Product Support

Pan, Tilt & Zoom Control

Mon, 29 Mar 2010 09:06:56 +1100

This Article Applies To: Cam Viewer (all versions including Cam Viewer for iPad).

Cam Viewer provides control of Pan, Tilt and Zoom functionality for a range of camera devices. Different versions of Cam Viewer provide different device support as follows:

Cam Viewer for iPhone - Version 1.4

Pan & Tilt Control for:
•Axis
•ABUS
• Any PTZ camera connected to and supported by a SecuritySpy server

Cam Viewer for SecuritySpy - Version 1.4.1

Pan & Tilt Control for:
• Any PTZ camera connected to and supported by a SecuritySpy server

Cam Viewer for iPad - Version 1.0

Pan, Tilt & Zoom Control for:
•Axis
•ABUS
•Panasonic
•Any PTZ camera connected to and supported by a SecuritySpy server

Cam Viewer for iPad’s Settings page will show you whether your selected camera type provides PTZ control.

Controlling Your Cameras

Pan & Tilt: To Pan & Tilt your cameras, switch to the full-screen view for a PTZ enabled camera. Tap and hold your finger anywhere on the full-screen image, then pan across the screen to reveal the area of video you wish to watch. For instance, to see the image off to the right of the screen you would pan your finger from right to left, as if you were dragging the image across.

Zoom: To Zoom your cameras, simply pinch in or out with two fingers anywhere on the full-screen image, just like you would to zoom an image anywhere else on the iPhone.

Depending on the speed of your network connection, there may be a delay between the PTZ gesture and the image being updated with the new camera settings.

Configuring ‘URL Suffix’ for Unsupported Cameras

Fri, 9 Oct 2009 11:32:12 +1100

This Article Applies To: Cam Viewer (all versions).

Cam Viewer supports a range of pre-configured and pre-tested camera and DVR systems, however in some situations you may wish to use Cam Viewer with a camera or image source that is not included in our list of Supported Cameras. In these situations you may be able to use the ‘Other - Generic’ option with a manually configured ‘URL Suffix’ to display images from these cameras using Cam Viewer.

PLEASE NOTE: In order to use this feature, the camera you are connecting to MUST provide a static JPEG image without the need for any external software, browser plugins or special configuration.

If your camera does not appear in our Supported Cameras list, then there is a good chance that it DOES NOT SUPPORT the provision of a static JPEG image in a format suitable for use within Cam Viewer. PLEASE do not assume that the ‘Other - Generic’ option will allow you to view images from an Unsupported Camera without knowing the static JPEG image capability of your camera first.

If your camera supports the static JPEG image format, the camera will probably have an image access URL that you would enter into a web browser to access this static JPEG image. The URL will often be listed in your user documentation or can be provided by the support area for your camera - unfortunately we are not able to provide this URL.

The URL might look something like this:

http://ipaddress:port/still.jpg

In this example, the ‘URL Suffix’ is everything after the final ‘/’ character, including the ‘/’ character itself:

URL Suffix: /still.jpg

To configure this example camera in Cam Viewer, follow the steps below:

1. Add a new Camera in the Cam Settings section
2. Set the Cam Type to ‘Other - Generic’ (the bottom of the scroll list)
3. Set the IP Address, Port, Username and Password of your camera in the IP Settings area
4. Enter the URL Suffix as above into the ‘URL Suffix’ field

SecuritySpy Configuration for Cam Viewer

Fri, 22 May 2009 10:10:59 +1000

This Article Applies To: Cam Viewer for SecuritySpy (all versions) and Cam Viewer (all versions).

SecuritySpy (www.securityspy.com) is a Mac OS X application developed by Ben Bird which enables your Mac to be used as a professional quality video security and surveillance system. SecuritySpy allows you to connect to a large range of digital and analogue camera systems using IP networks, USB and Firewire connections or hardware encoder cards, and incorporate those cameras into a fully featured security system including recording, motion detection and monitoring services.

Cam Viewer and Cam Viewer for SecuritySpy both provide the ability to view images from a SecuritySpy server on your iPhone or iPod Touch device, allowing you to monitor your existing video security system or even to provide a way to view USB or Firewire cameras on your iPhone which cannot be done with our Cam Viewer software alone.

In order to view your SecuritySpy cameras with our Cam Viewer applications, you first need to configure the ‘Web Server’ feature in SecuritySpy itself. To do so, open the SecuritySpy application on the Mac you use as your SecuritySpy server, and select the ‘Web Server Setup’ option from the Settings menu. A window will appear as per the image on the left:

To configure SecuritySpy to work with Cam Viewer, you’ll first need to enable the Web Server feature using the check box at the top of the window. The port number field is the internet port that SecuritySpy listens to for incoming requests - the default setting is 8000 as this does not normally conflict with the ports used by other services that might be running on your Mac. Make a note of this setting as you’ll need it for Cam Viewer.

You’ll also need to know the IP address of your SecuritySpy server for the Cam Viewer settings. The address listed at the bottom of this window is the private (or local) IP address of your SecuritySpy server. If you are connecting to the SecuritySpy server over a WiFi connection, then the address listed at the bottom of this window will be the address you use in Cam Viewer to talk to the SecuritySpy server.

If you are connecting via a 3G or EDGE connection then you will need to know the public IP address of your internet connection and have configured your router to enable access to your SecuritySpy server. There is a section in the SecuritySpy manual (found here) that can help you with this task.

If you wish to view your cameras over the public internet using a 3G or EDGE connection, rather than just using WiFi on your private wireless network, then it would be a good idea to enable password protection on your SecuritySpy server. To do this, check the ‘Password Protected’ box, and then click ‘Accounts Setup...’ to configure the passwords you wish to use.

The ‘Accounts Setup’ window appears as the second image on the left of this page. You will see two sections to the window - the top where you configure a user, and the bottom where you select the permissions for that user.

In the top section, you’ll need to click ‘Add User’ to create a new user for your web server, and then specify a Username and Password for that user. Cam Viewer does not support non-alphanumeric characters in a username or password at this time, so be sure to use only letters and numbers in your username and password. Make a note of these details as you’ll need them in Cam Viewer.

Once you have configured and selected the user in the top section of the window, you need to make sure that user can access the cameras. Typically you’ll want to view all cameras from your iPhone, so click on ‘All Cameras’ then make sure ‘View Live Images’ is selected. If you are using Cam Viewer for SecuritySpy then future updates of our application will allow you to view captured footage and control the Pan/Tilt/Zoom settings of your camera, so you may wish to enable those options at this time also.

Now that you have configured those settings, click OK in both windows to save your changes. You are now ready to use SecuritySpy with your iPhone using Cam Viewer.

To configure Cam Viewer to view a camera from your SecuritySpy server, create a new camera from Cam Settings and set the Cam Type to ‘SecuritySpy - All Versions’. In the IP Settings section, enter the IP address, server port, username and password you created above. In the Camera Number field, enter the number of your camera in SecuritySpy. If you have only one camera the number to use will often be 0 or 1; if you have more than one camera you may need to try various numbers to find the right camera. Typically cameras are numbered in the same order they appear in the Accounts Setup list in the steps above.

To configure Cam Viewer for SecuritySpy, go to the Cam Settings tab and enter the IP address, server port, username and password you created above. Cam Viewer for SecuritySpy will automatically retrieve your camera list and display the cameras you have configured.

Important Support Information for users of Cam Viewer 1.3.x

Fri, 17 Apr 2009 00:24:19 +1000

This Article Applies To: Cam Viewer (version 1.3.x).

The current version of Cam Viewer available on the iTunes App Store is version 1.3.2 (as at May 14 2009). This update addresses all known issues with the version 1.3.x application and we strongly recommend that you update previous versions of Cam Viewer to 1.3.2. The update process is entirely free and can be done through iTunes or directly on your iPhone over a 3G or WiFi network.

If you are using Cam Viewer 1.3.2 and experience any technical issues with the software please let us know by email at support@cam-viewer.com and we will work with you to resolve the issue as soon as possible.

Cam Viewer - Supported Cameras for Cam Viewer 1.3

Thu, 1 Jan 2009 03:47:27 +1100

This Article Applies To: Cam Viewer (version 1.3 or later).

This list shows all cameras that are currently supported by Cam Viewer 1.3 or later. If your camera appears on this list, and you have downloaded Cam Viewer version 1.3 or later from the App Store, then you will be able to view your cameras using Cam Viewer on your iPhone.

Any IP Camera or DVR software that needs ActiveX and/or Internet Explorer for Windows to view the camera images (unless listed as a supported camera below) will NOT work with Cam Viewer.

If your camera does not appear in the list below then it is currently known NOT to work with Cam Viewer. We may be able to get your camera working, but PLEASE contact us prior to purchasing Cam Viewer in case we are unable to support your camera model.

Supported Cameras

Unsupported Cameras
The following cameras are currently UNSUPPORTED as they do not provide a suitable image URL for use with Cam Viewer, they require Windows-only software components or use proprietary compression or image transfer methods.

YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO VIEW THESE CAMERAS WITH CAM VIEWER. PLEASE DO NOT PURCHASE CAM VIEWER IF YOU WISH TO VIEW ANY OF THESE CAMERAS AS OUR SOFTWARE WILL NOT WORK WITH THESE MODELS.

Digital Watchdog DVR Systems
Edimax IP1520w
Honeywell DVR Systems
Linksys WVC54G / GC
Logitech WiLife
Nuvico DVR systems
TeleEye (all products)
WebDVR (PC Based DVR software)