3VR BOSCH Security Universal Driver User Guide

Owned by Anand Rajaraman
Last updated: Jul 05, 2019
9 min read

Overview

The objective of this guide is to cover those important details that are relevant to BOSCH Camera properties and settings in 3VR VMS Application.

General Settings of 3VR BOSCH Camera

Populating 3VR BOSCH Video Server Port Values

In Camera Description of 3VR System Manager there is an explicit feature to populate the video server port settings for multi-channel encoder to serve multiple simultaneous streams from captured video sources. While editing the video server port value in 3VR Application, a confirmation message displays to repopulate the settings and save the value.

To populate the video server port values for BOSCH IP camera:



  1. Navigate to Camera Description of 3VR System Manager. Select Network Camera: Video Server Port field as shown in the figure.

2. Enter a value. A confirmation dialog is displayed to re-populate the settings as shown in the figure. 

3VR BOSCH IP Camera Settings

For each IP camera that you configured in Configuring IP Cameras topic section, you can adjust the way the video is recorded and displayed by modifying the camera-specific settings. To access these settings:



  1. Select the camera name in the navigation panel. Scroll down through the camera settings until you locate the IP Cameras category.

  2. The options displayed vary depending on the Camera Driver that the user selected when configuring the camera.

The remainder of this section provides an overview of some of the most common BOSCH IP camera settings. If the setting you would like to modify is not listed in this document, please refer to the help text displayed in the lower panel of System Manager for more information about the setting.

Accessing 3VR BOSCH Video Stream Mode

The first step in configuring the settings of the BOSCH IP camera is to select the video stream mode. This setting specifies the video compression standard and streaming mode for BOSCH type of camera. Depending on the BOSCH model of the camera, one or more of the following options will appear in the Stream mode drop-down menu. Almost all BOSCH IP cameras have the ability to produce multiple video streams with different attributes for each stream.

Selecting the Stream Encoding Type

The Bosch IP Video units allow the selection of the video stream encoding type for the streamed video (depending on the device's encoding capabilities) with the H.264 parameter.

The supported encoding types are:

  • Stream 1 Encoding = JPEG
  • Stream 2 Encoding = H.264
  • Stream 3 Encoding = H.264

Refer the Limitations  and Special Conditions  in Stream Resolution section for more results on resolution workarounds related to BOSCH camera in 3VR Application.

3VR BOSCH Video Stream Classifications

Video Classifications are labels used to identify streams. It is important to assign each stream a video classification. Each stream has its own unique classification – this helps the user to identify the proper stream to use.

Configuring 3VR BOSCH Video Recording Settings

The settings in this section apply to Stream 1, Stream 2, and Stream 3 video resolution for BOSCH camera inside 3VR Application. They take effect when the respective video mode is enabled.

Stream Encoding

In 3VR VMS the selection of the encoding types for stream 1 are restricted to JPEG and for stream 2 and stream 3 to H.264.

The user cannot change the encoding types for stream 1, stream 2, and stream 3.

Stream Frame Rate

This setting controls the video encoding frame rate in frames per second (fps).

Stream frame rate impacts the viewing experience of a video frame by frame. Different frame rates yield different viewing experiences, and it is the users choice of choosing a frame rate to show how realistic videos to look, or whether to use techniques such as slow motion or motion blur effects.

For example, Video's that broadcast live or video with a lot of motion, such as a sporting event or video game recording, will often have a higher frame rate in the order of 30 fps or more, as a higher frame rate keeps the motion smooth. On the other hand, movies are usually displayed at 24 fps, since this frame rate creates a cinematic look.

To set the frame rate of an BOSCH IP camera for Stream 1, Stream 2, and Stream 3 frame rates:



  1. Click the ellipsis (...) button beside Stream Frame Rate for stream 1, stream 2, and stream 3.




  2. Select a new value from the Stream Frame Rate drop-down menu for peak hours or off-peak hours. For example, Stream 1 frame rate for peak hours and off- peak hours ranges from 1-30. Default value is 6.



  3. Click Save to save changes and return to the Configure panel.

Stream Resolution

This setting controls the Stream 1 video settings for JPEG resolution, and Stream  2 video and Stream 3 video settings to H.264 resolution. The default resolution of Stream 1 is set to 768Wx432H. To set different Stream type resolution of an BOSCH IP camera:



  1. Click the ellipsis (...) button beside Stream 1 Video Resolution.




  2. Select a new value from the Stream Resolution drop-down menu for peak hours or off-peak hours.



  3. Click Save to save changes and return to the Configure panel.

Limitations  and Special Conditions  in Stream Resolution

The resolution is the most important variable that affects the live (JPEG) and recorded (H.264) video streams in 3VR Application. Currently, in 3VR Application we list all supported resolutions of all streams. The below list point out the following limitations among the supported resolutions among Stream 1, Stream 2, and Stream 3.



  • Supported resolutions of Stream 1 and Stream 3 depends on current resolution of Stream 2 in BOSCH camera. Based on this limitation, if the currently selected resolution in 3VR is not supported by Stream 2 resolution, then the user will be informed by a pop-up message that the best compatible resolution is applied for Stream 1 and Stream 3 as shown in the figure.


  • Among all the resolutions listed in different 3VR streams, the resolution that have the same width and height in common is listed only once in 3VR Application.
  • In few Bosch camera, MJPEG stream supports "Best Possible" resolution and H.264 Stream 2 supports "Copy Stream 1" resolution. But they are not explicitly supported by Stream 1 and Stream 3 respectively in 3VR application.
  • As per Bosch specification: 
    • "Best Possible" resolution - The camera decides the resolution for the stream based on the device settings at that moment
    • "Copy Stream 1" resolution - H.264 stream 2 is applied with same resolution as H.264 Stream 1
  • In BOSCH camera, the "Best Possible" resolution is one of the supported resolution for MJPEG stream of few cameras. In 3VR Application, there is no provision to apply best possible resolution for Stream 1 manually. But, 3VR supports best possible if that is the only supported resolution for Stream 1 at that moment. This resolution property is in read only mode when best possible is applied for Stream 1.


  • When updating the Stream 2 resolution, if the current resolution of Stream 1 is no longer supported due to new resolution of Stream 2. then the application will pop-up message to the user and applies best compatible resolution for Stream 1.

  • The Best compatible resolution in 3VR is applied based on the following criteria
    • If "Best Possible" is the only supported resolution, then it is applied as best compatible resolution
    • Alternatively, a resolution close to 640Wx480H is  applied as best compatible resolution

  • Similarly for Stream 3, when updating the Stream 2 resolution, if the current Stream 3 resolution is no longer supported due to new Stream 2 resolution, then a pop-up  message is displayed to the user that best compatible resolution for Stream 3 is applied. 
  • Best compatible resolution is selected based on the following criteria
    • "Copy  Stream 1" is one of the supported resolution for Stream 3 in BOSCH camera (H.264 Stream 2), then the resolution of Stream 2 is applied for Stream 3 as best compatible resolution
    • Otherwise, a resolution close to 640Wx480H is applied as best compatible resolution



















Stream 1 Quality

Range: 1-100

The Stream 1 setting for quality use a pre-selected quality range from 1-100. Higher value means high stream quality.

Stream Bitrate Optimization

The Bitrate optimization for streams determines the priority given towards image quality or bitrate reduction. The default stream 1 bitrate provides less or no bitrate saving and stream 2 bitrate provides good to outstanding picture.

The bitrate optimization drop-down has values in the following order:

  • 0 means Off
  • 1 means Maximum quality
  • 2 means High quality
  • 3 means Medium quality
  • 4 means Low bit rate
  • 5 means Minimum bit rate

To set different bitrate optimization in BOSCH IP camera:



  1. Click the drop-down button close to Stream 2 Bitrate Optimization/Stream 3 Bitrate Optimization.


  2. Select a value for Stream Bitrate Optimization. The default value is high quality.

  3. Click Save to save changes and return to the Configure panel.

Stream Target Bitrate

The target bitrate defines the average bitrate throughout the video streaming that takes place.

In 3VR Application for BOSCH cameras, the stream target bitrate value is dependent on stream bitrate limit. It means that the stream bitrate limit cannot be more than the defined maximum range of stream target bitrate in 3VR Application.

Range:

  • Stream 2 Target Bitrate: 500 - Bitrate Limit
  • Stream 3 Target Bitrate: 500 - Bitrate Limit

On increasing the stream target bitrate higher than the stream bitrate limit value, the following message is displayed.


On decreasing the stream target bitrate lower than the minimum supported target bitrate value, the following message is displayed.

Stream Bitrate Limit

Stream bitrate limit is the amount of data that is needed to encode a single second of video. In 3VR Application from BOSCH camera perspective, the stream bitrate limit is dependent on stream target bitrate limit. It means that the stream bitrate limit cannot be more than the defined maximum range of stream target bitrate in 3VR Application.

Range:

  • Stream 2 Bitrate limit: Target bitrate - 40000
  • Stream 3 Bitrate limit: Target bitrate - 20000

On decreasing the stream bitrate limit lower than the stream target bitrate value, the following message is displayed.

On increasing the stream bitrate limit higher than the maximum supported bitrate limit value, the following message is displayed.

I-Frame Interval

An I-frame or intra-frame in 3VR Application, is a video frame which is encoded without any reference to other frame in a video file. I-frames are important for random access of video files such as rewind, fast-forward and seek operations.

In the case of BOSCH camera settings

  • Stream 2 I-Frame Interval - Range 0-60
  • Stream 3 I-Frame Interval - Range 0-60

The I-frame range is applicable only to H.264 or MPEG4 encodings.

Stream H264 Profile

In 3VR Application, the H264 profile property is a read only value. All the H264 BOSCH camera settings are applied to the H264 profile and that affects the different streams.

Make sure that both the H.264 Streams are applied with separate encoder profiles in BOSCH camera.

Brightness

The Brightness of an image corresponds to the adjustment made with respect to the working environment. A higher value makes the image appear brighter.

Contrast

The concept of contrast is to provide the right amount of black and white in the image.

Saturation

The Saturation level enables recreation of colors on the image to make them more realistic. The higher the saturation, the more lively is the image.