ONVIF clients (explained)

ONVIF clients are computer appliances or software programs that use ONVIF Webservices. Examples of ONVIF clients are servers, media players, IP-based surveillance systems, or bridges like the Milestone Open Network Bridge.

The Real Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP) is used to establish and control media sessions between two or more endpoints. The Milestone Open Network Bridge uses ONVIF Profile S and RTSP to handle requests for video from an ONVIF client, and to stream video from an XProtect installation to the ONVIF client.

By default, communication between ONVIF clients and the Milestone Open Network Bridge server uses the following ports:

• ONVIF port 580. ONVIF clients use this port to submit requests for video streams
• RTSP port 554. Milestone Open Network Bridge uses this port to stream video to ONVIF clients

ONVIF clients can access the RTSP port on the Milestone Open Network Bridge directly. For example, the VLC media player or a VLC plug-in in a browser can retrieve and display video. This is described in this document in Use a media player to view a video stream.

You can use different ports to, for example, avoid a port conflict. If you change the port numbers, you must also update the RTSP stream for the ONVIF client URI.

RTSP supports only the H.264 codec. Cameras must be able to stream video in the H.264 codec.