Navigating your cameras and views

Learn about some of the ways of navigating within or between the cameras in XProtect Smart Client.

See also Smart map (explained) and Maps (explained).

Hotspots (explained)

A hotspotClosedA particular position for viewing magnified and/or high quality camera images in XProtect Smart Client views. lets you view magnified and higher quality video from a selected camera in a dedicated position in a view. Hotspots are useful because you can use a low image quality or frame rateClosedA measure indicating the amount of information contained in motion video. Typically measured in FPS (Frames Per second). for cameras in the regular positions of the view and a high image quality or frame rate for the hotspot. This saves bandwidth on your remote connections.

There are two types of hotspots:

  • Global hotspots, which display the selected camera regardless of whether the camera is in the main window or in a secondary display
  • Local hotspots, which only display the selected camera of the local display

It is a good idea to have a hotspot in one of the larger positions of the view, for example, the large position in a 1+7 view: .

Use hotspots

  • When you click a camera in a view, the hotspot position updates with video feed of that camera
  • The title bar displays the hotspot icon:

When you view live or recorded video, you can double-click a hotspot (or any other camera position in a view) to maximize it. When you do this, the video in the hotspot is displayed in full quality, regardless of your image quality selection. If you want to make sure that the selected image quality also applies when maximized, in Setup mode, in the Properties pane, select Keep when maximized.

Carousels (explained)

A carousel is used for displaying video from several cameras, one after the other, in a single position in a view. You can specify which cameras to include in the carousel as well as the interval between camera changes. Carousels are displayed with the carousel icon on the toolbar: .

Fisheye lens cameras cannot be included in a carousel.

You can maximize a carousel by double-clicking the carousel position. When you do this, video from cameras included in the carousel is by default displayed in full quality, regardless of your image quality selection. This default cannot be overridden for carousels.

You can use digital zoom and PTZClosedPan-tilt-zoom; a highly movable and flexible type of camera. controls from a carousel if the camera supports this. When you use the PTZ or digital zoom controls that appear, the carousel pauses automatically.

Use carousels

If any of your views contain carouselsClosedA particular position for viewing video from several cameras, one after the other, in a view in XProtect Smart Client., this icon will appear in the title bar next to the camera name: .

Steps:

  1. On the Live tab, open a view that contains a carousel. When you hover over the view item, this toolbar appears: The camera toolbar in XProtect Smart Client..
  2. The carousel starts automatically. To pause it, click the Pause button.
  3. To shift to the next or previous camera in the carousel, click the Previous camera or Next camera button.
  4. Additional actions available in the toolbar:

You can maximize a carousel by double-clicking the carousel position. Video from cameras included in the carousel is by default displayed in full quality, regardless of your image quality selection.

Digital zoom (explained)

Digital zoom lets you magnify a portion of a given image so you are able to have a closer look at it. It works both in live and playback mode.

Digital zoom is a useful feature for cameras that do not have their own optical zoom capabilities. Using digital zoom will not affect any recording of the video. Recording will still take place in the regular format of the camera.

For non-PTZClosedPan-tilt-zoom; a highly movable and flexible type of camera. cameras, digital zoom is enabled by default. If you enable or disable digital zoom on one camera, all cameras in your view are affected. For PTZ cameras, this setting only applies to one camera at a time.

When you export video data, you can choose to export the regular images or the digitally zoomed images in the AVIClosedA popular file format for video. Files in this format carry the .avi file extension. or in the JPEGClosedAn image compression method, also known as JPG or Joint Photographic Experts Group. The method is a so-called lossy compression, meaning that some image detail will be lost during compression. Images compressed this way have become generically known as JPGs or JPEGs. formats. When you export in the XProtect format, this is unavailable because the recipient can use digital zoom on the exported recordings. If you print an image on which you have used digital zoom, the digitally zoomed area of the image will be printed.

See also Export settings.

Use digital zoom

Steps:

  1. Click and drag inside the image to zoom. The area you select is highlighted by a dotted line. When you release the mouse button, the zoom will take effect.

  2. To move to other areas of the image while maintaining your zoom level, in the overview frame, drag the highlighted area to the required position.

    Digital zoom in XProtect Smart Client.

  3. To adjust the zoom level, click inside the image and use the scroll wheel on your mouse.
  4. Click the Home icon inside the virtual joystick to return to the normal zoom level.

    Virtual joystick in XProtect Smart Client.

Virtual joystick and PTZ overlay buttons (explained)

If your views include fisheye cameras or lenses, or PTZClosedPan-tilt-zoom; a highly movable and flexible type of camera. devices, you can navigate the images by using the virtual joystick or the PTZ navigation buttons that may appear inside the image. See also PTZ and fisheye lens images (explained).

The virtual joystick:

Virtual joystick in XProtect Smart Client.

If you do not want the camera toolbar to pop up when you hover over the view item, press and hold the CTRL key while moving the mouse.

Views and shortcuts (explained)

You can use keyboard shortcuts to select views if the views have been assigned numbers. You assign numbers to the views in setup mode on the Live and Playback tabs. See also Setup mode (overview).

Using keyboard shortcuts to select a view only works if you are using a numeric keypad.

Keyboard shortcuts (overview)

When you work on the Live and Playback tabs, a number of keyboard shortcuts allow you to navigate within and between views.

These shortcuts cannot be used for positions in views containing Matrix content or static images.

You can also assign your own custom shortcut key combinations for particular actions in XProtect Smart Client. See also Keyboard settings.

Press these keys

To do this

Enter

Toggle maximized and regular display of the selected item in the view.

Alt

Select a specific view item within a view. First, press Alt. A number is displayed for each open window. If, for example, you want to select a view item in the second window, press 2. Multiple numbers now appear, one for each view item that is visible in the second window. Press the number of the view item that you want to select, for example 4. When a view item is in focus, it is marked with a blue frame.

If you are using a PTZ camera or a hotspot, this allows you to control cameras with a joystick or to send the view item directly to the hotspot without using the mouse.

/+<camera shortcut number>+Enter

Change the camera in the selected view item to the camera with the matching shortcut number. Example: if the required camera has the shortcut number 6, press /+ 6+Enter.

Camera shortcut numbers may not necessarily be in use on your XProtect VMS system. They are defined on the server.

/+Enter

Change the camera in the selected view item to the default camera.

/+/+Enter

Change the cameras in all view items to the default cameras.

*+<view shortcut number>+Enter

Change the selected view to the view with the matching shortcut number. Example: if the required view has the shortcut number 8, press *+ 8+Enter.

If view shortcut numbers are used, you can see them on the Live and Playback tabs in the Views pane, where they appear in parentheses before the names of the views.

6 (numeric keypad only)

Move the view position selection one step to the right.

4 (numeric keypad only)

Move the view position selection one step to the left.

8 (numeric keypad only)

Move the view position selection one step up.

2 (numeric keypad only)

Move the view position selection one step down.