Controlling Pan-Tilt-Zoom Cameras

1. As the camera video is requested, Live Cams makes a background request for information about the camera itself and whether or not it supports ptz.
2. When the response comes from the camera, Live Cams will display a button labelled "CONTROL" on the right side of the screen if PTZ is supported.
3. When you press this button a request is made to control the device. If the camera administrator has configured queued control (you must wait in line for your turn) then Live Cams will wait until the camera signals that you have gained control.
4. Depending on the camera model, you will be presented with sliders or buttons to control the PTZ features. Sliders are used to send absolute position requests to the devices that support it. Canon cameras are good examples of this. Some administrators allow PTZ control but limit the range of the sliders. Sometimes you may be able to control pan and tilt but not zoom, or maybe none of the sliders work but you can move to preset locations.
5. Camera administrators will limit your control duration if you are in a queue. Most commonly the defaults for this will be 30 seconds. Live Cams cannot control the duration and cannot determine how many people are in the queue. Remember that you are sharing the camera with everyone that has the application as well as everyone using it from the Internet via a regular web browser.
6. Movement requests are made when you release the slider or release the buttons. There will be a network delay while the requests are being made and the camera responds. This delay will be more severe if the camera is far away or on a busy/slow connection.