Tag: Axis

Motion Event PTZ Presets with the Axis M5000-G in exacqVision

Post author By Bhargav Atturu
Post date October 11, 2024

Overview

The Axis M5000-G PTZ camera is a multi-sensor camera containing three stationary wide-angle lenses around the circumference of the camera body and one center-mounted PTZ lens. This guide is intended to help users automate the positioning of the PTZ lens upon events, such as motion detection.

Requirements

Axis M5000-G PTZ camera, with firmware 11.10.61 or higher
exacqVision Server 24.09 or higher

NOTE: While this article is written specifically with the M5000-G PTZ in mind, the setup of Event Linking to reposition PTZ cameras based on the motion detection from other sensors, and even other cameras, can be used with any capable devices.

Camera Configuration

Log into the camera’s web browser interface.
Configure the initial user credentials as required, if you have not already done so.
Open the PTZ menu. You may configure the PTZ presets within the camera on the Preset Positions screen, or choose to configure presets within exacqVision at a later stage.
If desired, configure the range of motion for the PTZ turret on the Limits screen within the camera. These settings cannot be configured within exacqVision. See the device’s help file or manual for details on setting PTZ limits.
The Motion tab within the PTZ settings configures the behavior of the camera during motor movement of the PTZ turret. Motion detection may be configured within the Video Motion Detection application under the Apps menu.

Connecting the Camera to exacqVision

Use the AXIS VAPIX option from the Device Type menu when adding the Axis M5000-G PTZ camera.

Refer to the exacqVision Client User Manual or watch one of our videos on how to Add IP Cameras for the steps to connect the camera to your exacqVision Server.

Motion Detection

If you chose not to configure motion detection zones within the camera, do this now for use in the next steps.

Expand the left-hand navigation tree under Camera Recording.
Select the sensor to be configured. When adding the M5000-G PTZ camera to exacqVision, each sensor appears individually on the navigation tree as a separate camera.
On the Camera Settings page for the selected sensor, use the Display tab to change the Name. You may find it helpful to identify each sensor and which one is the PTZ. This will be useful in later steps.
Use the settings on the Motion tab to define the motion detection regions within the sensor’s field of vision. You may need to adjust the sensitivity, percentage, and time to trigger settings to best suit your installation environment.

PTZ Presets

When adding the M5000-G PTZ camera to exacqVision, each sensor appears individually on the navigation tree as a separate camera with the PTZ turret as the first one. A preset is a saved position and field of view that can be used to quickly point the PTZ lens to a specific region of interest such as a display or locked cabinet.

Expand the left-hand navigation tree under Camera Recording.
Select the PTZ sensor.
 
NOTE: Due to this camera reporting to exacqVision that it is a PTZ camera all sensors will display a Mechanical PTZ tab, but there are no motors associated with the non-PTZ sensors.
On the Camera Settings page for the PTZ sensor, select the Mechanical PTZ tab, then choose the Presets tab beneath it.
If you configured PTZ Presets within the camera they will be shown in the Presets panel.
Create new Presets by using the Pan/Tilt and Zoom controls to position the camera’s field of view as you’d like, then press the New button to Name your preset before selecting the Apply button to save your changes. Presets may also be removed by selecting them from the list and pressing the Delete button.
In the example below, we have created a preset to display a file cabinet after creating a motion detection region for this area on Sensor 3. This may just as easily be focused on a specific entry way, display case, or any other object of interest.

Using Event Linking to Move the PTZ on Motion Events

PTZ presets may be activated manually by those monitoring exacqVision, but can become more powerful tools when automated. In the next steps you will configure exacqVision to direct the PTZ turret of the M5000-G camera to preset locations when motion is detected by the stationary lenses. You may even choose to activate a preset when motion is detected by other cameras nearby.

From the left-hand navigation tree in the exacqVision Client, select Event Linking.
Begin by pressing the New button near the bottom of the window.
From the Event Type panel on the left, select Video Motion.
Use the Event Source panel to locate and select the first of your stationary camera sensors.
From the Action Type panel in the center-right of the window, select PTZ Preset.
Using the Action Target panel, select the name of a preset configured for a region within the sensor’s field of view.
Press Apply to save your changes.
You’ve now configured the system so that when motion is detected by the first sensor it will reposition the PTZ turret to examine an area within that sensor’s field of view with greater detail.
Press the New button again to repeat Steps 3-6 for each sensor and preset combination.
The following images show the Live view of all four sensors from the camera in Live viewing mode. The stream from the PTZ turret sensor is shown in the upper-left corner and moves to the file cabinet when motion is detected.

If you have a secondary camera nearby configured for motion detection or AI driven Object Classification, you may also select these using the Event Types (Video Motion or Analytics), then select the other camera from the Event Source window. Event Linking may combine other event types as well to take a PTZ Preset action, such as Serial Profiles to position a PTZ lens towards a cash register during sales transactions, or Input Triggers to position the lens towards a door when opened. See our Event Linking Video for more information, or refer to the Related Articles section below.

Tags Multisensor, M5000-G, 21469, Guest, Axis, PTZ, Event Linking

User Guides Documentation Integrations Categories Products exacqVision Integrations

Axis Q19 Series Thermal Cameras Integration Guide

Post author By Bhargav Atturu
Post date September 18, 2024

Description

Axis thermal cameras provide heat-based detection for monitoring property or detecting thermal anomalies which could lead to incidents involving smoke or fire. This guide is intended to introduce the use of these devices with your exacqVision VMS software.

Requirements

Axis Q19 Series Camera
Camera firmware 11.8 or higher
exacqVision Server/Client 24.09 or higher

At the time of writing this article, these instructions pertain to the Axis Q19 Series of cameras and assume you have already located the device on your network and logged into the web browser interface.

Thermometry Configuration

Detecting a Temperature Change (Temperature Tripwire)

Expand the Thermometry menu from the left-hand side, then select Temperature Reading.
Select a color palette of your choice from the Palette menu on the right.
Set the Temperature unit you intend to use, either Celsius or Fahrenheit.
Select Temperature detection, beneath the Thermometry menu on the left.
Back on the right, select Add detection area.
Use the handles to drag out the bounding area on the video panel to highlight the polygonal area of interest.
Provide a descriptive name in the Name field, such as “High Temperature” or “Low Temperature” depending on what you may be concerned about sensing.
Enable the Use area control to enable monitoring this detection area.
Set Temperature in area choice.
- If detecting a high temperature is desired, choose ‘Warmest Spot’ from the Temperature in area options. Then select ‘Above’ and enter the temperature degrees you wish to be alerted at.
- If detecting a low temperature is desired, choose ‘Coolest Spot’ from the Temperature in area options. Then select ‘Below’ and enter the temperature in degrees you wish to be alerted at.
You may wish to adjust the Delay field time if some fluctuation is expected in the region. This setting will allow the event to trigger only after remaining above/below the set temperature threshold for a given amount of time.
The Include detection area in video stream selector determines if, or when, the bounding area is included in the video stream as it will be sent to exacqVision.
Checking the Include temperature checkbox will display the detected temperature.

Detecting Smoldering Fire

The Thermometry functionality of the camera combined with the Early Fire Detection app may be used to sense if a fire could ignite in a designated area. The early fire detection app filters uninteresting moving objects, to minimize false alarms.

Expand the Thermometry menu from the left-hand side, then select Temperature Reading.
Select a color palette of your choice from the Palette menu on the right.

NOTE: Axis recommends avoiding the use of palettes beginning with ‘Iso’ for best performance, preferably using the ‘White-hot’ option.
Set the Temperature unit you intend to use, either Celsius or Fahrenheit.
Select Temperature detection, beneath the Thermometry menu on the left.
Back on the right, select Add detection area.
Use the handles to drag out the bounding area on the video panel to highlight the polygonal area of interest.
Provide a descriptive name in the Name field. If you were monitoring a waste disposal area for the potential of a fire, you might name this “Waste Bin”.
Enable the Use area control to enable monitoring this detection area.
Use the Temperature in area control to select ‘Warmest Spot’ and ‘Above’.
Within the temperature field, enter 50°C (122°F)
Open the Apps menu from the left-hand side of the screen.
Enable the Early Fire Detection app.

NOTE: At the time of this writing, this app is a beta release, version 1.2.0.
Select the Open button for the Early Fire Detection app.
Examine each of the defined detection areas on the right-side of the screen to ensure they are active for early fire detection.

exacqVision Use

Add the camera to your exacqVision Server, using the AXIS VAPIX Device Type, following the steps shown in How to Add IP Cameras – Manual Method.
Select the camera from the left-hand navigation tree to reach the camera settings page.
Select the Analytics tab from the bottom half of the page
A panel lists each analytic from the camera, including each detection region you defined on the camera as well as an ‘AnyArea’ option which acts as an alert when any of the regions have been triggered. Users may define the appearance of bounding areas for each analytic separately.
Users may also configure Event Linking or Event Monitoring actions to occur when any of these analytics are triggered. Use these to perform actions such as sending SMTP email notifications or change views for live viewers. More details on configuring Event Linking and Event Monitoring can be found in the exacqVision Client User Manual or the video links at the bottom of this page.

Tags Thermal, Thermometry, Guest, Axis, Integration Guide, 21288

Documentation Integrations Categories Products exacqVision Integrations

Axis License Plate Verifier Serial Integration Guide

Post author By Bhargav Atturu
Post date May 15, 2024

Overview

Axis offers a camera-based License Plate Verifier application for detecting and reading vehicle license plates. The data from the license plate captures may be viewed within the exacqVision Client as text, sent as serial over IP data. This document provides the steps to set up the integration with exacqVision.

NOTE: This guide is not meant to be a comprehensive guide for the Axis application itself. For greater details on licensing and configuration settings of the Axis License Plate Verifier, please refer to Axis support and documentation.

Requirements

Axis License Plate Verifier is currently supported on specific Axis camera models, using firmware 8.40 and higher. Visit Axis for a list of cameras compatible with this application.

Installing Axis License Plate Verifier

Mount the camera at the best viewing angle for license plate reading. (See User Manual for more information)
Download the Axis License Plate Verifier application.
Login to the camera’s web interface and access the Settings page.
Depending on the camera firmware version, you may find the menu options along the bottom of the page or the side. Navigate to the Apps menu page.
Select the Add or Add App option.
Select the downloaded Axis License Plate Verifier application file.
After successful upload, the Axis License Plate Verifier application will be shown in the list of installed apps.

Licensing

The Axis License Plate Verifier application requires licensing from Axis, purchased separately. Please contact Axis for license orders.

When purchasing, you may be provided with a license code. This code must be used to generate a license key and may be done in one of two ways.

Use the Axis License Key Registration page, to enter the serial number and license code. Download the generated license key file.
Use the automatic key generation feature of the application. This requires that the camera have direct internet connectivity to communicate with Axis.

Firmware 11.x

Select the vertical ellipses on the far-right side of the License Plate Verifier ribbon.
Choose either:

Activate with a license key to upload a key file
Activate license automatically to download from Axis

Enter the license code into the text field provided.
Press the Activate button

Firmware 10.x

Select the License Plate Verifier app
Choose either:

Use the center Install button to upload a key file
Enter the license code into the text field provided, and press the Install button beside it

Configuring the Application

Use the toggle switch to enable the application.
Wait for the Status to indicate the application is Running. Shown below are the indicators for firmware 11.x and 10.x.
Press the Open button to configure the application.
If presented with a setup wizard, select Skip.

The main menu for the application displays tabs for various configuration settings, as follows:

Event log – displays live video from the camera as well as a searchable history of detected plates. Press the Live button to display live video and live updates to the log.

List management – provides the ability to add plate numbers to Allow and Block lists for access control purposes.

Settings – camera image, event, and access control settings.

Integration – configuration settings to send license plate information to external systems.

Refer to the Axis License Plate Verifier documentation for greater details on each setting and optimization for best performance. Each installation site is unique, but a general order of steps to follow will likely include:

Select the Settings tab.
exacqVision integration will not utilize the settings within the Access control section. These settings affect utilization of relays or the camera’s I/O ports to communicate directly with access control devices or compatible access control software.
Within the Image panel, set the Resolution as needed.
The Save full frame setting only affects images saved to the camera’s local storage and does not affect the streaming video received by exacqVision.
Set the Region and Camera location based on the camera’s physical location to help optimize detection of plates expected to be read by the device.
Use the Edit area of interest button to adjust the area the camera will look for license plates. Keep the area as small as possible, while permitting room for vehicles of various sizes and alignment to the entry/exit path.
The Events section configures retention of events saved locally to the camera and does not affect the retention of data saved by exacqVision.
The Detection parameters section allows users to determine how strict the device will be with regard to matching plates listed in the Allow and Block lists. IMPORTANT: License plate character recognition accuracy may vary based on angle to camera, lighting and weather conditions, plate size, etc. These may be important considerations when used for access control.
An Additional Data^BETA is provided in License Plate Verifier versions 2.7.1 and higher to provide Country and Region of the plate. Enhancements in 2.9.19 and higher added Vehicle Type and Color. This data is included in the serial data regardless of being disabled and only controls the display of this data within Axis software.
Utilize the Event log tab to monitor how changes to settings affect the ability to consistently match the license plates seen.

Sending Data to exacqVision

After configuring the License Plate Verifier application for best results, you must configure the application to send data to the exacqVision Server.

Within the License Plate Verifier application, select the Integration tab.
Within the Push event panel, you will configure an active profile.
Ensure the Protocol field is set to TCP.
The Server URL field will be set to the IP address of your exacqVision Server, followed by a port number of your choosing to communicate with exacqVision.
Example: 192.168.0.25:9080 
NOTE: You will enter this port number later when configuring your exacqVision Server to receive communications from the app, and must be a port number unused by other applications or devices communicating with the server.
You may choose to disregard the Device location settings if you’d like but the data entered here will be available in the data feed sent to exacqVision if you need to use it.
The Device ID field may be disregarded as well, but may be helpful if multiple devices are in use. This data will also be available in the data feed sent to exacqVision.
Under Event types, multiple options provide the ability to choose which data points are sent to exacqVision.
New – first detection of a license plate
Update – either a correction of a character on a previously detected license plate, or when a direction is detected as the plate moves and is tracked across the image.
Lost – the last tracked event of the license plate before exiting the camera image, also contains the direction of the license plate.
Depending on the version of License Plate Verifier you are using, enable the Do not send images or Do not send images through HTTP POST toggle control.
Enable START to send event data to server.

exacqVision Serial Port Configuration

Configure the exacqVision Server software to receive the data sent from the License Plate Verifier app.

Open the exacqVision Client software and select the Configuration button (cog wheel icon).
From the navigation tree along the left-hand side, expand the options shown beneath the name of the server.
Select Serial Ports from the tree.
Locate the IP connections panel and select the New button below it.
Enter a helpful name to identify the connection. This example has named this “AxisLPR”.
Select POS from the options in the Use column.
Skip to the Type column and select TCP Listener. NOTE: The TCP Listener type may never show ‘Connected’ in the Status column. This is normal. A TCP Listener sits and waits for data to be received and will only ever show ‘Connected’ while receiving data. However, the incoming data is often so fast as to be imperceptible. In between each burst of data received it returns to a waiting state of ‘Disconnected’.
In the Address field, enter the IP address of the Axis camera you configured with the Axis License Plate Verifier in the steps above.
Use the Port field to enter the port number chosen in Step 4 of Sending Data to exacqVision above.
Change the Max Line Length field to ‘250’. Some of the data sent by the application is rather long, providing file paths to files locally stored on the camera. The Max Line Length forces a new line when the specified number of characters is met. Making this large enough to accommodate long lines will make your job setting Line Masks easier in a later step.
Return to the Profile column and select New. This will begin a new Serial Profile for you, configured in the next section. If you have a pre-existing profile for Axis License Plate Verifier, you may opt to select this instead.
Press Apply.

exacqVision Serial Profile Configuration

The Serial Profile configuration determines how the incoming data is displayed or recorded and provides additional options for events, if needed.

Because New was selected from the Profile field in Serial Ports, a new profile is created automatically for you. Begin by changing the Name field to something descriptive for easy identification. The example shown has chosen to name this “AxisLPR”. 
IMPORTANT: One of the most vital steps in getting Serial Profiles configured correctly is setting the SOT and EOT marker fields. These determine the beginning and end of each “transaction”. In the case of LPR these mark the start and end points of the data for each license plate detected by the camera.
When configuring the SOT and EOT markers it can be helpful to enable the Show Raw Data checkbox to view hidden formatting characters. At the time of publishing this guide we are using Axis License Plate Verifier version 2.3-1 through 2.10.13. The data points provided by the License Plate Verifier may change with versions, as noted previously in Configuring the Application, Step 9. Below is a sample of the raw data provided from a single plate read using version 2.10.13 of the app.

Use the first line of the transaction to find a suitable SOT marker. In this case, the first line is
{"packetCounter":"24947",\x0d\x0a.
Watching the serial data, the packetCounter number changes with each transaction, so you should not use the entire line as the SOT. Instead enter just {"packetCounter" as the SOT to ensure that all transactions beginning with this string will be captured.
Now find a suitable EOT marker. Note how each line is terminated with \x0d\x0a, these are invisible formatting characters to perform a line feed and return. This would make a poor EOT marker as it would separate every line as a new transaction. However, the last data point works well, "sensorProviderID":"defaultID"\x0d\x0a. Adding this to the EOT marker field properly marks the end of the transaction. NOTE: Using Steps 3 and 4 will help you to correctly bracket serial transactions of any type or adapt to any changes in formatting from different versions of Axis License Plate Verifier.
Leave the Parser and Marker Type fields as their default settings.
Press the Apply button to save your changes.
The Live Display tab allows you to view how the serial data overlay will appear on top of a live camera image or on an empty background and permits you to change the text formatting.

Line Masks

The Axis License Plate Verifier app sends several data points for each plate, some of which you may not wish to record or display to users of the exacqVision software. Line Masks hide all the text on any row with a matching string.

As an example, referring to the sample block of serial data in the previous section, one row begins with "imagesURI", listing the file path on the camera to the locally stored image. Most exacqVision users are unlikely to need this information. it may be hidden with the following steps.

Within the Serial Profile, select the Line Masks tab.
Select the New button.
In the empty row that is added, enter the text in the String column. In this example, the text entered is "imagesURI".
The check boxes in the Live and Search columns for each text string determine where to apply the mask. If the box is checked for Live, the row will be hidden in Live view. If unchecked for Search, the row will still be displayed in serial search results. Checking both boxes will hide the row from both locations. In some cases it may be useful to hide data in Live, but leave it available in Search to perform forensic searches.
Press Apply to save your changes.
Repeat these steps as necessary for each line you wish to hide from Live or Search, using the Configuration or Live Display tabs to view your changes taking place.

String Replacements

In some cases you may find some text less human friendly. Selected text strings may be replaced to be more legible to users. Referring to the sample serial data block again, one of the data points provided is "plateRegion", which in the United States correlates with the State. This can be updated using the following steps:

Within the Serial Profile, select the String Replacements tab.
Select the New button.
In the empty row that appears, enter the text to be replaced in the String column. In this example it is "plateRegion". Including or excluding the surrounding parenthesis is your choice.
In the Replace column, you will enter the text you wish to show instead. In this example is has been replaced with State.
Just as with Line Masks, each entry has the option of being applied to Live or Search as you choose.
Press Apply to save your changes.
Repeat as necessary for each string of text you wish to replace in Live or Search, using the Configuration or Live Display tabs to view your changes taking place.

NOTE: Line Masks and String Replacements do not support wildcard characters or regex expressions at this time. This means that you cannot reformat types of data which are different in every transaction, such as the date and time parameters. They will appear in the format send from the License Plate Verifier application.

Event Keywords

Keywords may be configured within exacqVision Serial Profiles to trigger user configured actions when the selected keyword is detected in the serial data feed. Example actions include recording video on detection of plates on the Block list, or sending a notification when a specific vehicle’s plate arrives. This guide provides two such examples below, each of which will then be configured with Event Linking in the following section.

Example 1

In this example, there is more than one Axis camera running License Plate Verifier sending data to the exacqVision Server. You want to perform an action when activity is detected by one of the cameras. In this example the steps will record video.

Locate the "camera_info" field in the raw serial data, which contains the camera “SerialNumber” value. Make note of this value.
Within the Serial Profile, select the Event Keywords tab.
Select the New button.
In the empty row that appears, enter the serial number value into the String column, and ensure the Enable checkbox is marked.
Press the Apply button.
Continue to the Event Linking or Event Monitoring sections below, for Example 1.

Example 2

Newer versions of the License Plate Verifier provide the "plateList" data point, which can tell you if the plate is on the Allow or Block list. However, older versions did not provide this. The steps in this example will use a workaround for this on older versions, then use this in Event Linking to send a notification.

Within the License Plate Verifier application, navigate to the List management page.
Add a license plate number of interest to either the Allow or Block list. Leave the Description field empty for now.
Return to the exacqVision Client and examine the raw serial data on the Serial Profiles page by checking the Show Raw Data checkbox.
Locate the data property for “plateListDescription” and note that the value is empty.
While the "plateListDescription" does not automatically contain any data, you can use the Description field to provide information for this or similar keyword uses.
Return to the camera app on the List management page. Select the Edit icon for the previously entered license plate from Step 2 above. In the image below we have entered Deny beside the entry in the Block list. Save your change.
Examine the raw data again in the exacqVision Serial Profile. The "plateListDescription" value will now display the description entered on the List management settings. You can now use this as an Event Keyword.
Navigate to the Event Keywords tab in the Serial Profile.
Select the New button.
In the empty row that appears, enter the description used in the app in Step 6 above. In the image below, we have entered Allow and Deny as separate keywords.
Select Apply.
Continue to the Event Linking section below, for Example 2.

Event Linking

The Event Linking page provides the capability to automate server-side actions triggered by a wide range of events. Refer to the exacqVision Client User Manual or our Video Library for further details on configuring Event Linking beyond these examples.

The examples below continue from the numbered examples in the Event Keywords section above.

Example 1

This example continues from Event Keywords – Example 1 above to record from one of several Axis LPR cameras connected to the same exacqVision NVR.

Navigate to the Event Linking page within the exacqVision Client software.
Select the New button near the bottom of the page.
From the Event Type list, select Serial Profile.
The Event Source list will display all Serial Profiles followed by the configured keywords available. Select the profile you intend to use as a trigger. In this example, we selected “AxisLPR – Keyword B8A44F0ADBE2”, where the keyword is the serial number.
Select the Action Type from the next panel. In this example Record Video is selected.
From the Action Target list, you will select the target, which in this example is the camera to be recorded when the keyword is detected in the serial data. 
NOTE: Notice that we did not use the term “seen in the serial data”. The keywords may still be detected within the raw serial data, even if hidden from view by Line Masks or String Replacements.
Press Apply to save your changes.

Example 2

This example continues from Event Keywords – Example 2 above with an example of sending a notification when a plate on the Block list is detected.

Navigate to the Event Linking page within the exacqVision Client software.
Select the New button near the bottom of the page.
From the Event Type list, select Serial Profile.
The Event Source list will display all Serial Profiles followed by the configured keywords available. Select the profile you intend to use as a trigger. In this example, we selected “AxisLPR – Keyword Deny”, where Deny was previously entered as a keyword.
Select the Action Type from the next panel. In this example, we have selected Notify.
From the Action Target list, you will select the target, which in this example is a previously created Email Message Profile.
NOTE: Sending a notification requires a successfully configured Email Server.
Press Apply to save your changes.

Event Monitoring

Event Monitoring will not be covered in detail in this guide, but provides the ability to trigger client-side actions such as changing views on events. Refer to the exacqVision Client User Manual or our Video Library for further details on configuring Event Monitoring.

Example 1

This example continues from Event Keywords – Example 1 above as an illustration of changing the view displayed to the user when any license plate is read by the License Plate Verifier app.

This example requires at least two previously saved Views. One will display multiple camera panels to be shown to the user when no other activity is present. The second contain only the video from the Axis camera running the License Plate Verifier with the serial number entered as an Event Keyword in previous steps.

Navigate to the Event Monitoring page within the exacqVision Client software.
Select the New button to create a new Event Monitoring profile.
Enter a descriptive profile Name.
Select On Event from the Show Event List setting.
Check the Show Newest Event box.
Select the View button from the Type field.
Skip to the Event Type list near the bottom of the page and select Default.
The Default type has no source option. Skip to the the Action Type panel and select Switch View.
From the Action Target list, highlight the multi-camera view to be displayed when there is no activity.
Uncheck the Confirm checkbox near the bottom of the screen.

Near the middle of the screen, under the Client Actions panel, press the New button.
From the Event Type list, select Serial Profile.
This example uses the serial number unique to the camera as the keyword to change Views. From the Event Source panel, locate the Serial Profile name followed by the camera’s serial number keyword and select it.
Leave the Lasts at Least box unchecked.
From the Action Type list, select Switch View.
Use the Action Target list to select the view to change to. In the image below, this is our single camera view showing the Axis License Plate Verifier camera.
If your Event Monitoring profile includes multiple view changes or LPR cameras, utilize the Priority setting to define which views take precedence.
If the Confirm box is left checked, the view will not return to the Default view until the exacqVision user confirms they’ve taken note of the event. If unchecked, the Timeout setting determines how many seconds must elapse before automatically returning to the Default view.
Press the Apply button at the bottom of the screen to save your changes.

Navigate to the Live view of the exacqVision Client.
Activate the Event Monitoring profile by changing the left-hand navigation tree to Views. Scroll to the list of Event Monitors and drag the profile name to the live display panel. When data is received from the camera with that serial number, the view will automatically change to show that camera. Clearing events from the Event Monitor List that appears returns to the Default view.

Disable Client Indicator (optional)

Due to the nature of TCP Listeners only remaining periodically connected, as mentioned above in exacqVision Serial Port Configuration, Step 7, you may choose to disable the exacqVision Client Indicator message warning users of a loss in connection on the serial port.

Select Indicators from the left-hand navigation tree.
If connected to multiple exacqVision Servers, select the system for which the Axis camera is sending license plate data.
Locate the line item under Error that reads, “Serial port {Source Name} not connected on system {System Name}”, and uncheck the Enabled box for this item.

Serial Live View

After careful application of several Line Masks and a couple of String Replacements, the Live view provides just the information desired for the user. In this case, the Date/Time, license plate number, and State. Recall that the text may be formatted on the Live Display tab of the Serial Profiles page.

Navigate to Live view.
Change the device list shown to Cameras.
Find the name given to the Serial Port, then drag and drop it into a live camera panel to display serial data as it arrives. This can be done in an empty panel or as an overlay to live video.

Forensic Search

In the event you must search for a specific plate number, state, or other data, exacqVision provides the ability to search for serial data to expediate the process of locating events of interest.

Navigate to the Search page
Checkmark the Serial Port providing the data you wish to search from the device tree on the left.
Select the device(s) you intend to search. You may include more than one camera, in the pictured example we have only selected one.
If you intend to search for specific terms in the serial data, enter this into the Search Serial text field provided. The drop-down allows you to select from previously used terms. This field is only provided when serial data devices are check marked for searching.
Enter the dates and times of your Search Range into the provided fields.
Press the Search button to populate the timeline with results.
If you wish to see the serial data recorded, toggle the Show/Hide Keywords and Serial Data button.
In the serial data explorer panel that appears note that the SOT and EOT markers configured in the Serial Profile affect the beginning and end of each transaction.
Clicking on any of the transactions listed will move the playhead on the timeline to that event.
Matches to serial data searched from Step 4 above, are highlighted.
Matches to serial data searched will also thin the results of the serial data events displayed on the timeline.

Troubleshooting

Serial data includes massive block of random characters

Cause: The “ImageArray” block appears within the serial data feed when the camera is sending image data through the HTTP POST method.

Solution: Return to the Integration settings page of the License Plate Verifier app. Enable the Do not send images or Do not send images through HTTP POST setting.

Product Links

Tags Guest, Axis, Serial Profiles, LPR, Serial Ports, 20416, Line Masks, String Replacements, Event Keywords

User Guides Documentation Integrations exacqVision Client Categories Products exacqVision Integrations

Using the Axis TU9001 Control Board with exacqVision

Post author By Bhargav Atturu
Post date April 23, 2024

This document will guide you through step-by-step procedures for keyboard use and suggested button mappings.

Product

Axis TU9001 Control Board
- TU9002 Joystick
- TU9003 Keypad

The Axis TU9001 Control Board consists of the combination of the TU9002 Joystick and the TU9003 Keypad.

IMPORTANT: The TU9002 and TU9003 appear to the operating system as separate devices. As of Client version 24.03 only one Joystick device may be enabled on a workstation at a time. This article will be updated in the case of further enhancements.

Setup

Follow the Installation Guide from Axis for the steps to attach the two devices and connect the corresponding USB cables.
Plug the keyboard’s USB cable into the USB port on the Client viewing machine, where the keyboard will be operated from.
Navigate to the Joystick configuration page within the exacqVision Client.
- Select the cog wheel icon in the top left-hand corner of the Client window to enter Configuration settings.
- Expand Client from the navigation tree on the left-hand side.
- Select Joystick from the tree to load the Joystick configuration page.
Select the joystick that appears from the drop-down menu. If the device fails to appear, close and re-open the exacqVision Client instance.
Select the Calibrate button to zero out the joystick positioning.
Adjust the sensitivity to your liking.
- X/Y Axis controls camera Pan/Tilt, while Z Axis controls zoom.
- Suggested settings include increasing the sensitivity on the X/Y Axis and Z Axis.
Pressing any of the buttons on the keyboard will highlight that number in the button menu to help you find the corresponding mapping. You may need to scroll the window if you do not see the button highlighted when pressed.
Once you have located the button, you may use the drop-down menu to select the action you wish to assign to the button.
After applying changes to the keyboard configuration, return to the Live camera view and the controls will be available for use.

Buttons on the TU9002 Joystick

The TU9002 features 7 buttons across the top of the device and 2 buttons on top of the joystick. The center Toggle button along the top acts as a Function Key. When pressed this will highlight button 17 in the button map, but you should notice the illuminated LEDs shift on the device. This toggles the ability to assign additional actions to each of the other buttons on the device.

For example, when the buttons are illuminated above, pressing J1 will highlight button 1 in exacqVision. If the center button is pressed, the illumination shifts below the buttons. Pressing the same button now highlights button 9 in exacqVision. The actions available in exacqVision Joystick settings do not align with the rewind, play/pause, forward symbols indicated on the device.

The TU9002 Joystick also features the ability to switch between joystick and mouse modes. The default mode is set to act as a joystick. Switch to mouse mode by pressing and holding the center Toggle button then press the J1 button. Moving the joystick now moves the mouse cursor. While in mouse mode the J1, J5, and left joystick button act as a left-click. The J2, J6, and right joystick button act as a right-click. Press and hold the Toggle button then press the J1 button again to revert back to joystick mode.

Troubleshooting

Check that the device is recognized by the operating system.
- Windows – Navigate to Start > Control Panel > Game Controllers
- Ubuntu/Linux – Open Terminal and run ‘lsusb’ to see if the devices are listed
Check that the USB port is 2.0 or higher.
Try alternate USB ports on the Client machine.
Restart the exacqVision Client.
Restart the Client worksation.

Tags Guest, Axis, Keyboard, Joystick, TU9001, TU9002, TU9003, 20239

Knowledge Support Support exacqVision Client Categories Products exacqVision Integrations

Using the Axis I8116-E Network Video Intercom with ExacqVision

Post author By Bhargav Atturu
Post date January 26, 2024

This article applies to the Axis I8116-E Network Video Intercom using firmware 11.8.66.

ExacqVision does not currently support SIP calling functions. However, this device can be integrated for interactive operation with ExacqVision as detailed here.

In the example that follows we will step through an example scenario wherein pressing the door station call button brings the door station camera to the attention of the ExacqVision operator to trigger a door lock.

The following topics are discussed:

Wiring an electric door strike to the door station
Adding the device to ExacqVision
Enabling Two-Way Audio
Adding Associations
Creating custom Views
Creating an Event Monitoring profile

You will combine several features and functions within the ExacqVision Client. It is recommended that users acquaint themselves with the ExacqVision Client prior to use. We provide User Training Videos on these topics.

Wire a Door Strike

The simplest configuration is that of a single electric door strike, or maglock, wired directly to the door controller.

The Axis I8116-E can be wired in a number of different ways, using PoE, external power sources, A9801 Relay, A9161 Network I/O Relay, or an Axis access control system. For more information on the many wiring and hardware configurations please refer to the manufacturer’s website or documentation.

Add the Device

You will want to use a web browser to log into the device and perform the initial setup, which at this state usually means setting a non-default username/password, and possibly setting a static IP address.
The call button should be enabled by default.
The device’s default settings create a ‘VMS’ entry under the Contact List menu. This ‘VMS’ contact will already be listed in the Recipients field. If you do not see this, enter it now.
If you do not already know the IP address of the door station, you will need to discover it on the network. 
- If using the Find IP Cameras tab on the Add IP Cameras page, note that you may find the device listed twice. Ignore results with a 169.254.x.x address. You will ant to use the IP address in the same range as your ExacqVision VMS, however this result may be discovered with ‘Onvif’ displayed in the ‘Type’ column. Access the discovered IP address in your web browser to set the username and password.
Add the device manually by clicking the New button under the IP Camera List in the top half of the page. Select AXIS VAPIX from the Device Type Selector. Enter the IP address in the same range as your ExacqVision VMS, then enter the username and password credentials before clicking Apply to add the device. The device should display a ‘Connected’ status in the IP Camera List before continuing.

Enable Two-Way Audio

Expand the Add IP Cameras node from the navigation tree.
Select the Audio Inputs/Outputs node nested beneath the Add IP Cameras node.
The resulting list displayed will show each door station device listed twice. Note the column, titled Audio. One of these rows shows ‘Audio,’ while the other displays ‘Audio Output.’ For easier identification we can apply our own labels here. We change ‘Audio Output’ to ‘Talk’ and change ‘Audio’ to ‘Listen.’
Find the Record Enable column. Place a check in the box for both of these rows for the device. This enables two-way audio functions within ExacqVision
Press the Apply button to save your changes. Use the Talk and Listen buttons to verify audio is functioning and adjust the audio gain as desired in the door station’s web browser interface.

IMPORTANT: Client workstations intended for use with two-way audio devices MUST have a microphone enabled. Two-way audio menus and controls are disabled or hidden until a microphone is recognized by the operating system. Each client workstation used for two-way audio must have its own microphone.

Add Associations

You have the option of using soft triggers and audio controls from the top toolbar in live view, but these will open dialogues showing all system options. Controls that are used frequently and directly related to the specific camera being displayed in a panel may be easier for operators to use when added as Association buttons within the camera panel.

Select the Associations node from the navigation tree.
The panel along the left lists existing cameras. Find and click to select the door station.
From the Available Controls panel, we select the ‘Listen’ option we relabeled earlier and click Add. There will be two controls labeled ‘Talk’ that we relabeled earlier. Select and add the one showing the microphone icon.
So that your ExacqVision operators can unlock the door remotely, find and add the control labeled ‘Door.’
Note: This control may be relabeled from within the door station’s web browser interface, but is labeled ‘Door’ by default for us.
You should now have three Associated Controls listed. You may wish to edit the Button Style listed. ‘Sustained’ requires a click on, and another click to turn off. ‘Momentary’ functions only while a user is pressing down the button which will also prevent a user from accidentally forgetting to lock the door or leaving a microphone on. You may refer to the User Manual or Associations training video for more information on customizing your Associations.
Click Apply to save your changes when done.

Create Custom Views

In our example we will create a View to display when triggered, rather than changing a single video panel. Learn more about these two options in the Event Monitoring training video. To make this work, we will create two custom Views to use later when creating an Event Monitoring profile. Refer to the Views training video if you need more details on performing these steps.

Select the Views node from the navigation tree.
Click the New View button, then enter a descriptive name. In this example, we name our view ‘East Entry.'
Select a layout for the view from the layout toolbar above. This view may have a single panel layout showing only the camera view from the door station, or you may use a multi-panel layout displaying the door station and other cameras showing the entry from different angles.
Use the Available Items panel to find your door station camera and drag it to the empty panel in the layout. If using a multi-panel layout, fill the other panels as you like.
Because the Associations are already displayed, an ExacqVision operator may easily enable/disable each when viewing in Live mode. However, if you’d like the Microphone or Speaker to be on automatically upon the view changing, you may also drag one of these onto the layout as well. Only one may be active.
Click Apply to save you changes when done.
Since we are changing the entire view displayed in Live mode, we will also want to create a view that is displayed when the door station is not in use. Repeat the steps above to create another view titled ‘Default View.’

Create an Event Monitoring Profile

Next you will create the Event Monitoring profile that changes the view displayed while in Live mode.

Select the Event Monitoring node from the navigation tree.
Click the New button under the Profiles panel to begin creating a new profile.
Enter a descriptive Name under the Profile Configuration panel. Our example will name this ‘East Entry’ for the door where it is being placed.
The option you select for the Show Event List menu will depend on your intended use.
- Never is the less obtrusive option as it hides the Event List from popping up in our view. The trade off for this is you will probably want to set Timeout later so the View changes back to the default display after a given amount of time. Without this, the displayed View will remain on the door station camera.
- On Event will pop open the Event List window which some users do not like. However, the benefit of this is the ExacqVision user can decide when to return to the default View and the View will not change in the middle of being used simply because a timer ended. When the event is cleared the Event List window will disappear.
- Always will always be displayed whether or not the door station is being utilized.
Checking the Show Newest Event box is optional. This feature is most useful when many possible events are included in an Event Monitoring profile. An example may be a site with multiple door stations, in which case checking this box will change the view to display the station with the most recently pressed Call Button.
As mentioned previously, this example will use ‘View’ from the Type field. Refer to the Event Monitoring training video for more on the ‘Video Panel’ option, which does not require creating custom Views.
Under Client Actions in the middle of the window is where you will create the actions that occur when triggered by various events. Our first row, currently labeled ‘Unknown’ should already be highlighted because we are creating a new profile.
From the Event Type panel list below, select ‘Default’.
From the Action Type panel list, select Switch View. Note that you could also opt to make your default display a Tour, which is covered in the Tours training video.
From the Action Target panel list, select the default View you created earlier.
Click the New button under the Client Actions panel in the middle of the window. This adds a new row to configure.
With the newly created row highlighted, select Input Trigger from the Event Type list.
The door station has already named the input for you. Locate the door station in the list. It has several inputs, select the one labeled ‘Call button’. Do not enable the ‘Lasts at Least’ checkbox.
From the Action Type list, select Switch View.
From the Action Target list, select the door station View you created earlier. In our example we named this ‘East Entry’.
Your next choice will depend on the option you selected from the Show Event List, in step 4, above.
- If you chose Never and want the Live view to return to your default view after a set number of seconds, uncheck the Confirm box and set your Timeout as desired.
- If you chose On Event or Always and want to allow your ExacqVision users to acknowledge the event to return to the default view, leave the Confirm box checked.
Click the Apply button to save your changes when done.

Handling Calls From ExacqVision

Using the ExacqVision Client software, browse to Live mode.
By default, the panel along the left side of the window displays a list of Live Cameras. Using the options at the bottom select Views to update this panel to Live Views.
The Live navigation panel lists System Views, User Role Views, User Views, and System Tours, which includes any Views created earlier in the process of configuring our profile. Towards the bottom is a list of Event Monitors.
Find the name of the Event Monitoring profile you created. Again, our example was named ‘East Entry’. Drag this profile to the cameras panel to the right.
You should now be viewing your default View. When the Call Button on the door station is pressed the View will change to display the door station camera view you created earlier.
The Association icons we added earlier can be seen at the bottom corner. The door station will continue to ring until an ExacqVision user presses the Talk button or the configured ring timeout is reached.
Press the Talk button to transmit audio from your client workstation microphone to speak to door station users. Press the Listen button to hear door station users speaking.

Note: Audio from Talk and Listen actions may be buffered, presenting a delay. Practice with the system to gain a feel for this on your network.
If you have correctly wired a door strike, maglock, or other electronic locking mechanism to the door station, pressing the icon for the output will unlock the door.

Note: Door controls may be customized within the door station’s web browser interface. <br

Door Station Visitor Operation

A visitor using the door station may simply press the Call Button to activate the Event Monitoring profile, as created above.
The use case detailed in this article does not prevent the door station from being used for SIP calls.

Once a SIP server has been configured within the door station’s web browser interface, a SIP call may be initiated by pressing the Call Button.

Note: When used together with SIP, any press of the Call Button will continue to trigger an Event Monitoring profile configured to do so.

Tags SIP, I8116, 18685, Guest, Axis, Audio, Access Control, Associations, Two-Way, Intercom, Door Station

Knowledge Support Support exacqVision Server Categories Products

Axis Edge Storage Devices Fail to Offload Video

Post author By Brian Lakin
Post date October 26, 2023

Description

Exacq Support has identified the need to make edits and adjustments to Edge Storage device XML files in situations where network bandwidth may be limited. If an Axis Edge Storage device is recording to the camera SD card – but fails to offload video data back to the exacqVision Server when regaining network connection, it may be necessary to adjust these values manually in the axispi.xml file contained in the exacqVision Server software file directory.

Product

exacqVision Server software
Axis Edge Storage capable cameras

Steps to Reproduce

Connect several Axis Edge Storage capable cameras, configured for network loss recording to an exacqVision Server.
Emulate the camera’s losing their network connection (i.e.- from managed switch disable the ports cameras are connected to).
Wait an extended period of time, and then restore network connectivity to these same cameras.

Expected Results

Upon restoring network connectivity to these cameras we should begin to see footage being restored from the camera’s SD card back to the exacqVision Server data drives. We should see log entries similar to the following for successful completion:

9/14/2023 03:00:25.704 PM AxisPI Warning 172.19.234.88 EdgeStor – operation 29f2df6a-05cf-4c19-8c02-036e09263e84 for gap start time 2023-09-14T18:38:53Z gap end time 2023-09-14T18:58:25Z was created.
9/14/2023 03:00:25.716 PM AxisPI Warning 172.19.234.88 EdgeStor – operation 29f2df6a-05cf-4c19-8c02-036e09263e84 for gap 2023-09-14T18:38:53Z to 2023-09-14T18:58:25Z is starting.
9/14/2023 03:00:27.036 PM AxisPI Verbose 172.19.234.88 EdgeStor – camera time is 2023-09-14T18:59:41Z converted to UTC time is 2023-09-14T18:59:41.0000-00:00 exacq server time in UTC is 2023-09-14T19:00:27.0000-00:00.
9/14/2023 03:00:27.045 PM AxisPI Verbose 172.19.234.88 EdgeStor – 3 recordings found on device.
9/14/2023 03:00:27.046 PM AxisPI Verbose 172.19.234.88 EdgeStor – requesting disk space reservation of 1 GB for operation 29f2df6a-05cf-4c19-8c02-036e09263e84..
9/14/2023 03:00:27.054 PM AxisPI Verbose 172.19.234.88 EdgeStor – download recordings in gap from 2023-09-14T18:38:53Z to 2023-09-14T18:58:25Z for op 29f2df6a-05cf-4c19-8c02-036e09263e84.
9/14/2023 03:00:35.607 PM AxisPI Verbose 172.19.234.88 EdgeStor – clip for operation 29f2df6a-05cf-4c19-8c02-036e09263e84 clip start time 2023-09-14T18:55:26.703242Z clip end time 2023-09-14T18:58:25Z from recording 20230914_185029_C0D6_B8A44F008DAD has been downloaded Size delta is 3407618.
9/14/2023 03:00:36.621 PM AxisPI Warning 172.19.234.88 EdgeStor – operation 29f2df6a-05cf-4c19-8c02-036e09263e84 completed successfully.

Actual Results

Logs appear to show this attempting to start exacqVision’s Edgestor event to offload footage for gaps but never completing ending with the following log entries and nothing after:

6/5/2023 06:16:24.003 AM (GMT-4:00) AxisPI Warning 10.35.8.91 EdgeStor – operation 4bfa14de-9ff7-4e99-940b-3c9fcdd2296a for gap start time 2023-06-03T00:03:08Z gap end time 2023-06-05T10:14:23Z was created.
6/5/2023 06:16:24.028 AM (GMT-4:00) AxisPI Verbose EdgeStor – operation 755ce521-0a75-4d73-9dcf-c8b4bd97909d is running.

Solution

With all cameras online, stop the exacqVision Server service and find axispi.xml in server folder directory.
Edit axispi.xml so the first portion of the file looks like (changes needed are in bold):
xml eDVR Delta="0" Devices ID="458752" Description="AXIS VAPIX" MaxDevices="255" DefaultPort="80" DefaultUsername="root" DefaultPassword="pass" HttpConfigOptions="2,1,3" SupportsMetadata="1" MaxEdgestorAttempts="5" MaxConcurrentEdgestorDevices="10">

Note: Be advised these Capital values may vary depending upon total number of Axis Edge Storage devices on the network, and the network bandwidth capability.
Restart the exacqVision Server process.

Tags Edge Storage, Axis, Level2, EdgeStor, 13004, Network Loss Recording

exacqVision Server Windows Knowledge Support Support exacqVision Server exacqVision Webservice Products

Axis P3247-LVE “Axis Object Analytics” not passing through the Exacq Mobile 3 app Analytic Rules

Post author By Brian Lakin
Post date September 20, 2023

Description

Axis P3247-LVE “Axis Object Analytics” not passing through the Exacq Mobile 3 app Analytic Rules. If seen please see AES-609. Escalate the case to be added to ticket.

Product

exacqVision Server: 23.06.1.0
exacqVision Web Service: 23.06.2.0

Steps to Reproduce

Set up the camera to allow analytics. Note we do not support line cross for axis cameras.

Once camera is set up navigate to the mobile app and connect to the NVR.
Once Connected navigate to the main menu.
Select Push Notifications
Select Analytics
You should see any analytic that cameras are sending.

Expected Results

We should be able to see the Analytics from the Axis cameras.

Actual Results

Analytics do not show up in the mobile app but do on the NVR’s Server when creating event linking and on the camera settings page.

Solution

Update exacqVision Web Service to 23.09.2

Tags Axis, exacqVision Server, evAPI, Notifications, Analytic, 17474, Exacq Mobile 3, Guest

Knowledge Support Support exacqVision Client Categories Products exacqVision Integrations Uncategorized

Using the Axis A8207 Door Station with exacqVision

Post author By Bhargav Atturu
Post date August 17, 2023

This article applies to the Axis A8207-VE and A8207-VE MkII Network Video Door Stations using firmware 11.5.64.

exacqVision does not currently support SIP calling functions. However, these door stations can be integrated for interactive operation with exacqVision as detailed here.

In the example that follows we will step through an example scenario wherein pressing the door station call button brings the door station camera to the attention of the exacqVision operator to trigger a door lock.

The following topics are discussed:

Wiring an electric door strike to the door station
Adding the device to exacqVision
Enabling Two-Way Audio
Adding Associations
Creating custom Views
Creating an Event Monitoring profile

You will combine several features and functions within the exacqVision Client. It is recommended that users acquaint themselves with the exacqVision Client prior to use. We provide User Training Videos on these topics.

Wire a Door Strike

The simplest configuration is that of a single electric door strike, or maglock, wired directly to the door controller.

The Axis A8207-VE and A8207-VE MkII can be wired in a number of different ways, using PoE, external power sources, A9801 Relay, A9161 Network I/O Relay, or an Axis access control system. For more information on the many wiring and hardware configurations please refer to the manufacturer’s website or documentation.

Add the Device

You will want to use a web browser to log into the door station and perform the initial setup, which at this stage usually means setting a non-default username/password, and possibly setting a static IP address.
The call button should be enabled by default.
If you do not already know the IP address of the door station, you will need to discover it on the network. 
- If using the Find IP Cameras tab on the Add IP Cameras page, note that you may find the device listed twice. Ignore results with a 169.254.x.x address. You will want to use the IP address in the same range as your exacqVision VMS, however this result may be discovered with ‘Onvif’ displayed in the ‘Type’ column. Access the discovered IP address in your web browser to set the username and password.
Add the device manually by clicking the New button under the IP Camera List in the top half of the page. Select AXIS VAPIX from the Device Type selector. Enter the IP address in the same range as your exacqVision VMS, then enter the username and password credentials before clicking Apply to add the device. The device should display a ‘Connected’ status in the IP Camera List before continuing.

Enable Two-Way Audio

Expand the Add IP Cameras node from the navigation tree.
Select the Audio Inputs/Outputs node nested beneath the Add IP Cameras node.
The resulting list displayed will show each door station device listed twice. Note the column, titled Audio. One of these rows shows ‘Audio,’ while the other displays ‘Audio Output.’ For easier identification we can apply our own labels here. We change ‘Audio Output’ to ‘Talk’ and change ‘Audio’ to ‘Listen.’
Find the Record Enable column. Place a check in the box for both of these rows for the door station. This enables two-way audio functions within exacqVision.
Press the Apply button to save your changes. Use the Talk and Listen buttons to verify audio is functioning and adjust the audio gain as desired in the door station’s web browser interface.

Add Associations

Select the Associations node from the navigation tree.
The panel along the left lists existing cameras. Find and click to select the door station.
From the Available Controls panel, we select the ‘Listen’ option we relabeled earlier and click Add. There will be two controls labeled ‘Talk’ that we relabeled earlier. Select and add the one showing the microphone icon.
So that your exacqVision operators can unlock the door remotely, find and add the control labeled ‘Door.’
Note: This control may be relabeled from within the door station’s web browser interface, but is labeled ‘Door’ by default for us.
You should now have three Associated Controls listed. You may wish to edit the Button Style listed. ‘Sustained’ requires a click on, and another click to turn off. ‘Momentary’ functions only while a user is pressing down the button which will also prevent a user from accidentally forgetting to lock the door or leaving a microphone on. You may refer to the User Manual or Associations training video for more information on customizing your Associations.
Click Apply to save your changes when done.

Create Custom Views

Select the Views node from the navigation tree.
Click the New View button, then enter a descriptive name. In this example, we name our view ‘East Entry.'
Select a layout for the view from the layout toolbar above. This view may have a single panel layout showing only the camera view from the door station, or you may use a multi-panel layout displaying the door station and other cameras showing the entry from different angles.
Use the Available Items panel to find your door station camera and drag it to the empty panel in the layout. If using a multi-panel layout, fill the other panels as you like.
Because the Associations are already displayed, an exacqVision operator may easily enable/disable each when viewing in Live mode. However, if you’d like the Microphone or Speaker to be on automatically upon the view changing, you may also drag one of these onto the layout as well. Only one may be active.
Click Apply to save you changes when done.
Since we are changing the entire view displayed in Live mode, we will also want to create a view that is displayed when the door station is not in use. Repeat the steps above to create another view titled ‘Default View.’

Create an Event Monitoring Profile

Next you will create the Event Monitoring profile that changes the view displayed while in Live mode.

Select the Event Monitoring node from the navigation tree.
Click the New button under the Profiles panel to begin creating a new profile.
Enter a descriptive Name under the Profile Configuration panel. Our example will name this ‘East Entry’ for the door where it is being placed.
The option you select for the Show Event List menu will depend on your intended use.
- Never is the less obtrusive option as it hides the Event List from popping up in our view. The trade off for this is you will probably want to set Timeout later so the View changes back to the default display after a given amount of time. Without this, the displayed View will remain on the door station camera.
- On Event will pop open the Event List window which some users do not like. However, the benefit of this is the exacqVision user can decide when to return to the default View and the View will not change in the middle of being used simply because a timer ended. When the event is cleared the Event List window will disappear.
- Always will always be displayed whether or not the door station is being utilized.
Checking the Show Newest Event box is optional. This feature is most useful when many possible events are included in an Event Monitoring profile. An example may be a site with multiple door stations, in which case checking this box will change the view to display the station with the most recently pressed Call Button.
As mentioned previously, this example will use ‘View’ from the Type field. Refer to the Event Monitoring training video for more on the ‘Video Panel’ option, which does not require creating custom Views.
Under Client Actions in the middle of the window is where you will create the actions that occur when triggered by various events. Our first row, currently labeled ‘Unknown’ should already be highlighted because we are creating a new profile.
From the Event Type panel list below, select ‘Default’.
From the Action Type panel list, select Switch View. Note that you could also opt to make your default display a Tour, which is covered in the Tours training video.
From the Action Target panel list, select the default View you created earlier.
Click the New button under the Client Actions panel in the middle of the window. This adds a new row to configure.
With the newly created row highlighted, select Input Trigger from the Event Type list.
The door station has already named the input for you. Locate the door station in the list. It has several inputs, select the one labeled ‘Call button’. Do not enable the ‘Lasts at Least’ checkbox.
From the Action Type list, select Switch View.
From the Action Target list, select the door station View you created earlier. In our example we named this ‘East Entry’.
Your next choice will depend on the option you selected from the Show Event List, in step 4, above.
- If you chose Never and want the Live view to return to your default view after a set number of seconds, uncheck the Confirm box and set your Timeout as desired.
- If you chose On Event or Always and want to allow your exacqVision users to acknowledge the event to return to the default view, leave the Confirm box checked.
Click the Apply button to save your changes when done.

Handling Calls From exacqVision

Using the exacqVision Client software, browse to Live mode.
By default, the panel along the left side of the window displays a list of Live Cameras. Using the options at the bottom select Views to update this panel to Live Views.
The Live navigation panel lists System Views, User Role Views, User Views, and System Tours, which includes any Views created earlier in the process of configuring our profile. Towards the bottom is a list of Event Monitors.
Find the name of the Event Monitoring profile you created. Again, our example was named ‘East Entry’. Drag this profile to the cameras panel to the right.
You should now be viewing your default View. When the Call Button on the door station is pressed the View will change to display the door station camera view you created earlier.
The Association icons we added earlier can be seen at the bottom corner. The door station will continue to ring until an exacqVision user presses the Talk button or the configured ring timeout is reached.
Press the Talk button to transmit audio from your client workstation microphone to speak to door station users. Press the Listen button to hear door station users speaking.

Note: Audio from Talk and Listen actions may be buffered, presenting a delay. Practice with the system to gain a feel for this on your network.
If you have correctly wired a door strike, maglock, or other electronic locking mechanism to the door station, pressing the icon for the output will unlock the door.

Note: Door controls may be customized within the door station’s web browser interface.

Door Station Visitor Operation

A visitor using the door station may simply press the Call Button to activate the Event Monitoring profile, as created above.
The use case detailed in this article does not prevent the door station from being used for SIP calls.

Once a SIP server has been configured within the door station’s web browser interface, a SIP call is initiated by dialing a designated SIP extension number prior to pressing the Call Button.

Note: When used together with SIP, any press of the Call Button will trigger the Event Monitoring profile regardless of whether it was used when dialing an extension number or not.

Tags A8207, Door Station, SIP, 17205, Guest, Axis, Audio, Access Control, Associations, Two-Way, Intercom

Knowledge Support Support Illustra exacqVision Server Categories Products

What is H.264 / H.265?

Post author By Bhargav Atturu
Post date July 25, 2023

H.264 and H.265

H.264 (MPEG-4 AVC) and H.265 (MPEG-4 HEVC) are MPEG video standards. H.265 is the newer of these standards.

What is Motion JPEG?

Motion JPEG is a compression format that is older than H.264/H.265 and was created as a version of the still image JPEG format for video use. It is often shortened to just JPEG in video applications.

Why choose H.264/H.265 over Motion JPEG?

Motion JPEG ignores frame-to-frame data redundancy. When using Motion JPEG, each video frame is compressed using JPEG. The Motion JPEG video stream is then presented by displaying each frame in order.

H.264/H.265 improved upon this by using compression algorithms that compare frame-to-frame data to help eliminate the transmission of redundant data.

Both provide video compression far greater than Motion JPEG without sacrificing image quality.

Greater compression means big savings in terms of your network’s bandwidth consumption and the amount of space required to store recorded video on an NVR over Motion JPEG. Decreasing the amount of storage space needed will lead to longer retention times without increasing storage capacity. This aspect is even more important when considering use cases that require high numbers of cameras, high frame rates, and long retention times.

The following graph shows a comparison of three identical model 2MP cameras set to 15 frames per second, running the same firmware version. However, each camera is set to a different recording format. The camera set to Motion JPEG is shown at the top, in red. Below, the H.264 stream is shown in blue, and the H.265 stream just under that in green. The changes in data correspond with a person walking through the scene.

ExacqVision records files in 5 minute increments. Examining the files created from these 2MP cameras recording continuously for 5 minutes and then extrapolating their file sizes over the course of 24 hours, and 1 year, the amount of storage space saved is considerable.

	5 minutes (KB)	24 hours (GB)	1 year (TB)
Motion JPEG	705,453	203.17	74.2
H.264	32,132	9.25	3.4
H.265	21,966	6.3	2.3

How does H.264 work?

As mentioned Motion JPEG compresses each frame individually and all frames are essentially equal. H.264 and provides for multiple types of frames.

I-frames are somewhat similar to a Motion JPEG frame. An I-frame contains all the data needed and can be decoded without reference to any other frames. H.264 always begins with an I-frame, and you’ll learn why in a moment. These I-frames occur at regular intervals in the video. A camera’s GOV, or GOP, rate sets the distance between each I-frame.
P-frames lie between the I-frames. P-frames reference the previous I-frames and are smaller because they only include the regions which have changed. This provides a huge benefit over Motion JPEG because you are not retransmitting data that hasn’t changed.

Imagine a scene in which a building is in the background and a person enters the field of view. The camera is not moving, nor is the building, so the pixels making up the part of the image where the building stands do not need to be sent again. Instead, only those pixels representing the person that entered the scene are sent and these replace the pixels in the image displayed to you.
B-frames are not provided by all applications or video devices. B-frames occur in between I-frames and P-frames, or between multiple P-frames. B-frames are predictive in nature. They refer not only to previous frames but to future frames as well. For this reason implementing B-frames is not always used in live video applications since there is a slight delay introduced due to the need to wait for additional frames to arrive before the B-frame can be created. When only I-frames and P-frames are used, it is referred to as an H.264 baseline stream.

H.264 compression is performed by processing and compressing the frames in regularly sized ‘macroblocks’ of 4 to 16 pixels, which are further broken down into smaller blocks for compression. The main takeaway is that the image frame is divided up in very regularly sizes areas.

How does H.265 work?

H.265 includes the same types of frames as mentioned above, but it improves over H.264 by providing the ability to dynamically size the regions the frame is broken up into. Rather than the macroblocks, transform blocks, and prediction blocks of H.264, these dynamically sized areas are named Coding Tree Units (CTUs). This usually translates into more efficient compression than H.264 because the frame can be compressed more heavily in some areas than others when needed.

Illustrated below, H.264 on the left breaks up the image into equal blocks for compression. Whereas, on the right, H.265 divides the image into dynamically sized regions to better compress those regions based on what is in them.

An Illustration of H.264 (left) vs H.265 (right)

Tags H.264, Hanwha, Compression, I-Frame, P-Frame, H.265, 16719, Guest, Axis, Illustra

exacqVision Client exacqVision Server Products

Missing Streams on Under Powered Multi-Sensor Cameras or Multi-View Devices

Post author By Brian Lakin
Post date November 15, 2022

Description

Loss of video streams have been observed on multi-sensor cameras and multi-view devices because of the camera or device being under powered.

Product

AXIS FA54 Main Unit

Expected Results

All video streams should connect and stream video

Actual Results

3rd and 4th streams would occasionally disconnect and stop streaming

Solution

Follow the device manufacturer’s power recommendations and consider adding items such as a Midspan Power Injector when dealing with extreme distances.

Tags SFA000035774, Multisensor, Guest, Axis, Power Supply, Midspans, Axis Camera, 13245, PoE Injector