Camera configuration

There are a number of settings that must be configured on a camera prior to the Edge Controller being able to communicate with it.

Definition prepared

Giraffe maintain a database of 'camera definitions' that configure the capabilities of a camera and how they are presented in our UI. Sometimes a definition covers multiple cameras from a manufacturer and in other situations we may need a specific definition for a particular camera use case (for example a thermal camera).

When adding a camera to the system, a definition must be assigned to the camera. Please discuss with Giraffe Support before adding a new camera to ensure that the appropriate camera definition is available.

Username and password

The username and password of the camera must be entered into the Giraffe cloud alongside the camera record. These credentials must be able to to both connect to the ONVIF device service of the camera and obtain RTSP streams.

ONVIF enabled

The ONVIF service must be enabled on the camera. This will enable features like PTZ and remote reboot. We do not use ONVIF for stream discovery, instead preferring to manually describe these in the device definition for more flexibility.

If your camera does not support ONVIF, we can still support it. Please contact Giraffe support.

Streams configured

The Edge Controller is a very low powered device and does not have a massive amount of spare CPU capacity. Therefore it is vital that the cameras are correctly configured, especially when trying to connect to 4 or more cameras.

We have produced specific guides for various cameras found in our camera guides section.

The most important stream configuration settings are:

• stream 1: H.264, 1080P resolution, 5-15FPS, max 1 key frame per second, variable bit rate.

• stream 2: H.264, 640x360 resolution, 5-15FPS, variable bit rate.

Note that H.265 is not supported. The Edge Controller simply does not have enough power to transcode from H.265 to the H.264 format required to play video in a web browser. Almost all benefits of H.265 are lost if we have to transcode it to H.264.

Once web browser support for H.265/HEVC becomes more ubiquitous we will enable it in the Edge Controller software. The Edge Controller is technically capable of processing H.265 as long as it does not have to transcode it.

Date and time correct

The date and time on the camera must be correct. If it is not correct the Edge Controller may be unable to talk to the camera.