Summary of Contents for Integral Technologies DS NVR
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TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction..................1 DS NVR and DS NVs Basics..................2 DS NVs Minimum Requiremnts................3 DSAdmin ..................... 5 DSAdmin Overview....................6 The DSAdmin Directory Tree................7 Adding and Configuring Servers................8 Adding and Configuring VAUs.................. 9 Configuring Serial Ports ..................10 Configuring Storage Locations................
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Client Application ................55 Running DigitalSENTRY..................56 Video Window Configuration .................. 57 Recording Mode Indicators ................. 58 Quick Review ...................... 58 Zooming Into Video..................... 59 Creating Local Groups ..................59 Camera Sequencing ................... 60 Copying Local Configuration Information to Other Computers......60 Video Controls Tab ....................
DS NVR and DS NVs Basics DS NVR and DS NVs are network video recorders that use DigitalSENTRY as the video monitoring and management software. DS NVR is an all-inclusive, standalone video recorder; DS NVs is a software-only solution that can be installed on an existing server, as described in the following section.
DS NVs Minimum Requirements DS NVs can be installed on a computer that meets the following minimum requirements: • Industry-Standard, Intel Platform, Server-Grade Motherboard • Dual Xeon Processors (32-input system) or Intel P4 3.2GHz Processor (16-input system or smaller) • 1GB RAM •...
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TCP/IP Addresses The DS NVs server must have two network interface cards (NICs)—one to communicate with the IP camera network, and the other to communicate with other computers, such as clients computers used to remotely monitor the system. Each NIC has a unique TCP/IP address, and the DSAdmin software must recognize the address of the NIC used to communicate with other computers.
DS NVR & DS NV DS NVR & DS NV s s s s s DS NVR & DS NV DS NVR & DS NV DS NVR & DS NV DSAdmin DSAdmin DSAdmin DSAdmin DSAdmin This chapter describes DSAdmin, the application that configures DigitalSENTRY software and the DS NVR/NVs hardware.
DSAdmin Overview DSAdmin is the administration program that configures a DS NVR/NVs for daily use. DSAdmin is used to configure DS NVR/NVs servers, video acquisi- tion units (VAUs), and cameras, along with recording rates, video settings, recording schedules, and much more. DSAdmin also allows you to set up zones, serial input devices, and other important elements of the DS NVR/NVs system.
DS NV The DSAdmin Directory Tree A DS NVR/NVs system is a collection of servers, VAUs, and cameras, which the DSAdmin program organizes into a directory tree. This tree illustrates the relationship between all the parts and allows you to add, subtract, or modify any of them.
Adding and Configuring Servers To make a DS server available to your client computer, complete the following steps: 1. Click on the client directory at the top of the tree to display the Available Systems directory. 2. Right-click on Available Systems and choose Add System. This opens the Add System window (see Figure 2).
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You can refresh a connection to a server at any time by right-clicking on the server name in the directory tree and selecting Refresh. Figure 2 The Add System window makes a DS NVR/NVs server available for access from the client.
VAUs directory. To configure a VAU, click on its name in the directory tree to display the following tabs: • VAU Info—unused with DS NVR/NVs • Serial Ports—configures PTZ cameras and other devices connected to each COM port •...
DS NV DS NV DS NVs s s s s DS NV DS NV Configuring Serial Ports To configure serial ports on a VAU, click on the VAU in the directory tree and select the Serial Ports tab. To activate a COM port, highlight it and click Add. Then highlight it in the assigned ports list and enter serial input information on the following five tabs: •...
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Figure 4 The Port Settings tab contains connection information for the serial input device. • Port Settings. Enter the device’s settings here, including the COM port it is connected to, its baud rate, parity, and stop bits (see Figure • Reset Text.
DS NV DS NV DS NVs s s s s DS NV DS NV Configuring Storage Locations The Storage Locations tab (see Figure 6) displays local hard drives on the VAU and all activated network storage locations. Local hard drives available for storage of video files are listed under Local Storage, along with their total size, unused space, and minimum free space maintained (in MB).
Configuring IP Cameras The IP Cameras tab (see Figure 7) allows you to configure IP cameras con- nected to the VAU through the TCP/IP network port. To configure an IP camera, click Add IP Camera and then select the camera model from the drop- down list.
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DS NV DS NV DS NVs s s s s DS NV DS NV • In the IP Configuration section, enter the TCP/IP Address and other information configured for the camera on your network. Some IP cameras use a TCP or UDP notification for motion events; the event port number is the TCP or UDP port used for that notification and must be a different number for each camera.
Network Storage DigitalSENTRY video files can be saved on storage devices available over a network connection. If you archive video over a network, video files remain on the local hard drives until they are complete, and then they are copied to the network device.
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DS NV DS NV DS NVs s s s s DS NV DS NV 3. Enter a minimum amount of free space (in MB) that you want the storage location to maintain. 4. If you want to enable caching, select Use Caching. Caching is typi- cally used to increase performance on storage devices that employ RAID arrays.
Storage Options The Storage Options directory (see Figure 10) allows you to configure the length of time that video is stored on a DS system before it is automatically deleted. The Video Storage Options section configures the storage options available for each camera.
DS NV DS NV DS NVs s s s s DS NV DS NV Figure 10 The Storage Options directory allows you to configure how long certain types of video are stored before they are automatically deleted. Manage Storage The Manage Storage section of the Storage Options page allows you to determine the portion of the total storage space that is reserved for continuous recording (all captured frames) and the portion reserved for time-lapse or motion recording.
Adding and Configuring Cameras After you add cameras to a system, you can configure them by clicking on their names under any of the Cameras directories in which they are shown. Camera configuration consists of six tabs, as described in the following sections. If you click on a Cameras directory, any configuration changes you implement are applied to all cameras in that directory.
Slow settings used on the scheduling tabs. Select the frame rate per minute for each speed setting (the rate per second is automatically updated). • Associated Audio Channel—unused with DS NVR/NVs. • Covert Camera—marks this camera as covert when assigning camera permissions in the User Administration procedure.
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• VAU—the VAU that the camera is connected to. • Input Device Name and Input #—unused with DS NVR/NVs. Changes on the General tab are implemented at the next of either zero, 15, 30, or 45 minutes after the hour.
DS NV DS NV DS NVs s s s s DS NV DS NV Motion The Motion tab (see Figure 12) allows you to configure how much motion is required to trigger motion recording. It is also used to create motion masks, which ignore motion in certain areas of a camera’s view, and to test your motion setup.
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To adjust how much motion is required to trigger motion recording, adjust the values for the following parameters: • Sensitivity—the change in a pixel required for that portion of the image to be considered changed. The Sensitivity value is expressed as a percentage times 100.
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DS NV DS NV DS NVs s s s s DS NV DS NV Motion masks allow even greater control of the motion detection. Suppose you have a camera at a front entrance that happens to capture the receptionist’s desk; you might not want to record all of the receptionist’s movements if they didn’t present a security risk because the images would consume valuable disk space for storage.
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To test the mask you created to see if motion recording will perform as desired, click the Save and Test Mask button. Then view the following parameters: • Max Consecutive—the highest number of consecutive images that exhibited motion during the current test (when motion occurs, a colored border appears around the video window).
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DS NV DS NV DS NVs s s s s DS NV DS NV The Motion tab also contains settings that control the triggering of alarms based on motion events. You can configure a zone of camera inputs to begin recording when motion occurs on specific cameras (see “Adding and Configur- ing Zones”...
On Screen Display The On Screen Display tab (see Figure 13) allows you to set the location for date, time, and camera name text in live and recorded video windows. You can also set the location for the word Motion that appears on video displayed over an analog output when motion events occur (these words do not appear in the DigitalSENTRY client application).
DS NV DS NV DS NVs s s s s DS NV DS NV Time-lapse Storage The Time-lapse Storage tab (see Figure 14) allows you to schedule time-lapse recording for the currently selected camera. The screen contains a timeline, organized by day and time, that visually represents the schedule for each day of the week.
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3. If you want to record at a different rates at a different times on that day of the week, select a recording rate and draw another schedule box on that day’s row. 4. To clear a section of the schedule, select Clear and drag over the schedule boxes that you want to erase.
DS NV DS NV DS NVs s s s s DS NV DS NV Motion Storage The Motion Storage tab (see Figure 15) is similar to the Time-lapse Storage tab, except that it allows you to schedule recording only during motion events that occur in the selected camera’s view.
The PTZ tab (see Figure 16) allows you to configure PTZ cameras for use in the DigitalSENTRY client application. The video window on the tab allows you to test the PTZ functionality for the camera. PTZ is controlled in DigitalSENTRY using a heads-up display (HUD). The HUD is a set of boxes that you click to control the various PTZ functions.
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DS NV DS NV DS NVs s s s s DS NV DS NV To configure a preset camera position, point the camera as desired and click Set Preset. To select a different preset number to set, click the right or left arrows below the button before clicking Set Preset.
User Administration The User Administration directory is used to manage users and assign permis- sions. Clicking on the directory opens the Camera Assignments tab, which allows you to select which cameras each user is allowed to view video from. Other tabs allow you to add and delete users and assign permissions to perform specific functions.
DS NV DS NV DS NVs s s s s DS NV DS NV Assigning Permissions To assign permissions to a user, complete the following steps: 1. Select the User Rights tab (see Figure 17). 2. Select the user’s name in the Users area. 3.
• Analog Output User. The user can control the cameras displayed through the analog outputs. • Audio Monitor. Unused with DS NVR/NVs. • Change Colors. The user can change the default color coding Recorded Video and Event History pages. •...
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DS NV DS NV DS NVs s s s s DS NV DS NV • Critical Messages. The user can view messages labeled as “Critical.” • Delete Computer. The user can access the Delete VAU tab. • Disable Event Monitor. In Client Manager, the user can change the Notify On Event parameter for the system.
Assigning Camera Permissions To assign or change camera permissions for a user, complete the following steps: 1. Select the Camera Assignments tab (see Figure 18). 2. Select the user name in the Users list. 3. Choose the permission from the Groups area. The following permis- sions are available: •...
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DS NV DS NV DS NVs s s s s DS NV DS NV • All Non-Covert Cameras—grants access to all cameras not designated as Covert Camera on the individual camera configura- tion pages. If you select this option, click Save and skip step 4. •...
Managing Users Across Multiple Systems The Multiple Systems tab (see Figure 19) allows you to create new user accounts based on existing accounts, add a new user or copy an existing user to multiple systems, and change a user’s password on multiple systems. All systems added in DSAdmin are available for multiple-system user administra- tion, and you must have User Administration permissions on each system.
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DS NV DS NV DS NVs s s s s DS NV DS NV Figure 19 The Multiple Systems tab allows you to manage a user across several systems simulta- neously. • To delete an existing user from multiple systems, click the Delete a User On One Or More Systems button, enter the user name, select the systems, and click Continue.
Camera Groups The Camera Groups directory (see Figure 21) contains groups of cameras with some similar characteristic, such as location. These groups can be used for quick selection of cameras from which to view live or recorded video. To create a camera group, complete the following steps: 1.
DS NV DS NV DS NVs s s s s DS NV DS NV Adding and Configuring Zones A zone is a user-defined group of cameras that are triggered to record when specific events occur. For example, you might create a Door 3 zone that contains all cameras near Door 3.
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• Record Until RESET Received—changes the beginning of the postalarm recording period. If you select this option, postalarm recording does not begin until the alarm is reset to its normal state. Otherwise, the postalarm recording period begins when the alarm is triggered. •...
DS NV DS NV DS NVs s s s s DS NV DS NV Configuring Zones To configure a zone, click on its entry in the Zones directory. This displays the following tabs: • General—contains the configuration information you assigned to the zone.
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• Digital Inputs—assigns digital input points to the zone (see Figure 24). Whenever an assigned digital input is triggered, cameras in the zone begin recording. Figure 24 The Digital Inputs tab assigns digital input points to the currently selected zone. For DigitalSENTRY to recognize an alarm from a serial device, you must configure both an Alarm Text (in the VAU configuration) and a Unique Zone Text, which are different parts of a text string...
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DS NV DS NV DS NVs s s s s DS NV DS NV • Video Motion—selects cameras which, when they detect motion, cause the rest of the zone’s cameras to begin recording (see Figure 25). Refer to the “Motion Tab” section of this chapter for information about zone recording based on motion.
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• Video Loss—selects cameras whose loss of video cause the rest of the zone’s cameras to begin recording. • Serial Input—looks for certain text in strings sent by alarm panels, as entered during the Computer Configuration (see Figure 26). Select a COM port on the server, enter text that the alarm panel will send during a particular alarm, and click Add.
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DS NV DS NV DS NVs s s s s DS NV DS NV • Schedule—assigns recording times for the configuration you selected in the other tabs. Draw schedule boxes on the timeline to indicate the days and times this zone’s configuration information should be activated.
The Cameras Directory The Cameras directory under a DS server in the directory tree contains a list of all cameras configured on all VAUs in the tree. See the “Adding and Configur- ing Cameras” section of this chapter for more information. Configuration Parameters The Configuration Parameters directory contains several miscellaneous parameters that you can set for a DS system.
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DS NV DS NV DS NVs s s s s DS NV DS NV The parameters list contains the following settings (applicable code numbers in parentheses): • Interface/EventImageDisplay—automatically displays event images when the event occurs. Choose 1 to automatically display event images or choose 0 not to automatically display event images.
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• System/DeleteOrphanFilesMax—the maximum number of orphan files that can be deleted during an orphan search. • System/ErrorLogAge—sets the number of months to retain message log data. • System/ErrorLogRowsDelete—sets the number of expired rows to delete at a time. • System/ManualRecord—limits the amount of time manual recording can be activated before timing out.
DS NV DS NV DS NVs s s s s DS NV DS NV Throttle Exempt Addresses The Throttle Exempt Addresses page (see Figure 29) allows you to exempt client computers from the packet restrictions selected on the Configuration Parameters page. Each computer exempted can download video at the fastest available rate.
Email Notification The Email Notification page (see Figure 30) allows you to select email ad- dresses that receive messages whenever a system message is generated. Each recipient email address can be configured to receive any combination of critical, warning, or informational messages. To enable email notification of these types of messages, complete the following steps: 1.
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DS NV DS NV DS NVs s s s s DS NV DS NV 6. To change the messages types sent to an email address, select the address and click Edit Email Address. Select the appropriate message types and click Save. 7.
Running DigitalSENTRY To run the DigitalSENTRY client application, select it from the Start menu. When asked, enter a user ID and password, as configured in the DSAdmin program. When DigitalSENTRY starts, a toolbar is displayed (see Figure 31). This toolbar contains buttons for video window configurations, event history, recorded video, administration, and exiting DigitalSENTRY.
DS NV DS NV DS NVs s s s s DS NV DS NV Video Window Configuration The following video window configuration buttons control the display of live video: The 1×1 button displays video from a single camera. The 2×2 button displays video from up to four cameras. The 3×3 button displays video from up to nine cameras.
Recording Mode Indicators Live video windows displaying video that is currently being recorded are surrounded by colored bars that indicate the current recording mode—either time-lapse, motion, or alarm. The colors are based on settings entered on the Event History and Recorded Video pages. See those sections of this chapter for information on configuring recording mode color indicators.
DS NV DS NV DS NVs s s s s DS NV DS NV Creating Local Groups Local groups are similar to camera groups, except that local groups are available only on the remote client computer on which they are created. To create a local group of up to 16 cameras, click the Close Windows button, click the Save Local Camera Group button, and select the Local Group Configura- tion tab (see Figure 33).
Camera Sequencing DigitalSENTRY can automatically cycle through configurable sequences of camera combinations. To configure a sequence, select the Save Local Camera Group button and select the Camera Sequence Setup tab. Click New Sequence, type a name for the sequence, enter a dwell time (the amount of time, in seconds, that each combination of cameras is displayed in the cycle), and click Save.
Universal Time). This applies to time displayed on OSD and the playback counter. • Audio On. This is unused with DS NVR/NVs. • The Delay Live slider bar. Setting this to the left displays video at its fastest rate. Moving this to the right decreases the displayed image rate.
• When you play back video, the Video Controls tab also includes a Play Video section that allows you to control the playback speed. Available options are As Fast as Possible, In Real Time, and Skipping x.x Seconds. To configure the number of seconds skipped with the final option, select the up or down arrows to change the number in half second increments.
DS NV DS NV DS NVs s s s s DS NV DS NV Cameras Tab The Cameras tab (see Figure 34) contains a tree diagram of all currently connected servers and their cameras. To see a list of cameras connected to a server, expand the server by clicking its plus button.
Print/Export Tab The Print/Export tab allows you to print and export images displayed in the video windows. This tab contains the following: • The Authenticate Frames button, which locates faulty frames in a video clip. All video in the selected video segment and video window is authenticated.
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DS NV DS NV DS NVs s s s s DS NV DS NV 1. Play back video from the Recorded Video or Event History page. 2. Pause the video and click Export Movie on the Print/Export tab; this opens the Save As window. 3.
Image Details Tab The Image Details tab contains information about the image in the currently selected video window. This information includes the camera name, the VAU the camera is connected to, the IP address of the VAU, the size of the image, the video standard (NTSC or PAL), and current recording rate (if applicable).
DS NV DS NV DS NVs s s s s DS NV DS NV Event History Page The Event History page (see Figure 36) allows you to search for and view a log of all events that occurred during a certain time period and then play back video of events based on the results of the search.
Searching for Logged Events To view a log of events, click the Event History button: The Event History button displays a timeline of seven days. To display all events that occurred during any period, complete the following steps: 1. Click the Event History button. The timeline appears. 2.
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DS NV DS NV DS NVs s s s s DS NV DS NV When you first view the Event History, the most recent seven days are selected—from midnight of the first day to 11:59:59 p.m. of Note the current day (even if a portion of the current day hasn’t yet occurred).
Playing Back a Logged Event To play back a logged event, perform a log search as described in the previous section, and then complete the following steps: 1. Click on the portion of the colored box aligned with the time and day when the event you want to view occurred.
DS NV DS NV DS NVs s s s s DS NV DS NV Recorded Video Page The Recorded Video page allows you to view recorded video from up to nine separate cameras or one predefined camera group. This page (see Figure 37) contains a timeline similar to the Event History timeline, indicating when video was captured and where it is stored.
Searching for Recorded Video To view a log of recorded video, click the Recorded Video button: The Recorded Video button displays a timeline of seven days. To display all events that occurred during any period, complete the following steps: 1. Double-click or drag camera names from the left list into the middle list (or select the camera name and click the right arrow button).
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DS NV DS NV DS NVs s s s s DS NV DS NV Several video type colors can be displayed on the timeline, as described in the following list: • Event. An alarm event occurred during the 15-minute segment. •...
Playing Back Recorded Video To play back recorded video, perform a search as described in the previous section, and then complete the following steps: 1. Click on the portion of the colored box aligned with the time and day when the video you want to view occurred. (You can select any number of consecutive boxes displayed on the timeline by clicking and dragging in any direction.) The Selected Video area then displays the following information:...
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DS NV DS NV DS NVs s s s s DS NV DS NV 2. To select a different portion of video from the timeline, click the Clear Selected Video button or simply click on the timeline. 3. Click Play Selected Video. Recorded video is then played back simultaneously from all cameras whose video you searched.
Figure 38 Search Tab When you play back recorded video from the The Search tab Event History or Recorded Video page, the allows you to Search tab appears in place of the Cameras tab perform smart (see Figure 38). The Search tab allows you to searches and play filter the video so that you can view images of back only certain...
DS NV DS NV DS NVs s s s s DS NV DS NV Client Manager Client Manager allows you to monitor the status of your connection to DS systems and control several operation parameters. To open Client Manager, click the following button: Client Manager (see Figure 39) lists the following information: •...
• Warning Msgs—whether you will be notified when warning mes- sages occur on the system • Informational Msgs—whether you will be notified when informa- tional messages occur on the system • AutoConnect—whether AutoConnect is currently turned on for the system Information in the Connected, Notify On Event, and the three Msgs columns is changeable if you have the proper permissions.
DS NV DS NV DS NVs s s s s DS NV DS NV Viewing the Message Log Client Manager allows you to view the VideoServer message log on each server. To do this, complete the following steps: 1. Click on the name of the system whose message log you want to view and click Message Log History.
Viewing Reports Several useful reports can be viewed from Client Manager. To view a report, click on the Reports button, select a report type, and select the week for which you want to view the report. The following reports are available: •...
DS NV DS NV DS NVs s s s s DS NV DS NV Viewing Messages The DS system communicates a variety of messages while running. Messages are listed in a pop-up window when they occur, or when you first start the application after they occur.
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• Message Count. The number of times the message has occurred (since the last time that specific message was acknowledged). • First Occurrence. The time and date of the first occurrence of the message (since the last time it was acknowledged). The pop-up window allows you to sort messages by any of the columns, as selected from the drop-down list.
DS NV DS NV DS NVs s s s s DS NV DS NV Alarm Assessment If you are assigned the Alarm Activity right in DSAdmin, DigitalSENTRY immediately notifies you whenever an alarm event occurs. The Current Alarms window in the upper-right corner of the DigitalSENTRY screen automatically displays the time and zone in which the alarm event occurred.
Playing Back Current Alarms When you click on an event’s notification, its video is played back on the screen. If there are three or fewer cameras in the zone associated with the alarm event, live video is displayed simultaneously with the recorded alarm event. Figure 42 shows the video window configurations that can be displayed while playing back a current alarm event.
DS NV DS NV DS NVs s s s s DS NV DS NV Acknowledging Alarms Whenever one or more alarm notifications appear in the Current Alarms window, the following two buttons appear in the DigitalSENTRY toolbar: This button clears only the alarm selected in the Current Alarms window.
PTZ Control The PTZ tab (see Figure 44) allows you to control the pan/tilt/zoom functions of a PTZ-enabled camera. The PTZ tab is available only when the video window of a PTZ-enabled camera is selected. PTZ cameras are enabled in DSAdmin.
DS NV DS NV DS NVs s s s s DS NV DS NV IPIX Solid-State PTZ IPIX IP cameras, which require a optional license for use with DigitalSENTRY, allow full PTZ control on both live and recorded video. PTZ is controlled with IPIX cameras in the same way as with other PTZ cameras, except that the iris and focus boxes are unused.
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DS NVR & DS NV DS NVR & DS NV s s s s s DS NVR & DS NV DS NVR & DS NV DS NVR & DS NV T T T T T echnic echnic echnic al Support...
Technical Support Integral Technologies is committed to providing you with superior technical and engineering support. When you need help with your DS hardware or DigitalSENTRY software, please have the following information available: • A complete description of the problem, including error messages and instructions for re-creating the error.
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