contact your Axis reseller. If your questions cannot be answered immediately, your reseller will forward your queries through the appropriate channels to ensure a rapid response. If you are connected to the Internet, you can:

• download user documentation and fi rm ware up dat e s

• find answers to resolved problems in the FAQ database. S e arch by product, category, or phrases

• report problems to Axis support staff by logging in to your private support area

• visit the Axis Support Web at www.axis.com/techsup/

Safety Notice - Battery Replacement

The AXIS 231D/232D uses a 3.0V CR2032 Lithium battery as the power supply for its internal real-time clock (RTC). This battery will, under normal conditions, last for a minimum of 5 years. Low battery power affects the operation of the RTC, causing it to reset at every power-up. A log message will appear when battery replacement is required. The battery should not be replaced unless required! If the battery does need replacing, please observe the following points: Caution!

• Danger of Explosion if battery is incorrectly replaced

• Replace only with the same or equivalent battery, as

recommended by the manufacturer.

• Dispose of used batteries according to the manufacturer's

instructions.

AXIS 231D/232D

Table of contents

AXIS 231D/232D. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

AXIS 232D. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Hardware Inventory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Hardware Description. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Using the Network Dome Camera. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Accessing the AXIS 231D/232D. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

The Live View page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

The Control panel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Video Streams. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Stream Types. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

MPEG-4 protocols and communication methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

How to stream MPEG-4. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

The AXIS Media Control. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Other methods of accessing the video stream. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Configuring the Network Dome Camera. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Accessing the Setup Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Overview of the Setup Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Video & Image Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

MPEG-4 Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Live View Config. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22

HTML Examples. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

External Video. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Sequence Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Dome Configuration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Event Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Event Servers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Event Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Motion Detection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Port Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

System Options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Date & Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Network - Basic TCP/IP Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Network - Advanced TCP/IP Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

SOCKS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

AXIS 231D/232D

SMTP (email). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

SNMP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

UPnP™ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

RTP (Multicast)/MPEG-4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Ports & devices - I/O Ports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Maintenance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Advanced. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

About. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43

Resetting to Factory Default Settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Using the Control Button. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Connection Module . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Checking the Firmware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Updating the Firmware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Emergency Recovery Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Symptoms, Possible Causes and Remedial Actions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Technical Specifications. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

General performance considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Optimizing your system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Frame rates - Motion JPEG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Frame rates - MPEG-4. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Bandwidth. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

AXIS 231D/232D - AXIS 231D/232D

AXIS 231D/232D

Ideal for demanding surveillance and remote monitoring applications, the AXIS 231D/232D Network Dome Camera features precise pan/tilt/zoom control, superior quality Motion JPEG and MPEG-4 video, advanced event management functionality, 4 alarm inputs/4 alarm outputs (i.e. door sensors, alarm bells), 20 preset positions, Sequence Mode and Guard Tour. With security features such as HTTPS and IP address filtering, the AXIS 231D/232D is perfect for professional security installations.

Up to 20 viewers can access the camera simultaneously when using Motion JPEG and MPEG-4 unicast. Video can be viewed in 5 resolutions (up to 4CIF), image compression is configurable.

The AXIS 231D/232D has a built-in Web server, providing full access to all features through the use of a standard Web browser. The built-in scripting tool allows basic applications to be created, providing basic surveillance solutions. For advanced functionality, the Network Dome Camera can be integrated via the use of AXIS HTTP API. For more information, refer to http://www.axis.com/developer

Axis products are supported by the industry's largest base of application software for managing and recording video, and integrating alarm and access control systems.

AXIS 232D

The AXIS 232D Network Dome Camera is a day and night camera with an IR cut filter which enables the camera to capture color video in light conditions down to 0.3 lux, and black and white video in conditions down to 0.005 lux. The IR-cut filter can be automatically enabled/disabled according to the current light conditions or manually enabled/disabled from the internal web pages.

AXIS 231D/232D - AXIS 231D/232D

Hardware Inventory

Check the items supplied with your network dome camera against the following list:

Item Title/variant Notes Network Dome Camera AXIS 231D/232D Printed user documentation AXIS 231D/232D Installation

Guide Warranty Warranty document Connection module Connection module Power/alarm connections Cable 22-pol connection cable 24V AC, 3A power connection

Power supply Country specific

I/O connections

Hardware Description

Control button

Network connector

with Network and Power Indicators

Connection module connector

Serial number

S/N

Network Connector- After completion of the startup and self test routines, the Network and Power Indicators show as follows:

Indicator Color Description Network Green Flashes for network activity

Red Slow flash for failed firmware upgrade None No connection

Power Green Normal operation

Amber Flashes green/amber during upgrade.

Detail - network connector:

Power

Indicator Network

Indicator

Control Button - Press this button to restore the factory default settings, as described in Resetting to Factory Default Settings, on page 43 or for installation as described in the

provided AXIS 231D/232D Installation Guide and also available from the Axis Web site at http://www.axis.com.

The Serial Number (S/N) is located on the label on the unit.

AXIS 231D/232D - AXIS 231D/232D

Network Connector - The AXIS 231D/232D connects to the network via a standard RJ45 connector. The AXIS 231D/232D detects the speed of the local network segment (10BaseT/100BaseTX Ethernet).

Connection Module - The connection module provides the physical interface to 4 transistor outputs, 4 digital inputs and is the connection point for AC power. See page 45

Connection Module, on

4 outputs

4 inputs

AC Power

Connection module connector

For instructions on how to install the AXIS 231D/232D, please refer to the AXIS 231D/232D Installation Guide which is supplied with the product in printed format or in PDF format from the Axis Web site at http://www.axis.com.

AXIS 231D/232D - Using the Network Dome Camera

Using the Network Dome Camera

This document includes instructions for using and managing the AXIS 231D/232D. Instructions on how to install the AXIS 231D/232D on your network are provided in the AXIS 231D/232D Installation guide which is available on the Axis Web site. The AXIS 231D/232D can be used with most standard operating systems and supports Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.x or later, Netscape 7.x or later and Mozilla 1.4 or later.

Accessing the AXIS 231D/232D

1. Start a Web browser (Internet Explorer, Mozilla, Netscape Navigator).

2. Enter the IP address or host name of the AXIS 231D/232D in the Location/Address field of your Web browser.

3. Enter the user name and password set by the administrator.

4. A video image is displayed in your Web browser.

Note:

• To view streaming video in Microsoft Internet Explorer, Axis recommends you set your browser to allow the AXIS Media Control (AMC) to be installed on your computer. The first time an MPEG-4 video stream is accessed AMC also installs an MGPEG-4 decoder for viewing the video streams. As a license is required for each instance of the decoder, the product administrator may have disabled the installation. If your work environment restricts the use of additional software components, you can configure the AXIS 231D/232D to use a Java applet for updating images. Please refer to the online help files for more information.

• User functions in the AXIS 231D/232D may have been customized to meet the specific requirements of the application. Consequently, many of the examples and functions in this section may differ from those displayed in your Live View page.

AXIS 231D/232D - Using the Network Dome Camera

The Live View page

If the dome camera has been customized, the buttons and other items described below will be displayed accordingly on the Live View page. The following provides an overview of each button:

The Video Format drop-down list allows the video format on the Live View page to be temporarily changed.

The Output buttons control an output directly from the Live View page. These buttons are configured under Setup > Live View Config > Layout.

Pulse - click this button to activate the port for a defined period of time, e.g. to switch on a light for 20 seconds. Active/Inactive - click these buttons to manually start and stop a connected device, e.g. switch a light on/off.

These buttons start/stop the Sequence Mode. This mode is created in Setup > Live View Config > Sequence mode and automatically displays the view from preset positions at set intervals.

The Action buttons trigger an action directly from the Live View page. These buttons are configured under Setup > Live View Config > Layout. Click these buttons to manually start and stop events.

Use the Snapshot button to capture a snapshot of the image currently being displayed in the window. Right-click on the image to save it in JPEG format on your computer.

The Live View toolbar displays the following buttons:

The Play/Stop buttons start and stop the live video stream.

The Snapshot button takes a snapshot of the currently displayed image. The Snapshot function and the target directory for saving snapshots can be configured from AMC (AXIS Media Control), which is available from the Windows Control Panel (Internet Explorer only).

Click the View Full Screen button and the video image will fill the entire screen area. No other windows will be visible. Press Esc (Escape) on the computer keyboard to cancel full screen view.

AXIS 231D/232D - Using the Network Dome Camera

Pan/Tilt/Zoom controls

The controls available for the Pan/Tilt/Zoom (PTZ) are displayed on the Live View by default. These are enabled/disabled for specified users by the administrator under System Options > Security > Users > User List.

The Pan Tilt and Zoom bars control their respective functions in two different ways. Clicking anywhere on the bar's gradient allows for a 'smooth' adjustment of the camera's position, while clicking on the arrows at the two ends of the bar cause a stepped, incremental change

• the Pan bar - moves the camera to the right and left

• the Tilt bar - tips the camera up and down

• the Zoom bar - zooms the view in and out

• the Focus bar - adjusts the focus

• the Iris bar - adjusts the brightness of the image

Clicking on the bars themselves or on the arrows at the end of the bars will move the camera to a new position.

Note: Setting the iris and focus manually will disable Auto iris/Auto focus.

Each position on the bar represents a defined position in the camera’s range of movement, with the center of the bar representing the point midway between the two extremes of movement.

Clicking a position directly on the bar moves the camera directly to the new position in one smooth movement. Clicking on the arrows at the ends of a bar causes a stepped, incremental change.

Click-in-image

The PTZ device can also be controlled using click-in-image movement, which has two different types of navigation; Center and Joystick.

Center mode means that when clicking in the image, the camera view will center on the absolute position that was clicked.

AXIS 231D/232D - Using the Network Dome Camera

Joystick mode moves the camera in the direction of the mouse pointer. By clicking and holding the mouse button down in the image, the PTZ device moves the camera in that direction, relative to the center of the image. The further from the center the image is clicked, the greater the movement. The camera stops moving when the button is released.

Focus and Iris Controls

The Focus and Iris (image brightness) can be adjusted manually by using the control bars, or they can be set for automatic adjustment, by clicking the Auto Iris and Auto Focus buttons.

Preset Positions

These presets are selected from the drop-down Source list on the Live View page and will move and/or zoom the camera to a pre-defined position, i.e. to cover an area of particular interest. Events can also be configured to go to preset positions when triggered. For information on setting up preset positions, please see the online help.

Using CGI links to control PTZ devices

User-defined CGI links on the Live View page can be used to issue HTTP API requests, e.g. PTZ commands. These links are configured in the Live View Layout settings, see

Dome Configuration, on page 26 and

page 23.

The Control panel

Click the Ctrl panel button to display the control panel, where the following settings are available:

• Auto focus: Automatically adjusts the image focus.

• Auto iris: Automatically adjusts the amount of light reaching the camera and gives the best results, This also protects the image sensor from strong light.

• Backlight comp: Enabling backlight compensation makes the subject clearer if the image background is too bright, or if the subject is too dark.

• Navigation mode: “Center” will move the camera view to center on the position that was clicked. “Joystick” m oves the camera in the direction indicated by a mouse click, relative to the center of the image. The fur ther from the center the image is clicked, the greater the movement.

AXIS 231D/232D - Using the Network Dome Camera

• IR cut filter - when set to off, the camera will be able to “see” infrared light, e.g. at night, thus making the image clearer. The image is shown in black & white when the IR cut filter is off. Set to Auto to automatically turn the filter off when the available visible light falls below the minimum requirement.

• Shortcuts - These buttons can be configured to provide direct access to various built-in auxiliary commands provided by the PTZ driver. See Advanced - Ctrl Panel

on page 26.

Pan/Tilt/Zoom Control Queue

This means that the time the user is in control of the PTZ settings is limited and that a queue of users has been set up. Use the buttons to request or release control of the Pan/Tilt/Zoom controllers.

The Pan/Tilt/Zoom Control Queue is set up by the administrator under: Dome Configuration > Control Queue > PTZ Control Queue.

For more information on using Pan/Tilt/Zoom controls, please see page 10

AXIS 231D/232D - Video Streams

Video Streams

The AXIS 231D/232D provides several different image and video stream formats. The type to use depends on your requirements and on the properties of your network.

The Live View page in the AXIS 231D/232D provides access to Motion JPEG and MPEG-4 video streams, as well as to single JPEG images. Other applications and clients can also access these video streams/images directly, without going via the Live View page.

Stream Types

Motion JPEG

This format uses standard JPEG still images in the video stream. These images are then displayed and updated at a rate sufficient to create a stream that shows constantly updated motion.

The Motion JPEG stream uses considerable amounts of bandwidth, but also provides excellent image quality and access to each and every individual image contained in the stream.

Note also that multiple clients accessing Motion JPEG streams can use different image settings.

MPEG-4

This is a video compression standard that makes good use of bandwidth, and which can provide high quality video streams at less than 1 Mbit/s.

Notes: • MPEG-4 is licensed technology. The AXIS 231D/232D includes one viewing client license. Installing

additional unlicensed copies of the viewing client is prohibited. To purchase additional licenses, contact your Axis reseller.

• All clients viewing the MPEG-4 stream must use the same image settings.

The MPEG-4 standard provides scope for a large range of different coding tools for use by various applications in different situations, and the AXIS 231D/232D provides certain subsets of these tools. These are represented as Video object types, which are selected for use with different viewing clients. The supported video object types are:

• Simple - sets the coding type to H.263, as used by e.g. QuickTime™.

• Advanced Simple - sets the coding type to MPEG-4 Part 2, as used by AMC (AXIS Media Control)

When using MPEG-4 it is also possible to control the bit rate, which in turn allows the amount of bandwidth usage to be controlled. CBR (Constant Bit Rate) is used to achieve a specific bit rate by varying the quality of the MPEG-4 stream. When using VBR (Variable Bit Rate), the quality of the video stream is kept as constant as possible, at the cost of a varying bit rate.

AXIS 231D/232D - Video Streams

MPEG-4 protocols and communication methods

To deliver live streaming video over IP networks, various combinations of transport protocols and broadcast methods are employed.

• RTP (Realtime Transport Protocol) is a protocol that allows programs to manage the real-time transmission of multimedia data, via unicast or multicast.

• RTSP (Real Time Streaming Protocol) serves as a control protocol, to negotiate which transport protocol to use for the stream. RTSP is thus used by a viewing client to start a unicast session, see below.

• UDP (User Datagram Protocol) is a communications protocol that offers limited service for exchanging data in a network that uses the Internet Protocol (IP). UDP is an alterna tive to the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP). The advantage of UDP is that it is not required to deliver all data and may drop network packets when ther e is e.g. network congestion. This is suitable for live video, as there is no point in re-transmitting old information that will not be displayed anyway.

• Unicasting is communication between a single sender and a single receiver over a network. This means that the video stream goes independently to each user , and e ach user gets their own stream. A benefit of unicasting is that if one stream fails, it only affects one user.

• Multicast is bandwidth-conserving technology that reduces bandwidth usage by simultaneously delivering a single stream of information to multiple network recipients. This technology is used primarily on delimited networks (intranets), as each user needs an uninterrupted data flow and should not rely on network routers.

How to stream MPEG-4

Deciding on the combination of protocols and methods to use depends on your viewing requirements, and on the properties of your network.

RTP+RTSP

This method (actually RTP over UDP and RTSP over TCP) should be your first consideration for live video, especially when it is important to always have an up-to-date video stream, even if some images do get dropped. This can be configured as multicast or unicast.

Multicasting provides the most efficient usage of bandwidth, especially when there are large numbers of clients viewing simultaneously. Note however, that a multicast broadcast cannot pass a network router unless the router is configured to allow this. It is thus not possible to multicast over e.g. the Internet.

Unicasting should be used for video-on-demand broadcasting. However, if more and more unicast clients connect simultaneously, the server will at some point become overloaded. There is also a maximum of 20 simultaneous viewers to be considered.

AXIS 231D/232D - Video Streams

RTP/RTSP

This unicast method is RTP tunneled over RTSP. This can be used to exploit the fact that it is relatively simple to configure firewalls to allow RTSP traffic.

RTP/RTSP/HTTP or RTP/RTSP/HTTPS

These two methods can also be used to traverse firewalls. Firewalls are commonly configured to allow the HTTP protocol, thus allowing RTP to be tunneled.

The AXIS Media Control

The recommended method of accessing live video (MPEG-4 and/or Motion JPEG) from the AXIS 231D/232D is to use the AXIS Media Control (AMC) in Microsoft Internet Explorer for Windows. This ActiveX component is automatically installed on first use, after which it can be configured by opening the AMC Control Panel applet from the Windows Control Panel. Alternatively, right-click the video image in Internet Explorer.

Configuring the Network Dome Camera

This section describes how to configure the AXIS 231D/232D and is intended for the product Administrator who has unrestricted access to all Setup tools and Operator who has access to Video & Image, Live View Config and Event Configuration. S ee the section on Security, on page 34 for more information on user access control.

The AXIS 231D/232D is configured under Setup from a standard browser.

Accessing the Setup Tools

Follow the instructions below to access the Setup Tools from a Web browser.

1. Start the Web browser and enter the IP address or domain name of the AXIS 231D/232D in the location/address field.

2. The Live View page is now displayed. Click Setup to display the Setup tools.

Overview of the Setup Tools

Setup tools

AXIS 231D/232D - Configuring the Network Dome Camera

Video & Image Settings

The following descriptions offer examples of the available features in the AXIS 231D/232D. For details of each setting, please refer to the online help files which are available from each page. Click

to access the help files.

Image Settings

To optimize the video images according to your requirements, modify the following settings under Image Appearance. Each setting is described in the online help files

All configuration of images and overlays will affect the performance of the network camera, depending on the usage and the available bandwidth.

• High resolution generates larger files

• Lower compression improves image quality, but generates larger files

• Black & White uses less bandwidth than Color

• Rotating the image 90 or 270 degrees will lower the maximum frame rate See also the specifications for frame rates and bandwidth in General performance

considerations, on page 54.

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