Extended PTZ controls

dmg15
dmg15
in SecuritySpy

I have an unbranded PTZ camera which has a settings menu built in which is available using PTZ controls in the software application that is recommended for use with the camera. The software is called EASY VMS 2.3.7 and in the PTZ section there is a menu button with a dropdown menu for 'channel' selection. When I click the menu button an on screen menu appears as an overlay on the video feed from the camera, I can change IR, PTZ movement, auto-focus and some other settings. The problem is, EASY VMS is a windows application and I recently replaced my last Intel mac and only have M1 and M2 Macs going forward.

Is there a way for me to access this menu in security spy? Or is there some utility you could recommend that will run on an Apple Silicon based mac which has this functionality?

(I also have a couple of cameras with web interfaces which require an activex plugin only available in internet explorer, which i no longer have access to if you have any suggestions?)

Comments

  • Ben
    Ben

    I'm afraid this menu is not accessible in SecuritySpy, which has its own control menu for PTZ control that will look a bit different and may have a slightly different set of features. Focus and IR control will be missing in SecuritySpy's controls, but these should almost never require manual adjustment (hence why we don't include them) - they should be left on auto in the camera. Are you finding that the camera isn't correctly setting these functions automatically?

    For cameras that require ActiveX to configure, then I'm afraid only a PC or an emulator running Windows will do the job. You could look at running Windows in VirtualBox on your Mac for this purpose perhaps. Or, preferably, updating your cameras to newer models with standard web interfaces - ActiveX was deprecated in 2015, so these cameras must be quite old! Please see our Supported Cameras list for information on which cameras work well with SecuritySpy.

  • dmg15
    dmg15
    edited February 2023

    Thanks for the response!

    The IR isn’t really a control that i need but autofocus has trouble in low light whenever i select a certain ptz preset as there is an awning about 15m before the the area i want to focus on which the camera chooses to focus on instead. I was hoping if i could manually focus and then save the preset that focus data would be included. Currently i have to zoom in and out a step or two to make it refocus.


    Regarding the camera with activex control, i purchased two in 2019 and replaced one of them since then due to the inconvenient interface.

    One last question if i may, the ptz controls work perfectly from the video window on the ss server iMac. However, when i remotely connect to the server from iOS / AppleTV or the downstairs iMac i dont have tilt control on those devices. Pan and zoom work fine, no up and down. I can select presets which require tilt and they work but no manual tilt with the arrows. It used to work a few months ago, so i’m not sure if a software update may have affected something? The ss server is dedicated so it only has big sir, little snitch & security spy installed. Everything is connected by ethernet (except the iOS device). Any ideas?


    ps. The new groups filter in the TvOS app is great, much quicker than individually removing and adding streams to multiplex 🙏🏼

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