Table of Contents   MOBOTIX Online Help Language: en  

The Live Screen of the MOBOTIX Camera

The camera automatically opens the Live screen when you access the camera for the first time. Use this screen to change image settings, to use the softbuttons, to open the Setup Menu or to access the password-protected Admin Menu.

The Elements of the Live Screen

Hold your mouse over the elements of the user interface to see the bubble help. Click on the element to go to the description.

Camera name Live Player Multi View Open Help Camera Information Image area Logo Text display Date display Event number and event symbols Action symbols Image controls Status display Softbuttons Softbuttons Zoom buttons

Element Descriptions

Elements of the Title Bar

Name Element Description
Camera name
mega-lux

Shows the camera name as set in the Quick Installation wizard or in the Ethernet Interface dialog in the Camera name field.

Open Help Back to the overview

Opens the online help for the current screen or dialog. If no help topic is available, the Help page will be displayed.

Camera Information Back to the overview

Displays information on the hardware, software and the most important settings of the camera.

Screens of the Camera

Name Element Description
Live Back to the overview

The Live screen of the MOBOTIX camera displays the current images of the camera.

Use the dropdown menus to access certain functions of the image controls and the camera administration or open the Setup Menu to see links to all image and event control dialogs.

The Admin Menu (password-protected) contains all dialogs for configuring the camera.

Player Back to the overview

Use the Player screen to view and download the events stored in the internal or the external image storage of the camera.

See also: The Player
Multi View Back to the overview

Use the Multi View screen to combine several cameras in different patterns and to assign special functions (highlighting, focus on alarm, ...) for the individual cameras.

See also: The Multi View Screen
Guest Back to the overview

The Guest screen allows viewing the camera's live image, setting the image rate within the preset limits and accessing the Live screen by clicking on the Menu link at the bottom of the page.

See also: The Guest Screen
PDA Back to the overview

The PDA screen displays the camera's current image for low-resolution devices (PDAs/MDAs and mobile phones).

If you would like to see a list of events on your PDA and download event images, open the PDA Event List.

See also: The PDA Screen

Image Control Elements

Name Element Description
Frame rate Back to the overview

Select the desired frame rate for the Live screen.

Please note that the image rate depends to a large degree on the bandwidth of the transmission path, the selected resolution and the video codec used (MxPEG or Motion JPEG).

See also: The Best Frame Rate
Function selector Back to the overview
Back to the overview

Use the image control functions to adjust the Live screen to your preferences:

Image Sensor
Select the right, the left or both image sensors, or a picture-in-picture (RiL or LiR) display (only available in dual-lens models).
Image Size
Select the desired image size in pixels.
JPEG Quality
Select the desired JPEG quality.
Brightness
Select the desired image brightness.
Backlight Correction
Select the desired correction level for a backlight situation in order to brighten dark image areas.
Color Saturation
Select the desired color saturation.
Sharpness
Select the desired sharpness of the images.
Exposure Window
Select one of the predefined exposure windows to adjust the exposure control.
Exposure Correction
Select the desired f/stop correction (± two f/stops).
Zoom Control
Select the desired zoom level. Selecting a zoom level of 2x or higher will allow you to save the currently displayed image section as default view or to load the saved view.
Browser
Select how the browser gets the images from the camera:
Internet Explorer: JScript, Java, ActiveX (Windows only)
Netscape/Mozilla/Firefox: Server-Push, JScript
Managing Settings
Use this function to load the image factory defaults, restore the image settings from flash, and to store the complete configuration (requires administrative access).
See also: The MxPEG ActiveX Plug-in for Internet Explorer
Status display Back to the overview

Displays the current status of the camera:

Back to the overview Black:Normal state of the camera.
Back to the overview Yellow blinking: The camera switches from one state to another (e.g. from the left to the right image sensor).
Back to the overview Green: A process has been completed successfully (about one second).
Back to the overview Red: A process could not be completed successfully (about one second).

The Softbuttons

Name Element Description
Softbuttons

The softbuttons at the left-hand side of the screen execute certain functions, most of which can be used by users with User level access.

If you have administrative access to the camera, you may assign new functions to existing softbuttons by [Shift]-clicking the corresponding softbutton.

See also: Defining Softbuttons
Managing Users and Passwords
Zoom buttons




Use these buttons to control the digital zoom and the panning functions for moving the visible section within a zoomed image:

1x Zoom
Switches the digital zoom off and returns to the regular camera view. This setting will deactivate the Center Pan.
2x Zoom
Switches the image display to 2x zoom level. This zoom level is available for all image sizes (resolutions). From this zoom level on, clicking in the image will move the visible image area within the full image.
4x Zoom
Switches the image display to 4x zoom level. This zoom level is available for all image sizes except 1280x960.
Center Pan
Moves the visible image area to the center of the full image, if zoom level 2x or higher has been activated.
Set Default View
Sets the current image area and the zoom level as default view. If Exposure Windows are used to control exposure, the window's current position will also be saved.
Load Default View
Loads the image area and the zoom level that had been saved using the Set Default View button.
Note: If you would like to load the default view you just saved using Set Default View and any exposure windows even after the next reboot, make sure that you store the current configuration in the flash memory.
See also: General Image Settings
The Best Frame Rate

The Image Area

Name Element Description
Image area Back to the overview

The image area shows the live images of the camera as well as logos, texts and symbols of the camera. In addition, you may choose from the following options:

Logo Back to the overview

The functions for managing image files, logo definitions and creating image profiles will enable you to use graphic files stored on the camera or from other URLs as logos with transparent areas or as watermark in every image of the camera. Using several logos will allow you to display these logos as banners at a definable interval.

If you are using Time Tables, you may also activate/deactivate the logos in a scheduled manner.

Text display
WWW.MOBOTIX.COM

Open the Text and Display Settings dialog to change the text that is displayed in the top left corner of the image area.

Using variables and placeholders for dynamic image texts, you can display e.g. the current temperature within the camera or text received via the serial interface in every image.

Date display
2004-05-01 CEST 10:01:22

Open the Text and Display Settings dialog to change the date and time information that is displayed in the top right corner of the image area.

Event Symbols
000807 PI VM UC

Open the Text and Display Settings dialog to change the symbols that are displayed at the bottom of the image area.

The event symbols in the lower left corner of the image area show the event number (in this case 000807) and the symbols for the activated sensors at the time of the recording. In this image, PI (PIR sensor), VM (Video Motion) and UC (User Click) had been activated.

If an event occurs, the corresponding symbol (e.g. VM) is displayed in red.

Action symbols
REC FS

Open the Text and Display Settings dialog to change the event symbols that are displayed at the bottom of the image area.

The yellow symbols in the lower right corner of the image area show all actions that are active on the camera. In this case, ST (Storage) and REC (File Server storage) are active.

If one of the actions is carried out, it is displayed in blue (e.g. ST); a failed action is shown in red (e.g. FS).

Deactivated messages are shown in grey (e.g. EM) when setting Messaging > Enable Message Profile to off or when using Time Tables to deactivate the messages).

If a Time Table profile has been selected in General Event Settings > Arming to activate or deactivate the camera, off is appended to the displayed action symbols.

Attention: If General Events > Arming has been set to off, event/action symbols and error messages are not displayed in the image.

For failed actions, an error message will appear above the symbols. Open the Text and Display Settings dialog to deactivate the error messages in the image.

See also: Abbreviations Used in the MOBOTIX Camera

The MxPEG ActiveX Plug-in for Internet Explorer

If you are using Internet Explorer (from version 5.5) on a Windows computer (from Windows 2000), you can use the MxPEG ActiveX plug-in for viewing the live camera images. This plug-in allows you to combine the advantages of MxPEG with the browser-based user interface:

Note: When fast movements occur in the image, you may see tiles in the image when MxPEG is activated. If you prefer better image quality, you should deactivate MxPEG as described in High Resolution and Quality.
See also: The MxViewer

Prerequisites for Using the MxPEG ActiveX Plug-in

Make sure that the following prerequisites are fulfilled if you intend to use the MxPEG ActiveX plug-in:

Installing and Running the MxPEG ActiveX Plug-in

Proceed as follows:

  1. Start Internet Explorer and enter the address of a MOBOTIX camera (from software version 2.0).
  2. Open the image controls, select the Browser option and ActiveX as value.
  3. You will be asked if you would like to accept the installation of the signed ActiveX plug-in. Click OK to install the plug-in.
  4. Click on the MxPEG on button on the user interface or activate MxPEG in the JPEG Settings dialog to use the advantages of MxPEG video encoding.

Notes:

Options of the MxPEG ActiveX Plug-in

If the MxPEG ActiveX plug-in has been installed, right-clicking the image will display a context menu with the following options:

Option Values Description
Digital zoom 1x / 2x / 4x
Center Pan
Set Default View
Load Default View

Use these options to control the digital zoom and the panning functions for moving the visible section within a zoomed image. The functions are the same as for the zoom buttons.

Scale image 0.5x / 1x / 2x Scales the image of the ActiveX plug-in to the desired size.
Audio -

Activate this option to listen to the audio channel of the camera.

An error message will alert you if the camera's microphone is deactivated. If this is the case, open the Loudspeaker and Microphone dialog and activate the microphone.

Change access level -

Changes the access level used by the ActiveX plug-in to access the camera. User access can use all functions of the ActiveX plug-in, Guest disables the audio functions and the zoom controls.

If a password has been assigned for the user or the guest level, the plug-in will again ask for login credentials to access the camera. This authorization is required for security reasons and cannot be circumvented.

About MxPEG ActiveX - Displays information about the version of the MxPEG ActiveX plug-in.

The Best Frame Rate

Depending on the camera application (e.g. bandwidth of the data connection), the frame rate requirements may vary greatly.

Fast Images

For security applications that require fast images, you should use a Windows computer (from Windows 2000) and Internet Explorer (from version 5.5) in conjunction with the MxPEG ActiveX plug-in or the MxViewer for viewing the live camera images. Furthermore, you should provide a data link with sufficient bandwidth for the camera's images.

Set the following parameters to the values listed below:

High Resolution and Quality

If the frame rate is not the most important criterion of an application, you can set the focus on image quality:


Storing the Configuration

Using the controls of the Live screen to adjust the camera configuration will keep these changes until the next reboot of the camera, it will not automatically store them permanently. If you have administrative access to the camera, you should store the current configuration into flash memory.

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