Video Transcript
PTZ-IP Camera and Bridging Setup
9m 39s
0:08
One of the most important components of a modern conference room
0:11
is the ability to run a video conference call.
0:14
There are a lot of excellent video conferencing software platforms out there:
0:18
WebEx, GoToMeeting, Skype etc.
0:21
But they all suffer from one simple problem: your computer’s webcam.
0:26
This little guy just can’t provide the high quality features you need for a professional video call.
0:33
Historically, this leads system integrators to use a higher-quality camera, and feed its video to your laptop or PC.
0:42
There are many USB cameras available, but these have their own inherent difficulties.
0:47
USB isn’t designed for long cable runs,
0:50
so you need to implement USB extenders which are extensive and can’t be field-terminated.
0:56
Integrating multiple USB cameras require additional pieces like USB hubs and USB switches,
1:03
and it starts to feel needlessly complicated.
1:06
Another alternative is to use HDMI cameras, which bring their own pain points.
1:12
HDMI is also impossible to field-terminate,
1:15
and the room now requires an HDMI video matrix which will require a control system as well.
1:21
Not to mention that you’re running HDMI, and control, and power - and all of this can be made much easier.
1:29
Meet the Q-SYS camera – this is my new friend, PTZ20-60, how’s it going?
1:36
The camera is a native Q-SYS peripheral
1:38
Which means its control is built into the Q-SYS Designer software,
1:42
And you can place all its control buttons on the same touchscreen device you’re already using to manage the audio in this room.
1:50
Plus it’s a PoE device, meaning it’s powered by a single Cat5 cable –
1:56
that means your installer is only running a single cable in the room from the camera to the network switch.
2:02
That one cable sends the video, control and power, and then Q-SYS manages the switching between multiple cameras.
2:10
This allows for any number of cameras in the room to be delivered to any number of laptops and PCs.
2:17
And how good is the quality of the camera? Well, we’re filming with it right now.
2:21
Let’s take a look in the mirror.
2:24
The Camera can stream up to full HD 1920x1080, up to 30 frames per second on the network.
2:30
It also has an HDMI and SDI output on the back of the device that can produce up to 60 frames per second,
2:36
which can be simultaneously used to feed video into hard-codec VTC appliances,
2:41
allowing the same camera to be used for both soft and hard-codec systems.
2:46
So now let’s take a look at how you can build all this inside the Designer software.
2:51
The Q-SYS cameras are located in the Inventory section of Designer version 5.4 and higher.
2:58
You’ll see that there are two models – the 20x60 and the 12x72, that offer different zoom depths and fields of view.
3:07
Once you add one to your inventory, you can drag its Status/Control component into the Schematic.
3:13
You’ll see a new pin on this component – a video camera-shaped pin!
3:17
Like other pins, this can only be wired to another pin of the same shape.
3:22
There’s also a new branch of components in the Schematic Elements called Video Components.
3:28
In here you’ll find a Camera Router, which you could use to switch between multiple Q-SYS camera video feeds.
3:35
I’ll wire the two cameras in my design to this Router.
3:39
You’ll even notice the wire is a different size and color so that you won’t mistake this for an audio connection.
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I’m going to save this design to the Core and Run, so that I can actually connect to the camera.
3:51
If you open the camera’s control panel, you’ll see all the controls you need to aim and focus the camera.
3:58
Full Pan, Tilt, and Zoom controls are here, as well as speed control for these features.
4:04
By default, the cameras operate in auto AAA mode – auto-focus, auto-exposure, auto-white balance –
4:12
to simplify operation in any lighting environment.
4:15
At the bottom of this control panel you’ll see a Preview window
4:18
which gives you a JPEG image of what the camera is currently looking at.
4:23
This preview window is refreshed once a second –
4:26
so while it isn’t a fluid live stream, it’s more than enough for a user to frame up a good shot.
4:32
So this brings me to an important point – the video stream itself is not actually entering Q-SYS –
4:38
Q-SYS only manages the control of the camera.
4:40
The video stream itself is routed to a USB bridge, which is then connected to your PC or laptop via standard USB cable.
4:50
So where can you find this USB bridge? Well one of them is available on the Q-SYS Core110f.
4:56
If you go to your Core’s properties, you can enable a USB Video bridge.
5:02
This will create a new component in your Inventory that you can add to your schematic.
5:07
This Bridge only has an input video pin,
5:09
because the output leaves the Core and is delivered to your PC via any standard USB cable.
5:16
Your PC will detect this as a USB webcam, which will be automatically used by most teleconferencing softwares.
5:24
The Core’s USB Bridge is great if you’re using a PC in the room that is in the same rack as the Core,
5:30
but often times meeting participants will bring their own laptop to the table and want to connect there.
5:36
So in that case you would use an IO USB Bridge,
5:40
This is a discrete peripheral device that can be placed underneath the desk or in any other convenient location.
5:47
This device is also powered by a single CAT5 cable,
5:51
and is designed to bring the USB port from Q-SYS as close to the user as possible.
5:57
In the software you can add this IO Bridge from the Inventory panel, under Peripherals.
6:03
Add an IO USB Bridge to your design, and let’s take a look at its properties.
6:08
Just like the Core, we can enable a video bridge, drag that bridge into our design, and wire our cameras to it.
6:17
If you have multiple outputs like we do now, we could send the same camera stream to each one,
6:23
or they could each get their own choice of inputs.
6:27
Again, as far as your video conferencing software is concerned,
6:30
it’s only getting a single webcam connection from the USB bridge,
6:33
even though Q-SYS can route as many different input sources as you want to this bridge.
6:39
All of the routing and control is managed within Q-SYS, and your laptop is never the wiser.
6:45
And don’t forget to use that USB Audio Bridge as well!
6:48
All of the audio in your conference room,
6:50
including all the processing and echo cancellation you’re providing for your conference room’s microphones,
6:56
can all be sent to the USB Audio Bridge and delivered to your laptop as well –
7:01
at the exact same time and on the exact same cable as the USB cable you’re already using for video.
7:08
This single connection gives your laptop access to the high-quality video stream as a default webcam
7:14
and the audio as a default speakerphone, which means a user only needs to plug this single cable in
7:21
and their teleconference software will automatically use all the features of your Q-SYS conference room.
7:28
A few final things we glossed over that I want to point out.
7:31
If you open the Video Bridge control panel, you’ll see it looks just like the Camera’s control panel.
7:37
Rather than control each camera’s original source,
7:40
these controls actually look backwards through the Camera Router
7:45
and will make adjustments to whichever camera is currently active.
7:49
That means you could place just these controls onto the UCI,
7:53
rather than require a different set of Pan/Tilt/Zoom controls for each camera.
7:58
Also, be aware that there are a couple other tabs in this control panel.
8:02
The Camera Imaging tab gives you access to more complicated image control such as exposure,
8:08
white balance, backlight compensation, and video formats.
8:12
The Status tab gives you basic connection feedback and other information.
8:17
The camera provides two streams of different qualities, as different video conferencing softwares have different requirements.
8:25
You might also choose to go to the Camera’s Properties and change its IP Streaming property to “Multicast,”
8:33
which will allow other applications such as VLC or QuickTime to pick up your video feed, albeit with a bit of a latency buffer.
8:41
To do this, go to the Camera’s control panel and find its “Streaming URL.”
8:46
This is what you’ll use for those other programs to receive the stream.
8:50
Finally, there are some additional controls in the Administrator under the Cameras tab.
8:56
You can change the solution of the IP streams here,
9:00
as well as upload custom images for the Camera’s offline screen and privacy screen.
9:06
The privacy screen is displayed when you engage the Privacy mode in the control panel,
9:11
This effectively turns off the live camera feed,
9:14
and also tells the camera to turn around and stare at the wall so that the local participants don’t think they’re still on camera.
9:23
So that was a quick overview of the Q-SYS Camera. Did you have a good time PTZ20x60.
9:32
Good, that’s what I thought. Thanks, and we’ll see you next time.
Lesson Description
PTZ-IP Camera and Bridging Setup
9m 39s
Learn the features and benefits of the Q-SYS camera, and its control functionality within Q-SYS.
Tips and Definitions
PTZ-IP Camera and Bridging Setup
9m 39s
Coming Soon!
Downloads and Links
PTZ-IP Camera and Bridging Setup
9m 39s