Axis Communications AXIS 214 PTZ User Manual

AXIS 214 PTZ

Network Camera

User’s Manual

About this Document

This manual is intended for administrators and users of the AXIS 214 PTZ PTZ Network Camera, and is applicable for software release 4.30. Previous experience of networking will be of use when installing and using this product. Some knowledge of UNIX or Linux-based systems may also be beneficial, for developing shell scripts and applications. Later versions of this document will be posted to the Axis Website, as required.

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 contains licensed third-party software. See the menu item “About” in the product’s user interface for more information.

This product contains source code copyright Apple Computer, Inc., under the terms of Apple Public Source License 2.0 (see http://www.opensource.apple.com/apsl/). The source code is available from: http://developer.apple.com/darwin/projects/bonjour/

Legal Considerations

Video 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.

Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC)

If use of this equipment causes 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 requirements for immunity according to EN55024/1998 residential, commercial, and industry. Warning! This is a Class A product. In a domestic environment this product may cause radio interference, in

AXIS COMMUNICATIONS

<Product Name> Quick User’s Guide

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

Ethernet, Internet Explorer, Linux, Microsoft, Mozilla, OS/2, UNIX, Wfine, 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. Axis Communications AB is independent of Sun Microsystems Inc. UPnP certification mark of the UPnP Bonjour is a trademark of Apple Computer Inc.

Implementers Corporation.

is a

Support

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 firmware updates

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

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

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

Safety Notice - Battery Replacement

The AXIS 214 PTZ uses a 3.0V CR2032 Lithium battery as the power supply for its internal real-time clock (RTC). Under normal conditions this battery will 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 the battery needs replacing. The battery should not be replaced unless required!

If the battery does need replacing, please observe the following:

• 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 214 PTZ

Table of contents

Product Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

Rear panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

Accessing the camera. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

Accessing the camera from a browser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

Accessing the camera from the Internet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10

The Live View page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11

Pan/Tilt/Zoom controls. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12

The control panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12

Viewer controls. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13

PTZ Control Queue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14

Video and Audio Streams. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15

Video Stream Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15

Audio Stream Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16

MPEG-4 protocols and communication methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16

How to stream MPEG-4. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17

AXIS Media Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17

Other methods of accessing the video stream. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18

The Setup Tools. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20

Accessing the setup tools from a browser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20

Video & Image settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21

Overlay Image Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22

Advanced Camera Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24

MPEG-4. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25

AXIS Media Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25

Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 6

Advanced Audio Settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28

Live View Config. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30

Layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30

HTML Examples. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33

PTZ Configuration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34

Sequence Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34

Advanced - Limits. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34

AXIS 214 PTZ

Event Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36

Event Servers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36

Event Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37

Motion Detection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39

Port Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40

System Options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41

Security - Users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41

Security - IP Address Filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41

Security - HTTPS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42

Date & Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42

Network - Basic TCP/IP Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43

Network - Advanced TCP/IP Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44

Network - SOCKS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45

Network - SMTP (email). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46

Network - SNMP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46

Network - UPnP™. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46

Network - RTP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46

Ports & Devices - I/O Ports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46

Maintenance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46

Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47

Advanced. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47

Resetting to the factory default settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48

Connections. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49

I/O inputs and outputs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49

Schematic connection diagram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50

Connecting audio equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50

Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51

Checking the Firmware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51

Updating the Firmware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51

Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52

Technical Specifications. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56

General performance considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59

Optimizing your system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59

Frame rates - Motion JPEG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .60

AXIS 214 PTZ

Frame rates - MPEG-4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .60

Bandwidth. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .61

Glossary of Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .62

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .69

AXIS 214 PTZ - Product Description

Product Description

The AXIS 214 PTZ is a fully-featured PTZ Network Camera for security surveillance and remote monitoring. With its removable automatic IR filter, the camera supports automatic day & night functionality,

The AXIS 214 PTZ is equipped with 1 input and 1 output, for connecting external devices, e.g. door switches, etc. Two-way audio is supported by Line/Mic In and Line Out ports.

Images from the camera are made available on the network as real-time, full frame rate Motion JPEG streams and/or MPEG-4 video streams. Up to 10 viewers can access the AXIS 214 PTZ simultaneously when using Motion JPEG and MPEG-4 unicast. The number of simultaneous viewers can be increased by using multicast MPEG-4. Video can be viewed in 5 resolutions (up to 768x576).

The AXIS 214 PTZ contains advanced scheduling tools that can be used to trigger an event. As the camera is designed for use in security systems, it is also equipped with security features such as IP address filtering, HTTPS and multi-level users. The built-in web server provides full access to all features through the use of a standard web browser.

AXIS 214 PTZ - Product Description

Rear panel

The rear panel contains all of the connections available on the AXIS 214 PTZ. The view shown here is from a ceiling mounted camera.

Control button

I/O terminal connector

Power connector

Power indicator

Network indicator

Status indicator

Line out

Line/Mic in

Network connector

Control button - This is used to restore the factory default settings, as described in Resetting

to the factory default settings, on page 48.

Indicators - After completion of the startup and self-test routines, the multi-colored

Network, Status and Power indicators flash as follows:

Amber Flashes for activity on a 10 Mbit/s network

Network

Status

Power

Green Flashes for activity on a 100 Mbit/s network None No connection Green Normal operation Amber Flashes during startup, reset to factory default and firmware upgrade Green Normal operation Amber Flashes green/amber during upgrade

I/O Terminal connector - The I/O terminal connector provides the physical interface to one

transistor output, one digital input and an auxiliary connection point for DC power. For more information, see

I/O inputs and outputs, on page 49.

AXIS 214 PTZ - Product Description

Network connector - The AXIS 214 PTZ connects to the network via a standard network

cable. The speed of the local network segment (10BaseT/100BaseTX Ethernet) is automatically detected.

Line Out - For connecting a public address (PA) system or an active speaker with a built-in

amplifier. A stereo connector must be used for the audio out.

Line/Mic In - Input for a mono microphone, or for a line-in mono signal (only the left

channel is used from a stereo signal)

Power connector - For connection of the power adapter (included).

AXIS 214 PTZ - Accessing the camera

Accessing the camera

The AXIS 214 PTZ can be used with most standard operating systems, and supports Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.x or later, Netscape 7.x or later and Mozilla 1.4 or later.

Accessing the camera from a browser

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

2. Enter the IP address or host name of the

AXIS 214 PTZ in the Location/ Address

field of your browser.

3. Enter the user name and password set by

the administrator. If required, click Yes to install the AXIS Media Control (AMC).

4. The Live View page is displayed in your browser.

Note: - if this is the first time the camera is

accessed, the ‘Configure Root Password’ dialog will

be displayed on the screen. “Root” is the default administrator user name.

Setting the password for root

1. Enter a password and then re-enter it to confirm the

spelling. Click OK.

2. The ‘Enter Network Password’ dialog will

appear. Enter the User

name: root.

3. Enter the password as set

above, and click OK. If the

password is lost, the camera must be reset to the factory default settings. See page

48.

AXIS 214 PTZ - Accessing the camera

Notes:

•The layout of the Live View page in the AXIS 214 PTZ 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.

•If the AXIS 214 PTZ is to be placed upright on a desktop, the image must be rotated. Go to Setup > Video & Image and set Rotate image to 180 degrees.

•To view streaming video with AXIS Media Control (AMC) in Microsoft Internet Explorer, you must set your browser to allow the to be installed on your computer. The first time an MPEG-4 video stream is accessed, AMC also installs an MPEG-4 decoder for viewing the video stream. As a license is required for each instance of the decoder, the product administrator may have disabled the installation. If your workstation restricts the use of additional software components, the camera can be configured to use a Java applet for updating JPEG images. See the online help for more information.

Accessing the camera from the Internet

Once installed, the camera is accessible on your local network (LAN). To access the camera from the Internet you must configure your router/firewall to allow incoming data traffic. For security reasons this is usually done on a specific port. Please refer to the documentation for your router/firewall for further instructions.

For more information, please visit the AXIS Internet Dynamic DNS Service at www.axiscam.net or, for Technical notes on this and other topics, visit the Axis Support Web at www.axis.com/techsup

AXIS 214 PTZ - Accessing the camera

The Live View page

The following provides an overview of the controls found on the Live View page. If the

AXIS 214 PTZ has been customized (from Setup > Live View Config > Layout), the

controls will be displayed accordingly:

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

The 2 types of Output button each control the output directly from the Live View

page. These are configured

under Setup > Live View Config > Layout.

These buttons start/stop the Sequence Mode which automatically

displays the view from preset positions at set intervals. Sequence mode is

configured in Setup > PTZ Configuration > Sequence Mode.

Pulse - click this button to activate the

output 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.

The source list is used to select the preset positions already

configured in the camera. These are created in Setup > PTZ Configuration > Preset Positions.

The Manual trigger 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.

AXIS 214 PTZ - Accessing the camera

Pan/Tilt/Zoom controls

The Live View page also displays the Pan/Tilt/Zoom controls.

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, whilst clicking on the arrows at the two ends of the bar cause a stepped, incremental change.

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

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 reach-

ing 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” moves 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.

• 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.

AXIS 214 PTZ - Accessing the camera

Viewer controls

The default viewer to use for displaying moving images is selected from Setup >> Live View Config >> Layout.

The AMC viewer toolbar is available in Microsoft Internet Explorer only. See AXIS Media Control, on page 17 for more information. The AMC viewer 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.

Click the Speaker and Microphone buttons to switch the sound off and on for

the speaker and microphone, respectively.

Use the slider to control the volume on the speaker and microphone. The volume can be set between 0 and 100.

When using Half-duplex mode this button toggles between allowing you to

speak and listen. The first icon indicates that you can talk and the speaker attached to the camera will play your voice. The second indicates that you will hear audio from the camera, but no audio will be sent to web clients. When in

simplex talk mode, the icon toggles between allowing you to speak and is dimmed

when you do not want other clients to receive any audio.

Server push (not available for Microsoft Internet Explorer)

With this method, the AXIS 214 PTZ maintains and controls an open HTTP connection to the browser and sends data as and when required, for as long as required.

QuickTime

For use with MPEG-4 only. Note that in the settings for Video & Image > Advanced > MPEG-4, the Video object type must be set to Simple.

Java applet

This alternative uses a Java applet to update the images in the browser. No download is required. Note that when this alternative is selected, external video sources will not be available on the live view page, and audio will be mono-directional only (to the client only).

AXIS 214 PTZ - Accessing the camera

Still Image

Displays still images only. Hit your browser’s Refresh button to view a new image.

PTZ Control Queue

Only one user can use the Pan/Tilt/Zoom controls at any one time. When multiple users are accessing the AXIS 214 PTZ’s Live View page, they must be placed in a queue and assigned a set period of time during which they have the use of the PTZ controls. Use the buttons to request or release control of the PTZ controls.

The PTZ Control Queue is set up by the administrator under PTZ Configuration > Control Queue.

AXIS 214 PTZ - Video and Audio Streams

Video and Audio Streams

The AXIS 214 PTZ provides several different image and video formats. The type to use depends on your requirements and on the properties of your network.

The Live View page in the AXIS 214 PTZ 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 and audio streams/images directly, without going via the Live View page.

Video 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.

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 214 PTZ 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.

Notes:

•MPEG-4 is licensed technology. The AXIS 214 PTZ 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.

AXIS 214 PTZ - Video and Audio Streams

Audio Stream Types

The audio stream types for audio are:

• G.711 - International standard for encoding wired-telephone audio. Uses PCM samples to compress audio where higher signal values are compressed more than lower values. In Axis products, this sets the coding type to μ-law 64 kbit/s.

• G.726 - Uses PCM samples to code the difference between samples (ADPCM). Reduces bandwidth without losing too much useful audio. In Axis products, this sets the coded bit rate to 24 or 32 kbit/s.

All stream types are ITU-T standards and operate on frequencies of up to 4 kHz.

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 there 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 each 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 users. This technology is used primarily on delimited networks (intranets), as each user needs an uninterrupted data flow and should not rely on network routers.

AXIS 214 PTZ - Video and Audio Streams

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. Setting the preferred method(s) is done in the control applet for AMC, which is found in the Windows Control Panel. When this has been set, AMC will test all the selected methods in the specified order, until the first functioning one is found.

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, so that there is no video traffic on the network until a client connects and requests the stream. However, as more and more unicast clients connect, the traffic on the network will increase and may cause congestion. Although there is a maximum of 20 unicast viewers, note that all multicast users combined count as 1 unicast viewer.

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.

AXIS Media Control

The recommended method of accessing live video (MPEG-4 and/or Motion JPEG) and audio from the AXIS 214 PTZ is to use the AXIS Media Control (AMC) in Microsoft Internet Explorer in 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.

AXIS 214 PTZ - Video and Audio Streams

The Setup Tools

The AXIS 214 PTZ is configured from the setup tools, which are available from the link in the web interface. The setup tools can be used by:

• administrators, who have unrestricted access to all the Setup tools

• operators, who have access to the Video & Image, Live View Config and Event Config-

uration settings.

See the section on Security - Users, on page 41 for more information on user access

control.

Accessing the setup tools from a browser

Follow the instructions below:

1. Start the browser and enter the IP address or host name of the AXIS 214 PTZ in the location/address field.

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

Setup tools

The following descriptions offer examples of the available features in the AXIS 214 PTZ. For full details of each setting, please refer to the online help files which are available from each page. Click

to access the help files.

AXIS 214 PTZ - Video & Image settings

Video & Image settings

Image Appearance

Adjust these settings to optimize the video images according to your requirements.

All configuration of images and overlays will affect the performance of the camera, depending on 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

+ 49 hidden pages

Axis Communications AXIS 214 PTZ User Manual

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual

Product Description

Rear panel

Accessing the camera

Accessing the camera from a browser

Accessing the camera from the Internet

The Live View page

Pan/Tilt/Zoom controls

The control panel

Viewer controls

PTZ Control Queue

Video and Audio Streams

Video Stream Types

Audio Stream Types

MPEG-4 protocols and communication methods

How to stream MPEG-4

AXIS Media Control

Other methods of accessing the video stream

The Setup Tools

Accessing the setup tools from a browser

Video & Image settings