Monitor Live Views

You can watch the live view of multiple cameras, cameras within the same group, and corresponding e-maps by customizing a layout to suit your needs.

Layout Management

Users that belong to the administrators group or have a manager privilege profile can configure layout settings.

To customize the live view display:

1. Click Management under Layout.
2. Click Add to create a new layout, or click any existing layouts on the left panel to edit.
3. Enter a layout name in the Name field.
4. Select the corresponding e-map. If you select None, the e-map button will be disabled.
5. Select a type of layout from any of the following. You can click Customize to redo your layout by drag and dropping, except for 1 Channel, Camera Group, and Sequence. Click Reset anytime you want to reset the layout to the default pattern.
• 1 Channel ~ 64 Channels: Choose a layout composed of 1, 4, 6, 9, 10, 13, 16, 25, 36, 49 or 64 channels depending on your needs.
• : Only one camera group can be dragged to the layout area for arrangement. Depending on how many cameras the group is composed of, an appropriate layout with enough channels (64 channels at most) will automatically be chosen by Surveillance Station to accommodate the camera group. If the number of cameras exceeds 64, then the remaining cameras will be excluded from the layout.
• : If you selected the sequential layout, you can adjust the camera rotation speed with the Interval (sec.) drop-down menu. Recorded video of the cameras dragged to the Rotation sequence area will be played in the same order as they are arranged here on the list.
6. Drag cameras or e-maps from the left side onto your desired position of the layout, or remove the cameras or e-maps by dragging them back to the left side of the layout.
• If this Synology NAS is a CMS host, you will see the Filter icon on the left panel. Click this icon and choose from the server list to view cameras by server.
• If you have selected a camera group layout , drag a camera group from the camera group list to the layout position.
• If you have configured regions or 180° panoramic areas of a fisheye camera, you can drag the regions from the fisheye camera list to the layout position.
7. Click Preview to see a preview of the current layout. You may preserve the camera's original aspect ratio to avoid image stretching when you enter live view by checking the Fixed aspect ratio box and then clicking Save.
8. To set the current layout as the default page when you enter live view, check the Set as my default box. Every user can set their own default live view layout. If the default layout no longer exists, the first authorized layout of a user will be applied instead.
9. To remove an unwanted layout from the layout list, select the layout and click Delete .
10. Click Close when finished.

PTZ Control Panel

If your camera has PTZ (pan/tilt/zoom) support, you can select a camera and use the Controller panel to adjust the camera's direction. Clicking the home button will return the camera back to its default position. If you have selected a camera with partial PTZ support, unsupported functions on the Controller panel will not light up when hovering over them.

On Screen Camera Operation

Depending on camera models and compatibility, you can use the following on-screen functions to view and control your cameras and e-maps on the live view of the chosen camera or e-map.

To operate cameras on the live view:

1. If the camera supports pan/tilt/zoom functions, the mouse cursor will become directional arrows when you click on the desired live view and mouse over it. You can left click on the mouse to adjust the direction of the camera, or scroll the mouse wheel to optically zoom in/out.
2. If supported by the camera, the following on-screen buttons will appear when you mouse over the bottom of the selected live view: Instant playback , Edit , Home , Zoom , Absolute position , Auto pan , Object tracking , Snapshot , Drag and zoom , Pause , Volume , Audio output , Digital output , Manual recording and Advanced . Operate the camera with the following on-screen options:
• To view recordings in the past 24 hours, click Instant playback .
• To modify camera or e-map information and settings, click Edit .
• To restore the camera back to its default position, click Home .
• To optically zoom in/out, scroll the mouse wheel, or click Zoom .
• To set another position as the center of the live view, click Absolute position . Move the mouse pointer to the place where you want to position your camera and then left click for the change to take effect. The camera will take the selected position as its central focus and adjust the lens accordingly.
• To activate a pan-tilt camera's auto pan function, click Auto pan 。
• To activate object tracking, click Object tracking 。
• To save the current live view image, click Snapshot .
• To digitally zoom in on a specific area, click Drag and zoom , and then click and drag with the mouse. Scroll the mouse wheel to further zoom in/out as necessary. Click Reset digital zoom at the upper-left corner to return to the default zoom level.
• To pause the live view video, click Pause . Click again to resume.
• To adjust the volume (for cameras with audio support), mouse over Volume and adjust with the volume bar. You can also click on this button to mute/unmute the audio.
• To output audio to camera by microphone or file, click Audio output 。
• To activate digital output, click Digital output 。
• To start manual recording, click Manual recording .
• To view and apply a Preset Position or Patrol you have previously set up, or to adjust camera lens including Iris and Focus, click Advanced .

To view sub e-maps and cameras on e-maps:

1. Mouse over any sub e-map or camera icons on the e-map. A tooltip will appear indicating the name of the chosen icon.
2. Open and view sub e-maps or cameras on the e-map with the following options:
• Double-click on the icon of any sub e-map to switch to the chosen sub e-map.
• Double-click on the icon of any cameras whose status is normal to open the live view of the selected camera.
3. Click on the bottom of the live view to go back to the previous camera or e-map. You can return up to 100 levels.

Instant Playback

On the live view of each camera, you can easily view and manage recordings taken in the past 24 hours.

To view recordings with instant playback:

1. On the live view of your desired camera, click the on-screen Instant Playback button to open the playback window.
2. Once you open a recording, you can do any of the following in the Controller panel of the Recording Player：
• Click to play the video. Click to pause or to stop playback.
• Click or to go to the previous or next recording.
• While playing, click or to slow down or speed up the video.
• While paused, click or to skip to the previous or next frame.
• Click to view the playlist. Recordings will be played according to the order in the playlist.
• Auto playlist：All recordings are automatically included in the playlist. You cannot remove any recording from the playlist.
• Playlist：The playlist can be modified. You can add a recording to the playlist by drag and dropping a recording to the player.
• Click to repeat recordings. Click this button again to switch between repeat one or all recording(s) in the playlist.
3. The following on-screen buttons are also available on the bottom of the video when you mouse over the Recording Player window：
• Click Snapshot to take a snapshot of the video.
• Click Drag and zoom , and then click and drag with the mouse to digitally zoom in on the selected area. Scroll the mouse wheel to further zoom in/out as necessary. Click Reset digital zoom at the upper-left corner to return to the default zoom level.
• Click Download to download the selected recording.
• Mouse over Volume to adjust the volume with the volume bar (for cameras with audio support). You can also click on this button to mute/unmute the audio.
• Click Time slicing to slice the video into four segments. This function is only available when the video length is longer than one minute. When you mouse over the bottom of each window, you can take snapshots or click the Time slicing button again to leave the mode.
• Click Duration / Timestamp to switch the display between video duration and recorded time.
• Click Fixed aspect ratio to preserve the video's original aspect ratio.
• Click Image Enhancement to adjust or enhance the image display of recordings. Drag the slider bars to modify corresponding values:
  • Brightness
  • Contrast
  • Saturation
  • Sharpness

Live View Analytics

Live View Analytics lets you track targets during live video viewing and recording. You can choose from several analytics types for your IP cameras, and track suspicious events intelligently to trigger smart recording on-the-fly. Each recorded session is archived in an organized manner for analysis. A simulation mode ensures accurate tuning so you can adjust sensitivity, detection zone, and object size to deliver the best result for individual cameras. Please refer to Live View Analytics for more information.

Other Features

On the Live View page, you can also use the following features:

• Click Show information , and the camera name and status will be displayed using the following icons at the corner of each live view window:
• Connected: The camera is working properly.
• Disconnected: The camera malfunctioned or its network/power connection has been lost.
• Connecting: Surveillance Station is trying to connect to the camera.
• Recording: Surveillance Station is recording videos according to the camera's recording schedule.
• Manual Recording: Surveillance Station is manually recording a video initiated using the Manual Recording button.
• Storage Removed：The server storing this camera's video has been removed.
• To see the corresponding e-map, click E-Map .
• To preserve the original aspect ratio, click Fixed aspect ratio .
• To see the live view in full screen, click Full screen .