S2 NetVR User Guide - S2 Security Corporation

Integrated security for an IP-connected world®

User Guide April 2012 S2 Security Corporation One Speen Street Suite 300 Framingham, MA 01701 www.s2sys.com S2 Support: 508 663-2505 Document #VR-UG-01

© S2 Security® Corporation 2004-2012. All rights reserved. This guide is protected by copyright and all rights are reserved by S2 Security Corporation. It may not, in whole or in part, except insofar as herein directed, be copied, photocopied, reproduced, translated or reduced to any electronic medium or machine-readable form without prior written consent of S2 Security Corporation. Third party trademarks, trade names, product names, and logos may be the trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. The following are trademarks or registered trademarks of S2 Security Corporation: 

S2 NetBox®, S2 NetBox® Plus, S2 NetBox® Extreme, S2 NetBox® MicroNode, S2 NetBox®VR



S2 Enterprise® Select, S2 Enterprise® Ultra, S2 Enterprise® Ultra 2



S2 Pronto®, S2 Pronto® 2, S2 Pronto®VR, S2 NetVR®, S2 Global™

S2 CumulusSM is a service mark of S2 Security Corporation. Integrated security for an IP-connected world® is a registered trademark of S2 Security Corporation.

Contents Introduction ........................................................................................................................................... 2 Additional Information ..................................................................................................................... 3 Video Surveillance ................................................................................................................................ 4 Monitoring NetVR Cameras............................................................................................................. 4 Monitoring NetVR Multi-Camera Views ......................................................................................... 6 Additional Surveillance Options ...................................................................................................... 9 Using the Activity Log............................................................................................................... 9 Using the Monitoring Desktop................................................................................................... 9 Using the Widget Desktop ....................................................................................................... 10 Using the Forensic Desktop ................................................................................................................ 11 Forensic Desktop Overview ........................................................................................................... 12 Starting a Forensic Search ....................................................................................................... 12 Working with Forensic Cases .................................................................................................. 12 Using the Forensic Desktop Output Tools ............................................................................... 13 Searching Recorded Video ............................................................................................................. 13 Composing Forensic Cases............................................................................................................. 15 Printing and Exporting Forensic Cases .......................................................................................... 16 Index ..................................................................................................................................................... 18

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Introduction This guide is intended for users of an S2 Pronto® VR, NetBox® VR, or NetVR® appliance for video management. It provides a printable version of the NetVR information that is found in online help, featuring instruction for common NetVR video monitoring and administration tasks. It serves as a companion to your S2 system user documentation, the S2 Pronto2 User Guide or Task Guide for System Users (NetBox/Enterprise systems), which covers the complete information about monitoring and administering your specific S2 system. There are three major user roles that can be assigned for NetVR users:

 Monitor – Users with this role can use all available NetVR surveillance functions, including NetVR camera views, NetVR multi-camera views, defined Camera Tours, and Video Stream widget options.

 Administrator – Users with this role can use all available surveillance and administration functions, including NetVR camera monitoring and the Forensic Desktop.

 System Setup – Users with this role (typically your dealer or installer) can use all available monitoring, administration, and setup functions. This user guide is divided into an introductory section for getting started with the NetVR operation, followed by sections focused on video surveillance and Forensic Desktop video investigation tools. The system setup tasks are covered in the online help. If you view this guide as an online PDF file, you can click on a TOC entry, or a section reference (blue/underlined text) to go to the linked page. If you use this guide as a printed book, you can find the references by looking up the section titles, index entries, and page references. NetVR is designed to work with client machines with these minimum specifications:

 Windows XP, 7  Dual Core i5  8GB RAM  500GB Hard Drive  Screen Resolution of 1600 x 1200 The application is designed to work with the following web browsers:

 Internet Explorer Version 8.0 or 9.0


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Additional Information The following additional related technical information is available as links in “Additional Information” in the online help system:

NetVR Guides (PDF): NetVR Hardware Installation Guide NetVR Setup and Configuration Guide Initial Software Setup Guide

Release Notes (PDF): NetVR Release Notes


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Video Surveillance This section describes how to access these surveillance functions:



View individual NetVR cameras



View pre-defined groups of NetVR cameras



View surveillance information using the Monitoring Desktop or Widget Desktop

Note: If your NetBox or Enterprise system has multiple partitions, the partition to which your NetVR appliance is assigned must be selected in order to use the NetVR surveillance and forensic functions. For information on setting up video surveillance features, see the following topics in online help: Setting Up Camera Types Setting Up Camera Tours Setting Up Camera Groups Creating Camera Preset Positions Setting the Camera Menu Order Setting Up Multi-Camera Views

Monitoring NetVR Cameras From the Monitoring Desktop, click the word Monitor in the navigation path, and then click the Cameras link. Select Monitor : Cameras. On this page you can select a NetVR camera for viewing. Note: Live motion-detected video is indicated by a blue outline of the viewer window.


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To monitor a camera view: Select any NetVR camera in the system from the Cameras menu. Click the Live Video icon to adjust the Quality and Rate of the viewer display. These settings can be reduced for monitoring use without affecting the recorded video. Quality — Best indicates the resolution provided by the camera for live or recorded video. Rate — Max indicates the frame rate as recorded. Click the camera name in the title bar to select from various camera, camera tour, and camera presets options.



Select a camera from the menus available under All Cameras Favorites icon.



Select a Camera Group or a NetVR Appliance from the menu under the Categories icon.

 

Select a pre-defined group of cameras from the Tour



Change the sort order between Manual (camera menu order), Alphabetical, or Reverse Alphabetical.



Click the camera name in the title bar to close the menu window.

or

menu.

Select an available preset for the selected camera from the Preset menu. Note: The Preset option is only visible for PTZ cameras that support presets.

If PTZ controls are available for a specific camera, click the PTZ Controls icon to the right of the camera name in the title bar to display the controls on the viewer image: Pan and tilt arrow: direction and speed indicator Zoom in Zoom out Note: The size of the arrow changes as it is dragged further from the center to indicate that the speed of the camera movement is increasing. To view recorded video, click any video icon associated with an event in the Activity Log. Playback begins from the time of the event. Playback controls are displayed in the viewer: play pause playback head Note: The playback head indicates the point where the video is playing, and can be dragged to advance the video in either direction, referred to as scrubbing.


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If the date and time display is configured when the individual camera is set up, a date and time stamp — for example, yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss.ss — is shown on the top or bottom of the viewer as specified during the configuration. Click the Go to Forensic Desktop icon to research video recorded by this camera. Click the Go Live icon to return to viewing live video.

Note: If the camera does not have PTZ capabilities, no PTZ controls will be available for that camera.

Monitoring NetVR Multi-Camera Views From the Monitoring Desktop, click the word Monitor in the navigation path, and then click the Cameras link. Select Monitor : Camera Views. On this page you can select a NetVR 2x2 view, which displays up to four camera views simultaneously, or a NetVR 1+7 view which displays up to eight camera views simultaneously, one of these featured in a larger window or “Spot Monitor”. The views for multiple cameras are defined in Setup : Cameras : Views. See “Monitoring Multi-Camera Views” in the online help for information about using the Quad view, which displays up to four individual IP cameras simultaneously, or for information about controlling non-NetVR cameras in a mixed-type Quad view. Note: You can also use the Camera Views tab of the Monitoring Desktop or the Camera View widget on the Widget Desktop to monitor a NetVR 2x2 or NetVR 1+7 view.


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To monitor a camera in a multi-camera view: Select any NetVR camera view in the system from the Camera Views menu. Click the Live Video icon to adjust the Quality and Rate of the viewer display. These settings can be reduced for monitoring use without affecting the recorded video. Quality — Best indicates the resolution provided by the camera for live or recorded video. Rate — Max indicates the frame rate as recorded. Click the camera name in the title bar to select from various camera, camera tour, and camera presets options.



Select a camera from the menus available under All Cameras Favorites icon.



Select a Camera Group or a NetVR Appliance from the menu under the Categories icon.

 

Select a pre-defined group of cameras from the Tour



Change the sort order between Manual (camera menu order), Alphabetical, or Reverse Alphabetical.



Click the camera name in the title bar to close the menu window.

or

menu.

Select an available preset for the selected camera from the Preset menu. Note: The Preset option is only visible for PTZ cameras that support presets.

If PTZ controls are available for a specific camera, click the PTZ Controls icon to the right of the camera name in the title bar to display the controls on the viewer image: Pan and tilt arrow: direction and speed indicator Zoom in Zoom out Note: The size of the arrow changes as it is dragged further from the center to indicate that the speed of the camera movement is increasing. To view recorded video, click any video icon associated with an event in the Activity Log. Playback begins from the time of the event. Playback controls are displayed in the viewer: play pause playback head Note: The playback head indicates the point where the video is playing, and can be dragged to advance the video in either direction, referred to as scrubbing.


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If the date and time display is configured when the individual camera is set up, a date and time stamp — for example, yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss.ss — is shown on the top or bottom of the viewer as specified during the configuration. Click the Go to Forensic Desktop icon to research video recorded by this camera. To enlarge a camera view, click the Enlarge View icon to the right of the camera name in the title bar, to switch the selected camera from a standard NetVR 2X2 or NetVR 1+7 layout view to an expanded window view. Click the Shrink View icon to return to the standard layout view. To swap a camera into the #1 viewer position (upper left, as shown below) in a NetVR 2x2 or NetVR 1+7 multi-camera view, click the Spot Monitor icon to the right of the camera name in the title bar. If a small viewer does not display the Swap icon in the title bar, click the video image to swap it into the #1 position.

Note: Controls are displayed in the title bar of the viewer cells as space allows.


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Additional Surveillance Options This section describes how to access additional NetVR monitoring functions:

 Using the Activity Log to monitor video associated with system activity  Viewing video using the Monitoring Desktop  Viewing video using the Widget Desktop  Viewing individual cameras and pre-defined groups of cameras On the Pronto VR Home page you can use the Video Stream widget to monitor a camera view. The first camera in your system's Camera Menu order will appear by default in this widget. If there are no camera definitions in the system, the Video Stream widget will not display a camera view. Use the Configure Viewer drop down in the upper right corner of the Video Stream widget to select a Camera Type and Camera (single or matrix) to view.

Using the Activity Log Click on video icon to open a widget displaying the recorded video associated with the Activity Log entry. Note: Recorded video is indicated by a yellow outline of the viewer window. See Monitoring NetVR Cameras on page 4 for details about the playback controls, Go to Live Video , and Go to Forensic Desktop options available in this widget.

Using the Monitoring Desktop The Monitoring Desktop provides a fixed display for monitoring the system. It has tabbed pages for monitoring various system functions, such as the Activity Log, events, and camera views.

Cameras Tab You can select any camera configured in the system for viewing. For more information, see Monitoring NetVR Cameras on page 4.

Camera Views Tab You can select any configured NetVR 2x2 or NetVR 1+7 view. For more information, see Monitoring NetVR Multi-Camera Views on page 6.

Camera Monitor Tab You can use the Cameras widget on the right side of the Monitoring Desktop to select the specific camera to display on the Camera Monitor tab. S2 Security Corporation

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Cameras Widget The Cameras widget on the right side of the Monitoring Desktop will, by default, display the first two cameras in the Camera Menu order configured for your system. You can select any NetVR camera defined in the system. You can use this widget to select the specific camera to display on the Camera Monitor tab.

Using the Widget Desktop The Widget Desktop provides a custom real-time display for monitoring the system, including camera and camera views widgets.

To change a camera widget's unique properties: 1. Click the properties button

in the upper left corner of a Camera widget.

Note: If the properties button does not appear on a widget, you cannot change its properties. 2. In the Camera Properties dialog, use the drop-down lists to select: o

Aspect Ratio (Standard-def 4:3 or Wide Screen 16:9)

o

View Type (single camera or multi-camera view)

o

Selection (individual camera)

3. After changing the properties you want, click OK. See “Using the Monitoring Desktop” and “Using the Widget Desktop” in the online help for more details.


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Using the Forensic Desktop The Administration menu page provides access to all administration tasks, including the Forensic Desktop. This section describes how to access and use the Forensic Desktop. To open the Forensic Desktop from the Home page, click the Forensic Desktop icon in the User Tasks widget:

Select Administration : Forensic Desktop. The Forensic Desktop provides the tools to select and research recorded video, identify relevant clips, compose a case folder for an event, print images, and/or export the case. Note: If your NetBox or Enterprise system has multiple partitions, the partition to which your NetVR appliance is assigned must be selected in order to use the NetVR surveillance and forensic functions. The Forensic Desktop can also be accessed directly from any NetVR camera view by clicking the Forensic Desktop icon in the camera's title bar:

Note: The S2 Accelerator is a lightweight service application that is required for NetVR web-based video. If the current version of the Accelerator has not been installed previously, you will be prompted to install it in order to view NetVR video.


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Forensic Desktop Overview Starting a Forensic Search By default, the Forensic Desktop displays the thumbnails of the cameras available for selection to build a case. Or click Camera List to display the thumbnails. All Cameras is the default list. Click Favorites or NetVR Appliances or Camera Groups to access custom camera lists. Favorites are defined by selecting a camera and clicking on the Add Favorite button . If the selected camera is already a Favorite, the Delete Favorite button is available . NetVR Appliances displays the resources in the current system or selected partition. Camera Groups are defined in Setup : Cameras : Groups.

 Use the camera thumbnails and the calendar icon to select a starting point for your search.

 Or begin a search by using an event or play video icon

in the Activity

Log to select the starting point.

 The thumbnail stride

drop-down menu allows you to specify the stride

(or interval) of the clips. The stride specifies the minimum interval to be skipped before the next clip (in frames, seconds, minutes, hours, or days). After each clip found, the system "skips" the stride length selected, then searches to start the next clip.

 The thumbnail size buttons allow you to select the size of the video clips thumbnails displayed. For detailed steps, see Searching Recorded Video on page 13.

Working with Forensic Cases Click Case Inspector to display the Case Library. Or use the Saved clips window. After researching video associated with an event or time, a case can be saved and/or exported. All previously saved cases are cataloged in the case library. Each case is represented by a thumbnail with a user-defined keyframe screen display on the thumbnail, along with a case name, information on number of saved clips and comments, and the last modification data. The library lists the cases alphabetically by name. For more details about creating video cases, see Composing Forensic Cases on page 15.


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Using the Forensic Desktop Output Tools The Forensic Desktop provides tools to enable saving cases in the case library, printing an image, and exporting clips and cases for further research and archiving. For more details about printing and exporting the clips and cases, see Printing and Exporting Forensic Cases on page 16.

Searching Recorded Video To open the Forensic Desktop from the Home page, click the Forensic Desktop icon in the User Tasks widget:

Select Administration : Forensic Desktop. Using the Forensic Desktop, you can search through recorded video to locate and save images of a specified time, event, location, or activity. The Forensic Desktop Activity Log allows you to select an event, a camera, or a person associated with an event for video research.

To begin searching recorded video: 1. Select a starting point: o

Select a camera thumbnail to search that camera for specific recorded events.

o

Click the calendar icon video.

to select a date and time for the start of the

Note: The Activity Log adjusts to display the date and time that is selected using the calendar tool. - OR o

Click a time or event in the Activity Log to select a start date/time, then select a camera thumbnail.

Note: Once you have selected a date and time, event, person, or portal, hovering over the Activity Log entries highlights the associated thumbnails. o

Click a person's name in the Activity Log to display thumbnails of that person's accesses (from one or more cameras, one or more times). Use the drop-down to select that person’s accesses on all locations or that location only.


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o

Click a portal name in the Activity Log to display thumbnails of activity at that portal. Use the drop-down to select activity on that portal, activity by this person on that portal, or activity of this type on that portal.

o

Click a video icon in the Activity Log to start the search with the camera and event selected. The calendar date/time displayed adjusts to start the search at the date and time selected using the Activity Log.

Note: You can enter text in the Filter box to narrow the cached events displayed in the Forensic Desktop Activity Log. The Refresh button applies the filter text to search the controller Activity Log; then updates the Forensic Desktop Activity Log cache. The Cancel button clears the filter and replaces the cache. 2. From the thumbnail stride drop-down menu, specify the stride (minimum interval) to be skipped before the next clip (in frames, seconds, minutes, hours, or days). Note: After each clip found, the system "skips" the stride length selected, then searches to start the next clip. 3. Specify the size of the thumbnails by selecting between the larger smaller thumbnail size buttons.

or

4. Click the Search button to begin researching the video on the Forensic Desktop workspace. Click the Cancel Search button if you want to stop the search before filling the thumbnail tray. 5. The search function fills the selected number of rows with available video clips at the selected stride starting from the specified date and time. A yellow vertical bar between thumbnails indicates there is a gap greater than the stride length. A red vertical bar indicates the end of available video (usually reaching the present time). Note: If the video clip thumbnails extend beyond the number of rows displayed, the red bar may not be seen in the thumbnails tray. Use the scroll down or scroll up buttons to advance the thumbnail rows one-at-a-time to examine rows not initially seen in the thumbnail tray.

To refine the search: 1. Refine your search by selecting the clip that may include the video footage you are seeking. 2. Click the Play button in the viewer to review what is contained in the selected clip. Click the Pause button to stop the video at any point. S2 Security Corporation

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Click on the video to view the image in a larger window. Click again to restore the viewer size. Note: Click on the date/time shown under the image in the player to refresh the Activity Log starting at the time displayed. 3. Click the Play Next Thumbnail button button to play adjacent clips.

or Play Previous Thumbnail

4. Select the stride, reducing the length, if needed, to narrow the clips to smaller segments. 5. Select the thumbnail size needed for your research. 6. Click the Search button to scan again, beginning at the new start point selected. 7. Repeat the above steps to locate clips that are needed to build a case file. Note: You can click and drag to select more than one video clip at once. These clips can be played and and/or saved as a group.

To save selected video clips: 1. When you find the video clip or image, or group of clips, for which you are searching, click the save icon . 2. In the Save Clip dialog box, fill in a new or existing Case Name, keep or change the Clip Name, and add any comments or description, then click Save. 3. Use this method of researching and saving clips in order to Compose a Forensic Case as described in the following section.

Composing Forensic Cases Locate and refine a video clip or clips of interest, as described in detail in Searching Recorded Video on page 13, then compose forensic cases by saving the selected video to a new case or an existing case.

To start a new case: 1. Save a clip or group of clips: o

Select a clip or drag to select a group of clips.

o

Click Save Clip to save clip to a new case. Use the Save Clip drop-down arrow, if needed, to select Untitled Case.

2. Fill in the Save Clip form with your Case Name, Clip Name, and Comments to be added to the Comment Log.


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Note: You can accept the default clip name that consists of the date and time.

To add clips to an existing case: 1. Save a clip or group of clips: o

Select a clip or drag to select a group of clips.

o

Click the Save Clip drop-down arrow

o

Select the name of an existing case from the list.

.

Note: Cases are stored in the case library in alphabetical order by name. 2. Fill in the Save Case form with the clip name, and comments to be added to the comment log. Note: When saving a series of clips in an existing case, the case name will be the same for each clip by default unless changed.

To open an existing case: 1. Click Case Inspector. The saved cases are displayed in the case library tray. 2. Select a case from the case library. 3. Click the Open Case button. The contents of the last saved clip in this case are displayed in the thumbnails tray, so you can continue to investigate from where you last searched.

To build a case: 1. Search for additional clips that represent different dates/times. 2. Search for clips that provide views from other cameras. 3. Use the Forensic Desktop Activity Log to select video of specific events or people. See Printing and Exporting Forensic Cases on page 16 for more about using the Tools menu to print images and export video clips.

Printing and Exporting Forensic Cases The Forensic Desktop provides tools for using the cases in the case library to print an image, and to export clips and cases for further research and archiving.

To print an image from a clip: 1. Select a clip from a case in the case library, the Saved clips window, or from a thumbnail in the tray.


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Note: The frame of the clip displayed/paused in the player is the image that will be printed. 2. Select Print Player Frame ... from the Tools menu. Use the print dialog to select print specifications.

To export a clip or a case: 1. Select a clip or multiple clips from a case in the case library, the Saved clips window, or from a thumbnail in the tray. 2. Select Export Video Clip ... from the Tools menu. 3. Fill in the Video Clip Export form. o

Assign a File Name.

o

Select a Video Format: AVI or PS (MPEG-PS). Choose AVI (the default format) for short video segments. Choose PS for longer segments with motion-triggered recording.

Note: The AVI format does not handle varying frame rates and gaps in recording. Exporting video to AVI for cameras with motiontriggered recording is likely to play back at an apparently slower rate than the original recording. The Program Stream (PS) export format does not have this limitation. Played through the S2 NetVR Player, exported PS/PSI files should play at the original recorded rate. o

Accept or select a case name from the Case Name list.

o

Select the clip(s) to be exported from the Export Clips list by checking individual clips, or using Select All.

o

Click Export. The AVI file is saved to the folder you configured when you installed the S2 Accelerator.

To play exported video:  Play PS files using the S2 NetVR Player found under Start/Programs/S2 NetVRClient/S2 NetVR Player. Note: If the S2 NetVR Player is not installed on your PC, use the link on the Setup : NetVR Appliance page to install it.

 Play AVI files using Windows Media Player.


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Index requirements · 2 clips exporting · 13, 16 print image · 13 saving · 13, 16

A Accelerator · 11 Activity Log · 9 filter · 14 in Forensic Desktop · 13 video icon · 14 administrator user role definition · 2 AVI saved to folder · 17 video format · 17

D date and time display · 6, 8

E enlarge view · 8

B F

browsers requirements · 2

Favorites cameras · 12 forensic case add clips · 12 composing · 12 export · 12 open · 12 save · 12 forensic cases composing · 15 Forensic Desktop "go to" icon · 6, 8 from Pronto VR Home page · 11 in Administration menu · 11 tools · 16 video investigation tools · 2

C calendar icon · 12 camera name · 5, 7 presets · 5, 7 PTZ controls · 6 tours · 5, 7 Camera Monitor · 9 camera properties aspect ratio · 10 selection (camera name) · 10 view type · 10 camera view NetVR 1+7 · 9 NetVR 2x2 · 9 camera widget properties · 10 Cameras widget · 10 on the Monitoring Desktop · 9 case export · 16 file · 15 library · 16 save · 16 start new · 15 Categories camera · 4 client machines


G groups cameras · 4, 9, 12

I image print · 16 saving · 16

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L

R

live video "go to" icon · 6 Live Video icon · 5, 7

rate adjust live video frame rate · 5, 7 recorded video saving clips · 13 searching · 13

M S

monitor user role definition · 2 monitoring NetVR cameras · 4 Monitoring Desktop · 9 surveillance · 4 tabbed pages · 9

search forensic thumbnails · 14 shrink view · 8 sort order · 5, 7 spot monitor · 8 stride change segment size · 15 thumbnails · 12, 14 surveillance functions · 4 swap icon · 8 system setup user role definition · 2

N NetBox VR · 2 NetBox VR Release Notes · 3 NetVR administration tasks · 2 video monitoring · 2 NetVR 1+7 camera view · 6 NetVR 2x2 camera view · 7 NetVR Player · 17

T technical documents finding additional information · 3 thumbnail size · 14 size selection · 12 stride · 14 thumbnails · 12 tray · 14 Tours camera · 2 cameras · 4

P pan and tilt controls · 5, 7 partitions · 4, 11, 12 playback controls · 5, 7 Pronto VR · 2 Pronto VR Release Notes · 3 PS saved to folder · 17 video format · 17 PTZ controls · 5, 7 pan and tilt · 5, 7 zoom in · 5, 7 zoom out · 5, 7

V video live motion-detected · 4 recorded · 5, 7, 9 research · 13 video clip saving · 15 video management · 2 Video Stream · 2, 9 Video Stream widget · 9 video surveillance · 2, 4

Q quality adjust live video resolution · 5, 7


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Widget Desktop · 9, 10 surveillance · 4, 11

W


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