Camera settings and time
Read and change a camera's video, audio, and image settings, keep its clock right, and apply time templates to many cameras at once.
Contents
Kalytera VMS reads a camera's own settings and writes your changes back to the camera. Open the camera in Configure > Devices to find its settings and its Time tab.
What you need
- View devices to see settings, and Configure devices to read them from the camera, change them, or apply time templates.
- A camera connected through Axis VAPIX, Hikvision ISAPI, Dahua HTTP, or ONVIF. Over the Hikvision SDK, settings can be read and changed; over the Dahua SDK, they can only be read.
Change camera settings
Settings are grouped in Video settings (with Kalytera streams on Axis cameras), Audio settings, Image & on-screen text, and Network. Only the settings the camera reports are shown.
- Select Read from camera, or Refresh from camera to load the latest values. Kalytera VMS confirms with Settings refreshed.
- Change the values you need. The save bar counts the changes staged.
- Select Save changes, or Discard to drop them.
Changes are applied all together or not at all. The result is one of these:
- Verified: the camera holds the new values.
- Rolled back and verified: the change did not go through, and the camera is back to its previous values.
- Repair required: the camera needs attention.
- The camera settings were not changed.
Each field also shows its own result: Verified, Rejected, Unsupported, Snapshot changed, Could not verify, Rolled back and verified, or Restoration failed.
Keep the camera clock right
The Time tab shows the Camera clock and its Difference from Site Node: In sync under 1 second, a warning over 10 seconds, and critical over 60 seconds.
- Set to Site Node time sets the camera clock to the Site Node's clock.
- Sync from NTP now asks the camera to synchronize, where the camera allows it.
- Synchronization holds NTP on or off, the server, the port, and the interval.
- Time zone holds the camera's zone or offset. Fill from a time zone fills it in for you.
- Daylight saving holds when it Starts and Ends and how much the Clock moves by.
Saving gives Verified, Not changed, or Repair required. Cameras connected through a manufacturer SDK have no time fields.
| Cameras | Differences |
|---|---|
| Axis | A named time zone only when the camera lists it. No NTP port or interval. Set to Site Node time only with NTP off. |
| Hikvision | A UTC offset only. The camera reports its standard offset all year round. |
| Dahua | 33 fixed offsets. No Clock moves by. |
| ONVIF | Daylight saving set by dates is read-only. |
Apply a time template
A time template sets the same time settings on many cameras. Templates are in Configure > Devices > Cameras > Time templates.
- Select New template and enter a Name of up to 100 characters that no other template uses.
- Set the values the template changes. For the rest, keep Keep each camera's value.
- To follow a time zone, use Fill from a time zone: the offset and daylight saving then follow that zone.
- Save the template, select Apply to cameras, and choose up to 64 cameras.
Each camera shows its result: Applied, Partially applied, Not applied, Failed, or Repair required. On a camera's Time tab, Apply a template applies one to that camera. Delete template removes the template; cameras keep the settings it applied.
Good to know
- Network settings are read-only for every camera.
- Kalytera VMS does not follow changes made on the camera itself. Select Refresh from camera to see them.
- A template changes cameras only when you apply it.