It may not be widely known, but Axis Communications have always had a largely cross-browser capable user interface to their products. This is especially important with network devices such as IP cameras, since the browser is often the initial method of access the device in order to get it set up. A great deal of end-user support has historically been caused by browser and compatibility issues for NW and with this new interface these have dropped off significantly, since browser compatibility is no longer an issue – with Axis cameras at least.
In this article we demonstrate 7 technologically different ways to display a video stream from an IP camera with RTSP support on a web page in a browser. As a rule, browsers do not support RTSP, so the video stream is converted for a browser using an intermediate server. Tutorial on how to install plugin on Internet Explorer.
- Start typing in the 'Make' box to find your camera. If your camera is not listed then click 'Get Latest List' in settings or when on the add camera wizard. If you need to modify the URL then add or edit the Onvif camera and you can modify the connection type and URL in the video source dialog (button is top of the first tab).
- Axis Media Control is an Internet Explorer plug-in that enables some types of streaming media to be played within the browser such as motion JPEG and H.264 video. Under normal circumstances, you are prompted to download the Axis Media Control plug-in when you visit a website that requires it.
- Luma Surveillance™ is more than a series of cameras and recorders. It's the ability to keep you and your family safe. It's confidence while you're away from home. It's the gift of watching what truly matters: your child's first steps, your dog's anticipation of your arrival home, your surprise birthday party, all captured in HD.
This also means that Axis products have always been accessible on Macs, many mobile devices and in the Linux GUI when competitors' products have not been. The user interface on their devices has not changed for many years and its similarity across devices in the range made it all the more easy to use. Recently, however, Axis launched an update to their user interface (from firmware version 7 and on) which is a radical departure in terms of user-experience and browser support.
It is fair to say that the majority of other IP-CCTV device manufacturers do not have this cross-browser capability, with many forcing their customers to use the now deprecated Microsoft Internet Explorer browser for either the complete interface or certain components within it. This can open up security issues and often comes with painful and unfriendly installation processes. One manufacturer forces the browser to close without warning when installing their ActiveX control; a very poor experience indeed.
Axis Camera Browser Plugin Chrome
This new interface from Axis builds on the maturity of the previous interface and offers an easier starting point for novices. For example, all key functions are now more logically ordered and accessed from an overlay menu at the bottom of the interface – thus removing the ‘hunt-and-peck' method previously needed to find a menu item. Sub-menu items are also much more easy to access. In addition, should you need it, the old interface is still retained but offers a disclaimer that it is no longer supported ('Ready for a new Axis experience? We've discontinued the classic mode. You can continue using the classic mode, but we can't give you technical support or guarantee the performance.'), nor can it be guaranteed to work correctly. However, for old-timers like me this is useful for speed reasons. Access the old interface by hitting one of its URLs such as /operator/tcpip.shtml.
Axis Camera Plugin
The major changes are
- Full cross-browser support – you see the same interface in all browsers – including a native H.264/RTSP player with PTZ that requires no plugins
- A coherent brand experience – you know for sure it is an Axis product with the strong Axis branding now introduced
- Analytics visualisations are much improved in ‘apps'- visual confirmations work in most browsers natively, where previously these were Internet Explorer (ActiveX) only
- Unique tab-based access to major settings – though some advanced elements such as DNS servers, port settings etc remain accessible only though the older interface or Axis' unique ‘plain config' option
- Light and dark versions of the interface – handy for when the contrast between image and interface is low or high. The dark interface can also reduce eye-strain when using a camera on screen for long periods
Dark and light versions of the interface are now available.
Key settings are now accessed via the ‘settings' popover and no longer though the ‘setup' menu.
Comparison between the old and new interfaces ‘settings' window.
Axis Camera Browser Plugin Extension
Hooray! No more Internet Explorer and no more ActiveX! This new interface is a major leap forward for Axis users and for the Axis brand and I hope other manufacturers take Axis' lead and build full cross-browser support into their products. The browser remains the main method most end-users engage to access their devices and that's not going to change any time soon.
so most major browsers do not natively have the ability to pull in RTSP streams at H.264. previously our cameras used the VLC plugin to allow this to happen, but recently most browsers saw this a security hole and stopped supporting this plugin. this makes the video view of the cameras browser UI not work and either shows the message 'plugin not supported' or 'download player' (as seen in the image below). Please note that the viewer is the only thing that doesn't work in this UI.
we are fixing this issue, but it does involve quite a lot of changes to allow for this player to work again so this is taking time. we do however have several workarounds to combat this issue.
Web camera with microphone for skype.
WINDOWS: you have a few options for a work around.
- first for windows we have an IE plugin that will get this interface working found HERE.
- another option is a program called ONVIF device manager that can be found HERE this will allow for basic pan, tilt and zoom control with presets and a viewer.
- the best option is our free control tool which can be download HERE which will allow for everything the UI can do except changing ip video and network settings.
- another option is to turn both the streams in the video section to Mjpg and restart the camera. once restarted you can change the drop down on the live page to Jpeg.
- finally if you have a camera with NDI you can use the NDI studio monitor as an option to control and view the camera.
MAC: you are much more limited on the options for a work around.
- the best option is our free control tool which can be download HERE which will allow for everything the UI can do except changing ip video and network settings.
- another option is our control tool for OBS which can be found in the link above and downloads with our control tool.
- if you have an NDI camera the other option is to use the video monitor that downloads with the NDI tool set from newtek.
we are working as fast as we can to resolve this issue, but do not have a date when this might be resolved. Et google drive movie.
