1.3 Viewing Multiple Camera Images
You can register other Panasonic Network Cameras to this camera (see 7.2 Registering Multiple Cameras) and use the multi camera page to view images from multiple cameras. After you have registered the other cameras to this camera (up to 16 cameras can be registered), follow the procedure below to view camera images.
1.
Access the camera (see 1.1 Accessing the Camera).
2.
Click the [Multi] tab.
The multi camera screen
A.
Full-screen button (click to view the image in 4:3 full-screen mode; click to return to normal mode)
B.
Changes the number of cameras displayed
C.
Switches the display to a different set of cameras
D.
Determines the video format of images displayed, or how often the camera images are refreshed
E.
Determines the resolution (i.e., the number of pixels) that are displayed for each image
G.
Date and time overlay (see 7.1 Changing Image Display Settings)*1
H.
Snapshot button (see 1.2.8 Taking Snapshots)
I.
BB-HCM581A only: Talk button*2 (see 1.2.10 Audio Features (BB-HCM581A Only))
J.
BB-HCM581A only: Listen button*2 (see 1.2.10 Audio Features (BB-HCM581A Only))
K.
BB-HCM581A only: Volume slider*2 (see 1.2.10 Audio Features (BB-HCM581A Only))
L.
Detection notification sound button (see 1.2.12 Detection Notification Sound).*3
M.
Camera name (see 7.2 Registering Multiple Cameras; click to view the selected camera’s image in a new window)
N.
Camera image (click an area of the camera image to use the click to center feature (see Click to center)*4, or use your mouse to use the 10× digital zoom feature when displaying MJPEG or MPEG-4 images)
O.
*1
Overlays are displayed only if they are configured for the camera (see 7.1 Changing Image Display Settings). For other cameras, overlays cannot be displayed if the other cameras do not support the overlay feature.
*2
The audio controls displayed for other cameras depend on the audio features supported by the other cameras.
*3
If the camera does not support detection notification sounds, this feature is not available.
*4
If the camera does not support pan and tilt features, this feature is not available.
Note
General Information
When viewing multiple camera, the 42× zoom feature is not available, however the 10× digital zoom is available. Note however that as the magnification increases, image quality decreases.
When viewing images on the multi camera page, the maximum image resolution available is 320 × 240.
When [16 Screens] is selected as the number of cameras displayed, all images are displayed in 192 × 144 pixel resolution, images are displayed as still images, and the audio controls (BB-HCM581A only) are not displayed.
MPEG-4 images displayed on the multi camera page are streamed using the HTTP protocol.
If a camera configured for the multi camera page is configured to not allow access from guest users, an authentication dialog will be displayed for that camera. You will need to enter a valid user name and password in order to view images from that camera.
If a camera displayed on the multi camera page is configured to not allow general users or guest users to access certain features (presets, pan/tilt, etc.), those features are not available and their corresponding buttons or controls will not be displayed.
The image refresh rate may vary depending on network conditions, PC performance, the number of people accessing the cameras, and the type of objects being viewed.
The image refresh rate may decrease when buffering images to an SD memory card.
When viewing video images, we recommend connecting the cameras using an Ethernet switching hub instead of a repeater hub to improve image refresh rate.
As a general guideline, about 3 to 4 Mbps of bandwidth are required to display 4 camera images. If you do not have enough bandwidth, the refresh rate may decrease.
When viewing MJPEG/JPEG images on the multi camera page, the talk button is displayed in gray for cameras that do not support speakers.
When viewing MPEG-4 images on the multi camera page, the talk off button () is displayed for cameras that do not support speakers.
Related settings
The default settings for [Refresh Rate] and [Resolution] that are used each time the multi camera page is accessed can be changed (see 7.1 Changing Image Display Settings).
Image quality for MJPEG and still images cannot be changed directly on the multi camera page. This setting is determined on the [Image Display] page (see 7.1 Changing Image Display Settings).
To reduce data traffic when other users are accessing the camera, you can configure the camera to automatically switch from displaying video images to still images. Set the [Video Display Time] for general users (see Creating or modifying a general user account) and for guest users (see Changing the features available to guest users).
When the refresh rate is too slow, you may be able to improve the refresh rate by limiting the bandwidth (see 5.1.1 Network (IPv4) Settings or 11.3 Configuring Your Camera for IPv6).
When a camera image is not displayed
Confirm the settings on the multi camera setup page (see 7.2 Registering Multiple Cameras).
When configuring cameras for the multi camera page, make sure that the cameras you want to access from the Internet have been registered to this camera using their global IP addresses. For Internet access, local IP addresses (such as 192.168.xxx.xxx) cannot be used.