Camera Optimization in DW Spectrum
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Affected Roles: Owner, Administrator
Related Digital Watchdog VMS Apps: DW Spectrum
Software Version: DW Spectrum v4.0.0.29990 or higher
Last Edit: August 20, 2024
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Camera Optimization
By default, DW Spectrum uses an optimization feature to dictate how your cameras should record. This includes the camera resolution, bitrate, and frame rate. The goal of these optimized settings is to ensure smooth and efficient video streaming without overloading your network or recording server. This can be a convenient tool for quickly setting up cameras.
This article will outline how to enable and disable automatic camera optimization through the DW Spectrum Client interface.
Supported/Affected Devices
- DW Blackjack Series
- MEGApix Camera Series
Enabling Optimization
To enable camera optimization:
- Log in as the Administrator or as a user with administrator privileges.
- Open the Main Menu and select System Administration.
- From the General tab, locate the System Settings section.
Click in the checkbox for Allow System to optimize camera settings to enable DW Spectrum’s camera optimization feature.
- With camera optimization enabled in DW Spectrum, right-click on your camera, then select Camera Settings.
Click on the Recording tab.
Under Schedule Settings, adjust the FPS (frames per second) and Quality (resolution) of the camera.
Click the More Settings toggle to adjust the Bitrate of the camera.
Note: To adjust these settings, the camera will need to have an available recording license assigned to it. To learn more, check out Activating Licenses.
Disabling Optimization
When disabling this feature, existing settings that you have pre-configured such as resolution, FPS, and bitrate will not be modified by the system based on network changes or server conditions. The system will leave the pre-existing settings for this feature as was previously set up.
To disable camera optimization for all cameras
- Log in as the Administrator or as a user with administrator privileges.
- Open the Main Menu and select System Administration.
- From the General tab, locate the System Settings section.
Click in the checkbox for Allow System to optimize camera settings to disable DW Spectrum’s camera optimization feature.
IMPORTANT: By disabling this setting, the frame rate (FPS) and image quality configurations specified in the recording schedule will be overridden and ignored.
To disable camera optimization for a single-camera
There may be some circumstances where a camera does not agree with optimization or you may not want optimization enabled for that camera. DW Spectrum allows users to have the camera optimization feature enabled, while also providing the option to use the camera’s native camera settings for a specific camera.
For partial optimization:
- Right-click on the camera, then select Camera Settings.
- Click on the Expert tab.
From the Expert tab, locate and enable Keep camera stream and profile settings. While this setting is enabled, the selected camera will use its native stream and profile settings, while the other cameras will use the specifications of DW Spectrum.
IMPORTANT: By enabling this setting, the frame rate (FPS) and image quality configurations specified in the recording schedule will be overridden and ignored.
For More Information or Technical Support
DW Technical Support: 866.446.3595 (option 4)
https://www.digital-watchdog.com/contact-tech-support/
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DW Sales: 866.446.3595 [email protected] www.digital-watchdog.com
