User Guide

AXIS 211W - Video Stream
12
Video Stream
The AXIS 211W 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 211W provides access to MPEG-4 and Motion JPEG video streams, as well as
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 DVD-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 video when using Unicast,
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
broadcasting, so that there is no video traf
-
fic on the network until a client connects
and requests the stream.
Note: There is a maximum of 20 simulta-
neous viewers.
RTP over RTSP This unicast method (RTP tunneled over RTSP) is use-
ful as it is relatively simple to configure firewalls to
allow RTSP traffic.
RTP over RTSP over HTTP This unicast method can be used to traverse firewalls.
Firewalls are commonly configured to allow the HTTP
protocol, thus allowing RTP to be tunneled.
Multicast RTP This multicast method (RTP over UDP) should be your
first consideration for live video when using Multicast,
especially when it is important to always have an
up-to-date video stream, even if some images are
dropped.
Multicasting provides the most efficient
usage of bandwidth, especially when there
are large numbers of clients viewing simul
-
taneously. 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.
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.
Important!
MPEG-4 is licensed technology. The AXIS 211W includes one viewing client license. Installing additional
unlicensed copies of the viewing client is prohibited. To purchase additional licenses, contact your Axis
reseller.