Axis Communications 207 - Manual (Page 13)

13 AXIS 207 - Video Streams
Video Streams
The AXIS 207 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 207 provides access to MPEG-4 and Motion JPEG 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.
How to stream MPEG-4
This video compression standard makes good use of bandwidth, and can provide
high-quality video streams at less than 1 Mbit/s. Note that the image settings of the
MPEG-4 stream are the same for all clients.
Deciding on the combination of protocols and methods to use depends on your viewing
requirements, and on the properties of your network. The available options in AMC are:
Unicast RTP This unicast method (RTP over UDP) should be
your first consideration for live unicast video,
especially when it is important to always have
an up-to-date video stream, even if some
images are dropped.
Unicasting is used for video-on-demand broad-
casting, so that there is no video traffic on the
network until a client connects and requests the
stream.
Note: There is a maximum of 10 simultaneous
unicast connections.
RTP over RTSP This unicast method (RTP tunneled over RTSP) is
useful as it is relatively simple to configure fire-
walls to allow RTSP traffic.
RTP over RTSP over
HTTP This unicast method can be used to traverse fire-
walls. Firewalls are commonly configured to
allow the HTTP protocol, thus allowing RTP to be
tunneled.
Multicast RTP This method (RTP over TCP) should be used for live multicast video. The video stream is always
up-to-date, even if some images are dropped.
Multicasting provides the most efficient usage of bandwidth when there are large numbers of clients
viewing simultaneously. A multicast broadcast cannot however, pass a network router unless the
router is configured to allow this. It is thus not possible to multicast over e.g. the Internet.
Note also that all multicast viewers count as one unicast viewer in the maximum total of 10 simulta-
neous connnections.
When the Reconnect Strategy is not enabled, AMC will negotiate with the camera to
determine exactly which transport protocol to use, in the order listed above. This order can
be changed and the options disabled, to suit any specific requirements. See also the AMC
User’s manual, available from www.axis.com/techsup
Important!
MPEG-4 is licensed technology. The AXIS 207 includes one viewing client license.
Installing additional unlicensed copies of the viewing client is prohibited. To pur-
chase additional licenses, contact your Axis reseller.