3.25Camera

The Camera object shows the live picture of an IP camera on a page. The camera is never contacted by the apps directly: the gateway pulls the RTSP stream from the camera and relays it to the apps.

#When to use it

Use it for door, gate, garden or room cameras that offer an RTSP stream. The same object also supplies the picture for missed-call snapshots when an Intercom object points at it.

#What you need first

• A camera on the same network as the gateway, with RTSP enabled and its IP address, RTSP port, user name and password known.
• The video stream must be H.264 (see below).
• For viewing away from the building: a Cloud Connection Policy other than Local (see Server > Gateway), and for the direct remote option the router forwards described below.

#Properties

The Label, Text Style and Access Control groups, and the Width, Height, Position X, Position Y and Size % fields, work as described in Common properties. The new Camera object is 360 by 230. It has no Show Label setting and no On/Off image, because the tile draws the live picture. Rotation, Mirror, Image Fitting and Image Display also appear, but they have no visible effect on the live tile.

#Camera

Image path presets, filled in when you pick the Type:

#How it behaves in the apps

On every deploy the gateway lists all Camera objects that have a Local address and gives each one a stream path named veltnova- followed by the object's id. It keeps that stream connected to the camera all the time, not only while someone is watching. This makes the picture appear faster, at the cost of a permanent connection to each camera.

The gateway's media service listens on these ports:

• Local network: plays the gateway's RTSP relay at rtsp://<gateway address>:8554/veltnova-<id>. The camera's credentials stay on the gateway. Tapping the camera tile opens a full-screen view.
• Cloud mode: the gateway starts relaying the camera to the cloud when the app opens it, and the app plays it from there. This is the H.264 case described above.
• Direct remote viewing (Cloud Connection Policy Local + Remote or Local + Remote + Cloud): the Configurator reminds you that the site's router must forward 8889/TCP and 8189/UDP to the gateway. Without both, remote viewers fall back to the cloud if it is enabled, and otherwise cannot see the camera away from the building.

#Example

A Hikvision camera on the driveway:

1. Add a Camera object to the page and set Label to Driveway.
2. Type: Hikvision Camera. Image path becomes Streaming/Channels/101.
3. Use RTSP: on. Stream options: rtsp-tcp. Audio stream: Disabled.
4. Local address: 192.168.1.16. Local port: 554.
5. Username: admin. Security Password: the camera's own password.
6. Check that Generated RTSP URL reads rtsp://admin:****@192.168.1.16:554/Streaming/Channels/101.
7. Deploy. Open the page in the app; the picture should appear within a few seconds.

#Tips and common problems

• No picture and an empty Generated RTSP URL: enter the Local address, and make sure Use RTSP is on.
• Test the RTSP address in a media player on a PC on the same network before blaming the gateway. The Generated RTSP URL shows the password masked, so type the real password in the player.
• Picture works at home but not away: check the Cloud Connection Policy, and that the stream is H.264.
• Reolink cameras default to the sub-stream (Preview_01_sub) because the full-resolution main stream can fail to play on phones and tablets. Change the path to Preview_01_main only if every viewing device can decode it.
• Many cameras accept only a few simultaneous RTSP connections. The gateway keeps one permanent connection per camera, so avoid also pointing other recorders at the same stream if the camera is limited.
• The camera address must be reachable from the gateway, not from the phone.

#See also

• Intercom
• Common properties
• Intercom and door stations
• Connecting the apps
• Common problems