AXIS
Media Streams
Media Streams
The Axis product provides several video stream formats. Your requirements and the properties of your network will determine the type you use.
The Live View page in the product provides access to H.264 and Motion JPEG video streams, and to the list of available stream profiles. Other applications and clients can access video streams directly, without going via the Live View page.
How to Stream H.264
The video compression standard H.264 makes good use of bandwidth, and can provide high quality video streams at less than 1 Mbit/s.
Deciding which combination of protocols and methods to use depends on your viewing requirements, and on the properties of your network. The available options in AXIS Media Control are:
Unicast RTP | This unicast method (RTP over UDP) is used |
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| for live unicast video, especially when it is |
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| important to always have an |
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| stream, even if some images are dropped. | Unicasting is used for | |
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| transmission so that there is no video traffic | |
RTP over RTSP | This unicast method (RTP tunneled over RTSP) | ||
on the network until a client connects and | |||
| is useful as it is relatively simple to configure | ||
| requests the stream. | ||
| firewalls to allow RTSP traffic. | ||
| Note that there are a maximum of 20 | ||
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RTP over RTSP over HTTP | This unicast method can be used to traverse | simultaneous unicast connections. | |
| firewalls. Firewalls are commonly configured to |
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| allow the HTTP protocol, thus allowing RTP to |
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| be tunneled. |
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Multicast RTP | This method (RTP over UDP) should be used for live multicast video. The video stream is always | ||
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| Multicasting provides the most efficient usage of bandwidth when there are large numbers of | ||
| clients viewing simultaneously. A multicast cannot however, pass a network router unless the | ||
| router is configured to allow this. It is not possible to multicast over the Internet, for example. | ||
| Note also that all multicast viewers count as one unicast viewer in the maximum total of 20 | ||
| simultaneous connections. |
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AXIS Media Control negotiates with the Axis product to determine the transport protocol to use. The order of priority, listed in the AMC Control Panel, can be changed and the options disabled, to suit specific requirements.
Note
H.264 is licensed technology. The Axis product includes one H.264 viewing client license. Installing additional unlicensed copies of the client is prohibited. To purchase additional licenses, contact your Axis reseller.
MJPEG
This format uses standard JPEG still images for the video stream. These images are then displayed and updated at a rate sufficient to create a stream that shows constantly updated motion.
The Motion JPEG stream uses considerable amounts of bandwidth, but provides excellent image quality and access to every image contained in the stream. The recommended method of accessing Motion JPEG live video from the Axis product is to use the AXIS Media Control in Internet Explorer in Windows.
AXIS Media Control (AMC)
AXIS Media Control (AMC) in Internet Explorer in Windows is the recommended method of accessing live video from the Axis product.
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