Navigating cameras

XProtect Smart Client has features for viewing live and recorded video, going back and forth in time in recorded video, zooming in on details in the video, and much more.

You can see and use different navigation features depending on several factors. They include:

  • The type of camera

  • The camera’s capabilities

  • If you’re viewing video in live or playback mode

  • Your user permissions

Zoom in and out

In live and playback mode, you can digitally zoom in and out on the video from any supported camera.

Zooming in a camera view item in XProtect Smart Client.

You can only use optical zoom in live video if the selected camera has movable camera lenses. If you zoom in or out optically, this also affects what is recorded.

PTZ (pan-tilt-zoom)

You can use digital PTZ in the video from any supported camera in live and playback mode.

In live video, you can physically move (pan, tilt, and zoom) the view direction and focal length of a PTZ camera. If you move a PTZ camera, this also affects what is recorded.

You can add the dewarped video from a fisheye camera to multiple view items to display different areas of the video in each view item. You can still move inside the video in a camera view item with digital zoom in both live and recorded video.

Time navigation

You can go back and forth in time in recorded video. To find video sequences, use the controls in the main timeline to change the time for all cameras’ video in the view. You can also go back and forth in the recorded video displayed in a single camera view item. This is called independent playback.

The main timeline.

Patrolling

Through XProtect Smart Client and without leaving your office, you can manually patrol the buildings and areas you protect by turning the view angle of PTZ cameras in different directions and selecting different views.

If your system administrator has created rules for patrolling, you have dedicated views and view items set up for patrolling. The rule-based patrolling can include:

  • PTZ cameras turning

  • Cameras zooming in on areas

  • The showing of video feeds from one camera after the other in carousel view items, for example, 20 seconds of video from each camera in a camera group.