The camera automatically opens the Live screen when you access the camera for the first time. Use this screen to change image settings, to use the softbuttons, to open the Setup Menu or to access the password-protected Admin Menu.
Hold your mouse over the elements of the user interface to see the bubble help. Click on the element to go to the description.
Name | Element | Description | |
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Camera Model |
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Displays the model of the MOBOTIX camera. |
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Camera Name |
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Shows the camera name as set in the Quick Installation wizard or in the Ethernet Interface dialog in the Camera name field. |
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Privacy Mode |
Signals that the Privacy Mode is active. This mode prevents access to the camera in order to guarantee privacy. For additional information on this topic, see the Privacy Mode help page. |
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Open Help |
Opens the online help for the current screen or dialog. If no help page is available, the Help page will be displayed. |
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Camera Information |
Displays information on the hardware, software and the most important settings of the camera. |
Name | Element | Description | ||
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Live |
The Live screen of the MOBOTIX camera displays the current images of the camera. Use the dropdown menus to access certain functions of the image controls and the camera administration or open the Setup Menu to see links to all image and event control dialogs. The Admin Menu (password-protected) contains all dialogs for configuring the camera. |
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Player |
Use the Player screen to view and download the events stored in the internal or the external image storage of the camera.
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MultiView |
Use the MultiView screen to combine several cameras in different patterns and to assign special functions (highlighting, focus on alarm, ...) for the individual cameras.
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Guest |
The Guest screen allows viewing the camera's live image, setting the frame rate within the preset limits and accessing the Live screen by clicking on the Menu link at the bottom of the page.
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PDA |
The PDA screen displays the camera's current image for low-resolution devices (PDAs/MDAs and mobile phones). If you would like to see a list of events on your PDA and download event images, open the PDA Event List.
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Name | Element | Description | ||
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Frame rate |
Select the desired frame rate for the Live screen. Please note that the frame rate depends to a large degree on the bandwidth of the transmission path, the selected resolution and the video codec used (MxPEG or Motion JPEG).
Note: Depending on the camera model, the maximum frame rate in the browser may be limited to 1 fps. |
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Function selector |
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Use the image control functions to adjust the Live screen to your preferences:
Note: Depending on the camera model, some of the listed features may not be available.
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Status display |
Displays the current status of the camera: |
Name | Element | Description | ||
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Activate/Deactivate Pan/Zoom |
This button allows or forbids vPTZ actions in all panorama and multi-window display modes. This includes loading and saving of views.
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Preview Quality |
This button turns the preview mode on or off. The availability of this button can be toggled in the Language and Start Page dialog. |
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High Quality |
This button opens the High Quality image program. |
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Store JPEG image |
This button stores the current live image from the camera as a JPEG file. |
Name | Element | Description | ||
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Softbuttons |
The softbuttons at the left-hand side of the screen execute certain functions, most of which can be used by users with User level access. If you have administrative access to the camera, you may assign new functions to existing softbuttons by [Shift]-clicking the desired softbutton.
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Admin Menu |
Opens the Administration menu of the MOBOTIX camera, allowing you to change the most important system settings. You need a user name and password of an |
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Setup Menu |
Opens the Setup menu with its dialogs for changing the image and event settings. |
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Arm & Record: (Arm the camera and start recording) |
This wizard arms the camera, activates event recording, the camera microphone, the MxPEG video codec, one video motion detection window, the User Click event, the visual alarm and opens the Multiview screen of the camera. |
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Audio on (Activates audio from the camera) |
This Wizard activates the camera microphone and the audio output on the computer (only when using Internet Explorer on Windows computers). |
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MxPEG on (Activates the MxPEG video codec) |
This softbutton activates the MxPEG video codec, which guarantees fast transmission of video and audio data while using as little bandwidth as possible. |
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MxPEG off (Deactivates the MxPEG video codec) |
This softbutton deactivates the MxPEG video codec in order to produce JPEG images with the best possible quality. This is the preferred setting for webcam applications. |
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Open Door (Open door) |
This softbutton triggers the door opener (door station only). |
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Light ON/OFF (Switch lights on/off) |
This softbutton button turns the lights on or off (door station only). |
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UC Event (User Click event) |
This softbutton triggers the User Click (UC) event. |
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LEDs Blink (Blinking of the camera LEDs) |
This softbutton will prompt the camera to blink with its camera LEDs for five seconds. |
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Play Sound: (Play back a sound on the camera speaker) |
This softbutton plays back a sound on the camera speaker. For additional information on recording and using your own audio messages, see the Manage Audio Messages help page. |
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Play Last Event: (Plays back the last event) |
Plays back the last event recorded by the camera. |
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Event List (Event list) |
Click on this button to display the Event List dialog. This dialog displays a list with the last 20 events with the corresponding navigation links. Click on one event link to show the corresponding event image in the player or select a date and time to list the events of that point in time. |
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Multiwatcher |
The Multiwatcher displays the live/event images of this and other MOBOTIX cameras via a "proxy camera". This means that only one camera needs to be accessible from outside of the network and this camera allows you to see live images and event lists of this and other cameras within the network. |
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Zoom buttons |
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Use these buttons to control the digital zoom and the panning functions for moving the visible area within a zoomed image:
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Display mode buttons |
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These buttons control specific image features of hemispheric cameras and are thus only available on these models:
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Name | Element | Description | |||||
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Image area |
The image area shows the live images of the camera as well as logos, texts and symbols of the camera. In addition, you may choose from the following options:
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OnScreen Control |
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The OnScreen Control provides for convenient configuration of the Panorama, Double Panorama and Panorama/Focus display modes (if available). This control allows panning, tilting and zooming the camera's image to find the optimum image section for your purposes. Moreover, the trapezoid correction allows adjusting the skewed (vertical) lines on the image that are common for this type of lens. | |||||
Logo |
The functions for managing image files, logo definitions and creating image profiles will enable you to use graphic files stored on the camera or from other URLs as logos with transparent areas or as watermark in every image of the camera. Using several logos will allow you to display these logos as banners at a definable interval. If you are using Time Tables, you may also activate/deactivate the logos in a scheduled manner. |
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Text display |
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Open the Text and Display Settings dialog to change the text that is displayed in the top left corner of the image area. Using variables and placeholders for dynamic image texts, you can display e.g. the current temperature within the camera or text received via the serial interface in every image. |
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Date display |
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Open the Text and Display Settings dialog to change the date and time information that is displayed in the top right corner of the image area. |
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Event symbols |
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Open the Text and Display Settings dialog to change the symbols that are displayed at the bottom of the image area. The event symbols in the lower left corner of the image area show the event number (in this case 000807) and the symbols for the activated sensors at the time of the recording. In this image, PI (PIR sensor), VM (Video Motion) and UC (User Click) had been activated. If an event occurs, the corresponding symbol (e.g. VM) is displayed in red. |
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Action symbols |
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Open the Text and Display Settings dialog to change the event symbols that are displayed at the bottom of the image area. The yellow symbols in the lower right corner of the image area show all actions that are active on the camera. In this case, ST (Storage) and REC (File Server storage) are active. If one of the actions is carried out, it is displayed in blue (e.g. ST); a failed action is shown in red (e.g. FS). Deactivated messages are shown in gray (e.g. EM in the detail view of the Action Group Overview using Time Tables). If a Time Table profile has been selected in General Event Settings to control the Arming of the camera,
For failed actions, an error message will appear above the symbols. Open the Text and Display Settings dialog to deactivate the error messages in the image.
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Archiving Status |
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Open the Text and Display Settings dialog to change the symbols that are displayed at the bottom of the image area. If Archiving is activated, the archive status symbol AS is displayed to the left of the action symbols. This symbol shows two values that show the archiving status separated by /. The value to the left shows the space used of the internal camera storage as a percentage value. The value to the right shows the estimated time available to bridge an archive failure before data is lost, based on the available capacity of the internal camera storage. The time unit at the end shows either minutes, (m), hours (h), days (d) or years (y). If the camera detects a problem while archiving, the symbol color changes from yellow to red (AS07%/42h). |
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Error Icon |
The camera displays the error icon in the upper left corner of the live image, if the camera detects a possible hardware error. Please proceed as follows if this icon appears.
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The image programs are selected using the pull-down lists above the camera's live image (Quick Controls) in the browser. These programs adjust the relevant parameters of the MOBOTIX camera to the application scenario; any basic configuration should thus begin by selecting one of the image programs.
In a webcam scenario, for example, moving objects can become blurred when illumination fades, i.e. the camera can use longer exposure times when the scene gets darker so as to provide images with good exposure for as long as possible.
If fast images are required, the camera should use a maximum (longest) exposure time of 1/60s in order to obtain a high frame rate. Likewise, the camera should use the MxPEG codec instead of the JPEG codec, since MxPEG will only transfer the changed portions of the image, resulting in higher image rates and reduced network loads.
Note: In order to check or change the settings performed by the different image programs, open the corresponding dialogs in the Setup Menu.
If you are using Internet Explorer (from version 5.5) on a Windows computer (from Windows 2000), you can use the MxPEG ActiveX plug-in for viewing the live camera images. This plug-in allows you to combine the advantages of MxPEG with the browser-based user interface:
Note: If fast movements occur in the image, you may see tiles in the image if MxPEG is activated. If you prefer better image quality, you should deactivate MxPEG as described in High Resolution and Quality.
See also: | The MxControlCenter |
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Make sure that the following prerequisites are fulfilled if you intend to use the MxPEG ActiveX plug-in:
Proceed as outlined in the following:
Notes:
If the MxPEG ActiveX plug-in has been installed, right-clicking the image will display a context menu with the following options:
Option | Values | Description |
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Zoom | 1x / 2x / 4x Center Pan |
Use these options to control the digital zoom and the panning functions for moving the visible section within a zoomed image. The functions are the same as for the zoom buttons. |
Default View | Set Default View Load Default View |
Use these options to control the functions for moving the visible section within a zoomed image (panning). The functions are the same as for the zoom buttons. |
Scale image | 0.5x / 1x / 2x | Scales the image of the ActiveX plug-in to the desired size. |
Audio from camera | - |
Activate this option to listen to the audio channel of the camera. If the camera's microphone is deactivated, this entry is shown in gray and cannot be selected. If this is the case, open the Speaker and Microphone dialog and activate the microphone. |
Audio to camera | - |
Activate this option to listen to the audio channel of the camera. If the camera speaker is deactivated, open the Speaker and Microphone dialog and activate the speaker. |
Change access level | - |
Changes the access level used by the ActiveX plug-in to access the camera. User access can use all functions of the ActiveX plug-in, Guest disables the audio functions and the zoom controls. If a password has been assigned for the user or the guest level, the plug-in will again ask for login credentials to access the camera. This authorization is required for security reasons and cannot be circumvented. |
About MxPEG ActiveX | - | Displays information about the version of the MxPEG ActiveX plug-in. |
Depending on the camera application (e.g. bandwidth of the data connection), the frame rate requirements may vary greatly.
For security applications that require fast images, you should use a Windows computer (from Windows XP) and Internet Explorer (from version 6) in conjunction with the MxPEG ActiveX plug-in, MxControlCenter or MxEasy for viewing the live camera images. Furthermore, you should provide a data link with sufficient bandwidth for the camera's images.
Set the following parameters to the values listed below:
If the frame rate is not the most important criterion of an application, you can set the focus on image quality:
This feature provides a visual aid for properly setting the focus of a MOBOTIX camera lens. The focusing aid is very useful when focusing the lens of a MOBOTIX D12, D2xM or when exchanging a MOBOTIX standard lens against a tele lens (for example of a MOBOTIX M2x).
To activate the focusing aid, select the Focusing Aid Quick Control and set the value to Enable; the focusing aid will be displayed in the live window. The camera displays a rectangle with a white and black border. This is the image area used by the camera to determine the best focus of the lens (focusing window). The focusing window can be tuned to the area to be focused by using Shift-Click. In addition, the camera shows a green bar. This bar shows the best focus value obtained in the focusing window so far. When changing the focus of the lens, the green bar grows as the focus improves. If the focus decreases again, a red bar appears. The focus of the lens is set to the best value if the red bar covers as little as possible of the green bar or disappears at all. Under some circumstances it is not possible to make the red bar vanish completely. The focus of the lens is nevertheless set to the best value if the red bar covers as little of the green bar as possible. For best results, make use that you use the Full Image display mode and High image quality!
In addition to the visual focusing aid, you can activate the audio output: The pitch of the tone corresponds to the level of sharpness. This can help you to focus the lens without having to see the camera image.
Using the controls of the Live screen to adjust the camera configuration will keep these changes until the next reboot of the camera, it will not automatically store them permanently. If you have administrative access to the camera, you should store the current configuration into flash memory.