Axis 214 PTZ User Manual

Also see for AXIS 214 PTZ: Specifications Product guide User manual Operating instructions Installation guide

12AXIS 214 PTZMPEG-4 protocols and communication methodsTo deliver live streaming video over IP networks, various combinations of transport protocols and broadcastmethods are employed.• RTP (Realtime Transport Protocol) is a protocol that allows programs to manage the real-timetransmission of multimedia data, via unicast or multicast.• RTSP (Real Time Streaming Protocol) serves as a control protocol, to negotiate which transportprotocol to use for the stream. RTSP is thus used by a viewing client to start a unicast session, seebelow.• UDP (User Datagram Protocol) is a communications protocol that offers limited service forexchanging data in a network that uses the Internet Protocol (IP). UDP is an alternative to theTransmission Control Protocol (TCP). The advantage of UDP is that it is not required to deliver alldata and may drop network packets when there is e.g. network congestion. This is suitable for livevideo, 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. Thismeans 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 simultaneouslydelivering a single stream of information to multiple network users. This technology is used pri-marily on delimited networks (intranets), as each user needs an uninterrupted data flow andshould not rely on network routers.How to stream MPEG-4Deciding the combination of protocols and methods to use depends on your viewing requirements, and onthe properties of your network. The available options in AMC are:AMC negotiates with the camera to determine the transport protocol to use in the order listed above. Thisorder can be changed and the options disabled, to suit specific requirements.AXIS Media ControlThe recommended method of accessing live video and audio from the AXIS 214 PTZ is to use the AXISMedia Control (AMC) in Microsoft Internet Explorer in Windows. This ActiveX component is automaticallyinstalled on first use, after which it can be configured by opening the AMC Control Panel applet from theWindows Control Panel. Alternatively, right-click the video image in Internet Explorer.Unicast RTP This unicast method (RTP over UDP) shouldbe your first consideration for live unicastvideo, especially when it is important toalways have an up-to-date video stream,even if some images are dropped. Unicasting is used for video streaming, so that there isno video traffic on the network until a client connectsand requests the stream.Note that there are a maximum of 20 simultaneousunicast connections.RTP over RTSP This unicast method (RTP tunneled overRTSP) is useful as it is relatively simple toconfigure firewalls to allow RTSP traffic.RTP over RTSP overHTTPThis unicast method can be used to traversefirewalls. Firewalls are commonly configuredto allow the HTTP protocol, thus allowingRTP to be tunneled.Multicast RTP This method (RTP over UDP) should be used for live multicast video. The video stream is alwaysup-to-date, even if some images are dropped.Multicasting provides the most efficient usage of bandwidth when there are large numbers of cli-ents viewing simultaneously. A multicast broadcast cannot however, pass a network router unlessthe router is configured to allow this. It is not possible to multicast over the Internet, for example.Note also that all multicast viewers count as one unicast viewer in the maximum total of 10simultaneous connections.