Streaming Behaviour
Stream Settings
All cameras beginning the fifth generation are able to deliver two separate streams. Here, the first stream is used for recording and the second stream for the live channel. Thus it is possible to record at a resolution different from the live image stream.
All other generations below generation 5 have only one stream. If the plugin detects a single-stream camera, an internal switch to single stream is performed automatically.
In Single stream mode, the two requirements of recording and live playback must be consolidated into a single request on the camera. How this is done is determined using the Merge Behaviour Settings.
If the camera only supports a single stream for live playback and recording, then you have the following setting options:
|
Name |
Description |
|---|---|
|
Quality of storage wins, but high frame rate |
For recording and live streaming, the quality is used that is specified for recording. For the frame rate, however, the higher of the two values (live playback or recording) is used |
|
Best settings wins |
The higher value of resolution, quality and frame rate is used for recording and the live stream |
|
Worst settings wins |
The lowest value of resolution, quality and frame rate is used for recording and the live stream |
|
Live profile wins |
The live stream settings are used for both the live stream and recording |
|
Storage profile wins |
The recording settings are used for both the recording and the live stream |
Storage and Live
Codec
You can choose between H.264 and JPEG for the codec setting.
Only cameras of the third, fifth and higher generations support H.264 streams. Cameras that do not support H.264 are operated automatically in JPEG mode.
The quality of JPEG images results from the quality regulator in the profiles and the following table:
Sony cameras of the first and second generations have only 5 quality levels. All the newer generations support 10 quality levels.
|
Quality |
Generations 3 - 5 Image Quality |
Generations 1 - 2 Image Quality |
|---|---|---|
|
1 - 15 |
Level 1 |
Level 1 |
|
16 - 30 |
Level 2 |
Level 1 |
|
31 - 45 |
Level 3 |
Level 2 |
|
46 - 50 |
Level 4 |
Level 2 |
|
51 - 70 |
Level 5 |
Level 3 |
|
71 - 80 |
Level 6 |
Level 3 |
|
81 - 92 |
Level 7 |
Level 4 |
|
93 - 95 |
Level 8 |
Level 4 |
|
96 - 97 |
Level 9 |
Level 5 |
|
98 - 100 |
Level 10 |
Level 5 |
I-picture every n second
The higher the value, the smaller the bandwidth of the streams at the same quality. But the higher the value, showing up of video may longer, as streaming only can start with an I-Frame
Bit Rate control
Sony cameras do not use VBR, but only a CBR. With CBR, however, when the frame rate is increased, for instance, the quality of the video image goes down, as more images must share between them the same bit rate of 2048 kBit.
Simulate variable bit rate (VBR):
If an event occurs, increasing the frame rate would thus decrease image quality. As this is not a desirable effect in a security system, with the option Simulate Variable Bit Rate activated, the bit rate is always recalculated using the factors resolution, frame rate, I-picture interval and quality.
Use constant bit rate (CBR):
For the selection of CBR, the bit rate is selected according to the table:
|
Quality |
Generation 5 cameras Resulting bit rate in Kbits per second |
Generation 3 cameras Resulting bit rate in Kbits per second |
|---|---|---|
|
1 |
64 kbps |
32 kbps |
|
2 - 4 |
128 kbps |
32 kbps |
|
5 - 6 |
256 kbps |
64 kbps |
|
7 - 10 |
384 kbps |
128 kbps |
|
11 - 17 |
512 kbps |
128 kbps |
|
18 - 21 |
768 kbps |
256 kbps |
|
22 - 32 |
1024 kbps |
384 kbps |
|
33 - 44 |
1536 kbps |
512 kbps |
|
45 - 76 |
2048 kbps |
768 kbps |
|
77 - 89 |
3072 kbps |
1024 kbps |
|
90 - 92 |
4096 kbps |
1536 kbps |
|
93 - 94 |
5120 kbps |
1536 kbps |
|
95 - 96 |
6144 kbps |
1536 kbps |
|
97 - 98 |
7168 kbps |
1536 kbps |
|
99 - 100 |
8192 kbps |
1536 kbps |