MV Keyboard Controls

[GeorgeB]

I am not sure if everyone is familiar with the MV keyboard controls, so I am posting it here for reference. The controls provide an easier and more efficient way of manipulating video when trying to find something specific. These controls will work on the video wall for all cameras displayed in the wall, or on an individual camera page.

The controls that can be used are:

• Spacebar - Toggles between play and pause
• Left arrow key - back one frame
• Right arrow key - forward one frame
• Hold left arrow key - play backwards
• Hold right arrow key - play forwards
• 1 key - Play at 1 x playback speed
• 2 key - Play at 2 x playback speed
• 3 key - Play at 3 x playback speed

It is important to note that pressing 3 key will increase the playback speed but this is not officially supported. Using this speed may not provide fluid playback or continuous video display.

Playback speed increases will increase the bandwidth required per camera by the playback speed multiplier. For example a camera at ‘Enhanced Quality’ settings will go from 765kbps to 1530kbps. Importantly this also includes the video wall bandwidth usage and could lead to a bandwidth requirement of up to 18460kbps for a video wall of 12 cameras at 2x playback speed. Caution should be taken to prevent saturation of small WAN links.

When increasing the playback speed this will decrease the number of simultaneous streams the camera can concurrently support. For example playing back video at 2 x playback would count as supporting two 1 x playback speed streams from the camera.

[BlakeRichardson]

Thanks for sharing. Hopefully PTZ cameras won't be to far away!

[MerakiDave]

@BlakeRichardson I posted my take on this a few weeks back, sorry if redundant if you already saw it.  While I'm not on the product team, I understand there are use cases for PTZ, but I would make an educated guess the next camera model to be released will not be a PTZ. 

Industry reports show decreasing PTZ camera use/sales, so Meraki is not likely to add a PTZ, it's less than 10% of cameras and seems to be decreasing.  PTZ cameras can be 2x to 3x as expensive, they are physically larger, and heavier (motors/servos) and these moving parts wear out and break down more frequently, and the more you use it, the shorter its lifespan becomes, as indicated by the shorter warranty (and sometimes higher support costs) typically offered on PTZs.  While PTZs do have their place in the industry, perhaps the biggest drawback is that if you PTZ into a specific area, the camera cannot record what it isn't looking at, and you miss critical events. 

Most PTZ use cases can be addressed with proper planning and similar cost with multiple fixed cameras today, and in the future with other models that might offer a wider field of view for example.  I'm not giving any roadmap hints (I'm not aware of the roadmap) but it's no secret that MV21 and MV71 are the first 2 products in a new and exciting product family, and more models will be developed in time, likely not PTZ, but perhaps wider field-of-view, just an educated guess. 

There are many cases where PTZ cameras have been deployed and then the pan and tilt functions are rarely used, and only the zoom tends to get used, to zoom in for identity or zoom out for overall scene context.  The MV does already offer a 3-10mm varifocal lens, remotely adjustable via Dashboard to zoom in/out.  

All that said, MV cannot address every single use case today.  If you're in retail and want to follow an active shoplifter around a store, the MV cannot be used for that purpose.  But I'd make the argument that with well-placed cameras and Dashboard's video wall, you could get very close, as well as meet all other retail requirements.

There are PTZ use cases out there, so help Meraki help you... keep making wishes in Dashboard, and keep the feedback coming through your Meraki sales team or Meraki Partner so all of the use cases and feature requests can be collected, categorized and prioritized.

Congrats on your CMNO and thanks for being a part of Meraki Community!

[nikiwaibel]

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@BlakeRichardson wrote:

Thanks for sharing. Hopefully PTZ cameras won't be to far away!

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i'd prefer a 360 (and pan/tilt/zoom digitally)

[Welles]

I FOUND THE GNOME!

[CarolineS]

YEAH!!! Thanks, @Welles! Maybe too easy this time?

[WadeAlsup]

Awww, I found the gnome too...

[Mongskee]

I FOUND THE GNOME!

[CarolineS]

Thanks, @Mongskee, but the gnome isn’t here any more! This was his Friday hiding place. Keep trying! 

[Mongskee]

@CarolineS

Can i have all 4 of them? 🙂 My desk needs companions hehe

[binarydaze]

I found the gnome!

我找到了侏儒！

[amwill2]

Wrong Gnome

[Sam_Clements]

@CarolineS I FOUND THE GNOME!

[CarolineS]

@Sam_Clements This is where the gnome was on Friday! Now he is just a shadow of his former self :). Keep looking!

[Richard_W]

Found another gnome