Adding Cameras to a DW® Spot™ Monitoring Module from VMAX® IP Plus™
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Affected Roles: Administrator, Owner
Related Digital Watchdog VMS Apps: Web Viewer
Complexity: Medium
Last Edit: August 6, 2024
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Connecting to an HD Spot Module
In some cases, cameras may need to be added to a DW® Spot™ Monitoring Module (DW-HDSPOTMODx) manually, rather than allowing the HD Spot Module to automatically scan the local network (LAN) for cameras. While most ONVIF compliant devices will be detected by this scan, cameras that are connected to standalone units, such as the VMAX® IP Plus™ NVR Series, must be added to the camera registry manually. This is done to avoid streaming issues it would otherwise result in streaming issues for both the HD Spot Module and for the VMAX® IP Plus™.
This article will outline how to obtain camera RTSP streams from a VMAX® IP Plus™ to manually add cameras to the Digital Watchdog HD Spot Module.
**NOTE: The DW® Spot™ Monitoring Module can only display live video and must be connected to a display monitor to view video streams. Use of the Web Viewer is utilized for setup management purposes only.
**NOTE: The DW-HDSPOTMOD only supports H.264 format from cameras. To change this setting, you may need to connect with the camera's web client and change this output setting before adding it to the HDSPOTMOD.
Supported/Affected Devices:
- DW® Spot™ Monitoring Module
- VMAX® IP Plus™
VMAX® IP Plus™ Limitations
As the VMAX® IP Plus™ unit will constantly stream and archive camera video, the amount of processing required to stream to multiple sources will increase when adding additional streaming requests. Such requests include mobile application users, VMS connections, or in this case – the Digital Watchdog HD Spot Module.
Each VMAX® IP Plus™ NVR (4-ch, 8-ch, and 16-ch) can only support up to 16 user connections and 64-channels at any given time. Additionally, connecting cameras from the VMAX® IP Plus™ using an RTSP address uses two (2) user connections per camera.
As so, it is advised that each VMAX® IP Plus™ NVR should be limited to no more than two (2) DW HD Spot Module connections.
For example, if a 16-channel VMAX® IP Plus™ has all of its channels occupied and is streaming all 16 of its cameras to two (2) 16-channel HD Spot Modules, there would be a total of 32 connections – equivalent to 64-channels when using an RTSP connection.
If these recommended thresholds are exceeded, the VMAX® IP Plus™ and HD Spot Module are likely to experience significant streaming issues and possible GUI stuttering or lag.
Assigning Cameras from A VMAX® IP Plus™ (RTSP)
The VMAX® IP Plus™ is a Network Video Recorder (NVR) that is utilized in conjunction with IP Cameras to stream and archive video footage. IP cameras can easily be added to a VMAX® IP Plus™ unit by either connecting cameras directly to the onboard Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) switch of the NVR or by registering cameras over a local network connection. However, if a camera that is connected to the NVR must stream video through the VMAX® IP Plus™ to an HD Spot Module, it must be added by using an RTSP stream.
This is performed most easily through each unit’s web client.
Part 1: Obtaining an RTSP from the VMAX® IP Plus™ Web Viewer
To obtain the RTSP address:
- Open a web browser (Internet Explorer is recommended) and connect with the Web Viewer of the VMAX® IP Plus™.
To connect, enter the IP Address and Web Port of the VMAX® IP Plus™ into the address bar of the web browser.
For example:
- IP Address – 192.168.100.52
- Web Port – 80
- Complete URL – http://192.168.100.52:80
- Enter the Administrator User ID and Password of the VMAX® IP Plus™ to log in.
- Default ID: admin
- Default Password: <no password>
Click on the Setup tab.
The Setup menu will display in the panel on the left. Click on Network, then select Network again.
Take note of the IP Address and the RTSP Port of the VMAX® IP Plus™.
**NOTE: The default RTSP Port is 554. Changing this port number will, as a result, change the URL of the NVR’s RTSP stream(s).
- After noting the IP Address and RTSP Port of the VMAX® IP Plus™, use the following format to determine the camera’s RTSP stream address. You will need the RTSP 1st URL and the RTSP 2nd URL for the next section of the setup.
- Main Stream: rtsp://<NVR IP Address>:<RTSP Port>/main/ch<Camera>
- Sub Stream: rtsp://<NVR IP Address>:<RTSP Port>/sub/ch<Camera>
Example:
- NVR IP Address: 192.168.100.52
- NVR RTSP Port: 554
- NVR Camera Needed: Camera Ch. 1
- Example RTSP 1st URL: rtsp://192.168.100.52:554/main/ch1
- Example RTSP 2nd URL: rtsp://192.168.100.52:554/sub/ch1
Part 2: Applying an RTSP to the HD Spot Module
To assign cameras from a VMAX® IP Plus™ to an HD Spot Module by RTSP:
- Open a web browser (Internet Explorer is recommended) and connect with the Web Viewer of the HD Spot Module.
To connect, enter the IP Address and Web Port of the HD Spot Module into the address bar of the web browser.
For example:
- IP Address – 192.168.100.112
- Web Port – 8080
- Complete URL – http://192.168.100.112:8080
- Enter the Administrator User ID and Password of the HD Spot Module to log in.
- Default ID: admin
- Default PW: <no password>
- After logging in to the HD Spot Module as the Administrator, select the Monitoring, then select Registration.
The Registration menu will display. As video channels from the VMAX® IP Plus™ must be added to the HD Spot Module using an RTSP stream, select Manual Registration, then set the Protocol setting to RTSP.
- Configure the following settings:
- Protocol – set this setting to “RTSP”
- Channel – camera channel requested from the VMAX® IP Plus™
- RTSP 1st URL – enter the RTSP address to the Main Stream of the VMAX® IP Plus™
- RTSP 2nd URL – enter the RTSP address to the Sub-Stream of the VMAX® IP Plus™
- User ID – enter the User ID used to log in to the VMAX® IP Plus™
- Password – enter the Password used to log in to the VMAX® IP Plus™
Click the Manual Add button to manually add the camera to the HD Spot Module.
When finished, click the Save button.
