Brand:

• AMX

Models:

• G4 Panels
• G5 Panels

Overview:

At InfoComm 2004, AMX introduced DynaMo - a powerful tool for integrating network video into AMX control applications using G4 user interfaces, including Modero touch panels and TPI/4 touch panel interfaces.

Dynamo is a natural extension of the popular Dynamic Images feature of AMX G4 devices. With the growing popularity of Motion JPEG (or M-JPEG), streaming being adopted by leading manufacturers of video equipment, DynaMo now enables the use of this technology in AMX systems.

The setup process is essentially identical to that for setting up other Dynamic Images. It includes three easy steps:

I. Create a Dynamic Image in TPDesign4 project.

II. Create a General button the Dynamic Image will be displayed on.

III. Select the Dynamic Image in the button's Bitmap properties.

In TPDesign4 software, create a new project (or open an existing project in which you would like to add DynaMo video). Open Resource Manager, go to Dynamic Images tab, and click on New to create a new Dynamic Image:

Create a button (type General) in the interface that matches the output resolution of the camera/video server (some cameras/servers support more than one output resolution - in this case, select one that fits your application requirements/interface design).

Go to the States tab in Button Properties and select the Dynamic Image (in our case, "Network Camera") created in Step I as Bitmap image for the target button created in STEP II.

A number of leading manufacturers are offering a variety of equipment that provides Motion JPEG streaming output.

While AMX is striving to bring to the market innovative features such as support for Motion JPEG, at points we have to work through the different ways manufacturers implement standards. In the case of streaming network cameras/servers, manufacturers are using somewhat different syntax for requesting Motion JPEG streams from their networked cameras and servers.

Case in point, many of the networked cameras/servers are accessed using a regular HTML browser, and the camera/server is serving up an HTML page with a video window being a part of the page. For DynaMo, however, the panel needs to access only the M-JPEG stream, not the entire HTML page served by the camera/server by default.

Depending on the camera/network video server type you are using, you may need to consult product documentation, or if necessary, contact manufacturer's technical support. In general, however, what is being sent to the camera/server in the path is a CGI call that may have additional parameters based on the feature set of the camera/server and the syntax the manufacturer requires. What follows are examples for some of most popular manufacturers.

Model: 2100 (camera)

Path: axis-cgi/mjpg/video.cgi?camera=&resolution=320x240

Dynamic image settings:

Model: 2411 (video server)

Path: axis-cgi/mjpg/video.cgi?resolution=704x480

Model: BL-C10A (camera)

Path: nphMotionJpeg?resolution=320x240&Quality=Standard

Dynamic image settings:

Model: 2111 (camera)

Path: cgi-bin/video.jpg?cam=1&quality=3&size=2

Dynamic Image Settings:

HINT: Like with any other type of equipment AMX controls, manufacturer's documentation and customer support are the most reliable ways of obtaining information on the device's communication protocol/syntax. This can also help you fully utilize optional features available on that specific device. However, at times it can be difficult to get the needed information with respect to the protocol/syntax of a particular camera/server. One way to work around this is connecting to your networked camera or video server using an Internet browser that captures the location or path to the stream. An example of such browser is Mozilla FireFox. Using the browser you can go to your network device's IP address, left click on the streaming image and Copy Image Location. You can download a free version of FireFox at www.mozilla.org.

Multiple DynaMo images on the same page will impact performance. Also take into account the image size (a higher resolution image will not be able to do 15fps). One thing to try, if having some difficulty getting the desired frame rate, is remove any borders from the button(s) containing the dynamo images