ZoneMinder Forums

Viewing IP camera feeds over the LAN is a much different scenario from viewing over the Internet.

On the LAN:

1. one usually has unfettered access to the camera's raw stream.
2. more bandwidth is available.
3. more bandwidth = better image quality possible.

2. Over the Internet:

1. the camera stream MAY be available if forwarded and not firewalled through a router.
2. bandwidth is scarce compared to the LAN.
3. image quality can be lower for live viewing.

Also:

• ZM's live viewing mechanism is very CPU intensive and can be avoided if the live feed is forwarded through the router or one is on the LAN.
• Saving a H.264 stream (which is used by most high resolution IP cameras) to JPEG kills image quality, so viewing directly from the camera gives a better picture.

It would be great if ZM had the option to point the browser directly to the camera's feed if the feed is available. If the feed is not available, then the existing live viewing system could be used.

The decision could be based on

• The client's IP address (is it on the same subnet as the camera?)
• Is the camera's IP address in one of the reserved private ranges, e.g. 192.168.x.x?
• Is the client's IP address or subnet in a special, manually determined list for direct camera access?

If none of the above criteria are met, then the existing viewing mechanism is used. JPEG quality could also be set by the same criteria, i.e. full quality on the LAN and 20% quality over the Internet.