Configuring RTSP Server module

General info

The RTSP Server object is used for transmitting video from Server to remote workplaces using the RTSP protocol. Use of the RTSP protocol allows viewing video from IP cameras and video archive on remote clients by means of the Axxon PSIM software or using video players that support this protocol. Transmitting Video gate archive and Backup archive is also supported.

If there is sound with live video or the archive is recorded with sound, then video broadcast with sound through RTSP Server is supported – for this specify the ID of microphone from which the archive is recorded when requesting video (see the table with requests examples). For proper operation of this feature set the VLC media player compatibility mode checkbox checked in VLC Media Player (see item 14).

It is to be taken into account that while configuring each rtsp Server loads only one CPU core. To increase the number of rtsp streams several rtsp Server objects are to be created and configured on several cameras. Each RTSP Server entity runs in a separate system process (StreamingServer.run).

Creating the RTSP Server object 

Create the RTSP Server object as follows:

1. In the context menu of the Computer object select Create object => RTSP Server.
2. Specify the name and ID of the object in the opened panel.
   
3. Click the Apply button to create the object.

Configuring Unicast translation

1. Open the settings panel for the RTSP Server object. For this select the created object in the Axxon PSIM objects tree.
   

2. In the Cameras table set the checkboxes next to video cameras video from which is to be displayed (1). If camera has several streams, the default stream is broadcasted.

   Note.

   If default stream is changed on the corresponding Camera object settings panel after applying RTSP Server settings, it is mandatory to click Apply on the RTSP Server object settings panel to apply changes to it as well. See also Configuration of multistream video.

3. If video from the camera is to be received through the video gate, then select the Video gate object in the Gate drop-down list (2).
4. If archive from the camera is to be received from the backup archive, then select the Backup archive object in the Backup arch. drop-down list (3).
5. Set the Unicast checkbox checked if signals from all cameras are to be broadcast through one port (4).
   

6. In the RTSP port field specify the port via which the video is transmitted (5).

   Note.

   The "Windows Media Player Network Sharing" service can use the default port 554. Change the port number or disable this service for broadcast.
   To disable the service go to the Control panel → Administrative Tools → Services and double-click the service name and click the Stop button in the opened window.
7. In the HTTP port field specify the port that is to be used for transmitting video via http-protocol (6).

Configuring Multicast translation

To distribute transmitted signal among different RTSP-ports proceed as follows:

1. Go to the RTSP Server object settings panel.

2. Set the Multicast checkbox (1). The Port column is displayed in the Cameras table.

3. Specify a data transmission port for each video camera in the Port field (2). Bear in mind the following when specifying ports:

   1. The following ports are in use for each camera in the Multicast mode: nPort, nPort + 18000 (rtp), nPort + 19000 (rtcp), where nPort – port number specified for camera in the Port column.
      For proper operation of RTSP server in the Multicast mode these ports are to be vacant.
   2. Specified ports are not addressed directly. Use RTSP port to get video from all cameras in the Multicast mode (see item 12).

   3. In spite of specifying video data port it is required to specify camera number in the data source address (see the table below).
      

   Note.

   Use of the Multicast mode allows decreasing Server load due to reduction of transmitted data.

   Note.

   To get such video in Axxon PSIM (see Configuring multimedia receipt using RTSP protocol) set the multicast value to the RTSP parameter in the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \SOFTWARE\AxxonSoft\PSIM\Video\TransportProtocols registry section (for 64-bit system the path is HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\AxxonSoft\PSIM\Video\TransportProtocols) on computer where the Camera object is created. Detailed information on this parameter see in Changing the transport protocol used by IP-device section.

   Note.

   RTSP Server can translate both in Multicast and Unicast modes simultaneously. Receiving both these streams on the Axxon PSIM client is impossible due to RTSP key defining the mode (see the note above). However, the VLC player allows receiving streams in both modes in the same time.

4. In the Receiver IP address field (3) specify the address from which the broadcast in Multicast mode will be performed. Address is to be in range from 224.0.1.0 to 239.255.255.255. By default, the receiver IP is 224.0.1.150. Bear in mind the following when specifying Receiver IP address:

   1. 224.0.0.0-224.0.0.255 address range is reserved for routing protocols and other service protocols. Destination IP address cannot be set from the specified range.

   2. RTSP-server can broadcast to one network simultaneously. The network with minimal metric is selected by default. To change the broadcast network, go to the Advanced settings tab (see below).

   3. Set different Receiver IP address and RTSP port if several RTSP Servers are in Multicast mode.
5. In the RTSP port field (4) specify the number of port through which video signal will be sent in the Multicast mode. When requesting video data from the camera using the RTSP protocol, it is necessary to specify this port. The system itself forwards the request to the port of the requested camera.

Additional settings

Perform the additional settings as follows:

1. Go to the Advanced settings tab.
   

2. If the current time is to be sent to VLC Media Player instead of the frame time, then set the VLC player compatibility mode checkbox checked (1). This option is to be used in case of problems when playing back the archive received over RTSP in VLC Media Player.

3. If there are captions on the video (see Configuring captions display on a video image), set the Use captions track checkbox checked to send them along with video via RTSP Server and to display them in the receiving app – VLC player (2).
   Also, when this checkbox is set, time captions are added to the video image in the format YYYYMMDDTHHMMSSZ. If the video is archive (see request examples below), then the captions show the archive time. However, if the VLC player compatibility mode is set along with the Use captions track check box, the time in the captions is current.

   Important!

   Correct video and captions operation are enabled only in VLC Media Player 2.0.0. These features are not guaranteed to work in other versions of VLC Media Player or other programs.

4. From the Source IP interface drop-down list, select the name of the network interface that should be used to broadcast the RTSP server (3).

5. If the RTSP Server is used for broadcasting the video data to the Single Data Center (ECHD), and the Video Surveillance Servers are behind NAT, then it is necessary to specify the NAT settings:

   1. In the IP address field, specify the IP address of the router that performs the NAT broadcasting (4).

   2. In the Port field, specify the port of the router, which is accessed by the client when executing the Single Data Center (ECHD) requests (5).

      Note

      To enable the substitution of the router's specified IP address and port to the Single Data Center (ECHD) requests, it is necessary to set the corresponding checkbox in the settings panel of the Web server object − see Enabling the processing of ECHD requests and selecting rtsp server.

6. Click the Apply button to save the changes.

Bulk settings for cameras

In case any changeable setting should be the same for several cameras, there is a possibility of bulk setting. This feature is available for editable columns: Added, Gate, Port, Backup Archive.

Perform bulk setting of cameras as follows:

1. Go to the settings panel of the RTSP-Server object.
2. Set the value of one or more reference parameters Added, Gate, Port, Backup Archive for one of the Camera objects.
   
   
3. While holding down the Ctrl key, select the (full) rows in the table, which should have the same values ​​in the corresponding columns.
4. Right-click in the reference cell.
5. In the opened function menu, select Set for selected rows: "Value". As a result, the corresponding column in all selected rows are filled the value equal to the reference parameter.
6. Repeat steps 4-5 for all parameters that need to be applied to the selected lines.

Examples of addresses to receive video from RTSP Server

To connect to Server and display video in the video player that supports RTSP protocol, specify the address of data source in the format given in the table:

The figure shows how to view video from the Server.