MOBOTIX cameras offer the possibility to retrieve multiple streams, each of them with different characteristics, at the same time. This makes them particularly flexible in case you want to give each client a different view.
How can I retrieve a live stream?
All the MOBOTIX cameras offer a multitude of possibilities but the widest range is offered by the new Mx6 series which features a state of the art Onvif client.
Live Stream
We could say that the live stream is the primary stream from which all the others are derived. Therefore, it’s important to configure this stream correctly in order to retrieve custom streams as described below. The settings for the Live Stream are available under Setup Menu > General Image settings. Important parameters that influence the display of secondary streams are the image size and the frame rate limitation.
NOTE: the settings of the Live Stream (primary stream) influence the appearance of the Custom Streams (secondary streams).
For example, if the Live Stream is configured to deliver an image with resolution VGA (640x480px), it won’t be possible to retrieve a Faststream or a RTSP stream with resolution MEGA (1280x960). Moreover, if the goal is to retrieve secondary streams for each image sensor individually (left and right sensor), the Live Stream must be configured to deliver images from both sensors simultaneously.
Faststream
This method represents the legacy way for retrieving a live stream. It’s worth repeating that this stream is influenced by the Live Stream therefore if the result of the following commands is not what you are expecting, please make sure that the camera configuration (Setup Menu > General Image Settings) is properly set.
Here is the basic command to get a live M-JPEG “faststream” in ServerPush mode:
http://admin:meinsm@<ip_cam>/control/faststream.jpg?stream=full
NOTE: user name and password can be specified within the URL but for security reasons it’s preferable to type them manually when the camera requests them.
It is also possible to add optional parameters separated by the & symbol to the command above:
| Parameter | Options | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| stream | full, MxPEG | full = M-JPEG |
| preview | - | Necessary to use the parameters below |
| size | Width x Height | All the resolutions supported by the camera |
| quality | 10 … 90 | Additional JPEG compression |
| fps | 0 … 30.0 | Frame rate in fps. 0 = unlimited |
| camera | right, left, both, auto | Specifies which sensor(s) should be displayed |
Here is an example to retrieve a M-JPEG stream at PDA resolution (320x240px) of the Right image sensor. As you can see we also decided to reduce the image quality (quality=40) and the frame rate (fps=4.0) in order to minimize the bandwidth consumption.
http://10.22.1.52/control/faststream.jpg?stream=full&preview&previewsize=320x240&quality=40&fps=4.0&camera=right
The command above can be used within a standard Web browser as well as with the majority of video clients (e.g. VLC) and 3rd party VMS’s. Here is the result with Firefox (on the left) and on VLC (on the right):
NOTE: to open the stream with VLC, go to File > Open Network…
A new dialog will open. Paste the URL into the text field and press the “Open” button.
For further information about the faststream method you can refer to the following link:
http://developer.mobotix.com/paks/help_cgi-image.html
If the video client supports MxPEG as a codec, you can replace the parameter stream=full from the previous URL with the value stream=MxPEG. MxPEG offers two main advantages compared to M-JPEG:
- Lower bandwidth consumption
- Audio included in the video stream
If you want to open an MxPEG faststream via VLC, you need to configure the client as follows:
Preferences > Show All (bottom right) > Input > Video Codec > FFmpeg
Type mxg in the Demuxer > Format Name as shown in the picture below and save the settings.
Here is an example of the URL string:
http://10.22.1.52/control/faststream.jpg?stream=MxPEG&preview&previewsize=320x240&quality=40&fps=4.0&camera=right
NOTE: Please note that Web browsers don’t natively support MxPEG. To open an MxPEG stream via browser you have to enable and use MxWeb on the camera from the page Admin Menu > Web Server.
RTSP
Another way to retrieve live streams is by using the RTSP. Such a protocol is available on all the P3 camera series (with firmware 4.4.2.73 or newer) and P6 camera series (with firmware 5.0.0.133 or newer). The following table details the differences between different camera series.
| Camera series | Amount of M-JPEG/RTSP streams |
Amount of MxPEG/RTSP streams |
Amount of H.264/RTSP streams |
Onvif Support Profile S |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| P2 (x12, x22) | - | - | - | - |
| P3 (x14, x24, x15, x25) | 4 | 4 | - | - |
| P6 (x16, x26) | 4 | 4 | 1 | yes |
Before delving into the configuration of the RTSP capabilities we would like to remind you once again that these streams are influenced by the Live Stream therefore if the result of the following commands is not what you are expecting, please make sure that the camera configuration (Setup Menu > General Image Settings) is properly set.
The configuration of the RTSP streams can be done via the page Admin Menu > Camera Administration > Integration Protocol.
First of all make sure that the RTS Server is enabled:
Then make sure that the profiles you want to use (M-JPEG, MxPEG, H.264) are enabled and correctly configured. We strongly recommend new users to use the default settings because they are fine for the majority of the applications. It’s important to notice that RTSP streams do not allow for selecting which image sensor shall be displayed; this setting depends on what is configured in the Live Stream.
When the profiles are enabled and configured, it’s possible to use any RTSP video client to retrieve them
M-JPEG
M-JPEG streams are usually supported by standard video clients like VLC as well as by the majority of 3rd party VMS’s. Here is the URL that shall be used to retrieve stream #0. To retrieve the other streams
replace the number 0 with the index of the stream (0 - 3).
rtsp://<Camera IP>:<RTSP Port>/stream0/mobotix.mjpeg
MxPEG
MxPEG streams cannot be displayed by standard video clients as they require a specific integration. Client supporting these streams are, for instance, Genetec Omnicast and Milestone XProtect.
rtsp://<Camera IP>:<RTSP Port>/stream0/mobotix.mxg
H.264
Finally, here is the URL to retrieve the only H.264 stream (no further profiles available).
rtsp://<Camera IP>:<RTSP Port>/mobotix.h264
How many streams can I get simultaneously?
The camera firmware does not limit the amount of streams that can be retrieved simultaneously. This means that, theoretically speaking, you could get 10 or more streams, each of them with different specs. However, the amount of streams may impact the camera performance therefore MOBOTIX recommend to test the situation in the worst case scenario (when all the clients are connected simultaneously) to make sure that the camera is able to work properly.