Video tutorial on what is ONVIF and what is ONVIF camera

This video demonstrates what is ONVIF and what does it mean 'ONVIF camera'. It also provides a short review why it is worth to use Ozeki Camera SDK for camera developments. Using this SDK you can implement device discovery, snapshot taking, video recording, Pan-Tilt-Zoom (PTZ) motion control, motion detection, streaming the camera image to remote PCs, smartphones and to websites, etc. in C#.

You can follow the video tutorial series, by starting with the first of them:

 


Download Video: TutorialVideo1.zip

DISCLAIMER: Please note that the following features will only work if your IP camera supports the given functionality. So please check the user manual of your IP camera to make sure it supports the feature that you wish to implement in C#.

 

Transcript

Hey everyone. My name is Peter.

Hi, I am David.

We are software developers from Ozeki. We are really exciting to present this new tutorial series. We bring a lot of fun with this.

We would like to introduce how to build camera solutions in C# by using the Ozeki's brand new Camera SDK.

This SDK is:

  • User-friendly
  • Easy to use
  • Powerful
  • ONVIF-compliant
  • and here is the key - it provides Awesome background support for implementing many camera solutions

In this tutorial series we are going to show you how you can develop easily a camera handling software in C# with the Ozeki Camera SDK. With this SDK you can develop many great camera applications. You can work with an Onvif standard IP camera, an RTSP camera or just a simple USB webcamera.

Whether you're a beginner or an experienced C# developer you will certainly be able to implement the solutions presented in these tutorial videos, if you use this Camera SDK. This is gonna be a great video series. They contain short and practical code explanations.

Let's see what you need to run these tutorials and work with the Camera SDK.

  • Visual Studio
  • .NET Framwork
  • and some kind of cameras

In the following 10 chapters we will write C# .NET codes, which implement functionalities such as:

  • Displaying the image of the camera to the smartphone.
  • Device discovery
  • Motion detection
  • Creating SIP video call
  • Taking snapshot and recording a video
  • Streaming the image of the camera to the website
  • and PTZ control

But first here is brief overview about the Onvif standardization from David.

What is Onvif?

First of all let's clarify what does it mean if a camera supports the Onvif standard and why it is so important for us. As it can be seen in the presentation, the ONVIF is an abbreviation for the Open Network Video Interface Forum, which was created in 2008. This is a global and open industry organization, where the members use this global open standards for the interface of physical IP-based products like an IP camera. The founding members are the Axis, the Bosch, and the Sony, but such companies like Canon, Cisco, LG, Samsung and so on also participate in.

The standardization covers the areas below:

  • IP configuration
  • Device discovery
  • Device management
  • Media configuration
  • Real time viewing
  • Alarm handling
  • PTZ control
  • Video analytics
  • Security

Next question is: What are the benefits of the ONVIF?

Interoperability: The standard ensures that there are interoperable products from various manufacturers.

Flexibility: The end-users and integrators can create a system with different products of the manufacturers. Presently more than 2500 products are compatible with Onvif standards.

Future-proof: Different companies' products can communicate with each other, therefore it doesn't matter what happens to individual companies.

Quality: When a product conforms to a standard, the users know what to expect from that product.

The next question, which can be confusing for some people is: What is the difference between the USB webcamera, RTSP camera and the Onvif IP camera?

We differentiate them in three aspects:

  • Connection type (USB vs UTP)
  • Number of streams
  • Number of functionalities

Let's start with the USB webcamera. We can connect to the USB camera with an USB cable and it has only one stream. The number of the functions are limited, but it can display the image and if it is supported it can send audio.

The RTSP connects to the network with an UTP cable and it also has just one stream. Its functions are the same like the USB web camera.

Finally the Onvif standard IP camera. Its connection is similar to the RTSP, so it connects with an UTP cable to the network. It has more then one streams. The number of the functions are more. Like. It can PTZ, so move the camera and set the image lighting like contrast, brightness and set the frame rate.

If you liked this video and you want to learn more about further great solutions provided by Ozeki Camera SDK, then download the trial version from our website www.camera-sdk.com and follow our tutorial videos. For more information check out our website, and if you have any question, send us an email to info@camera-sdk.com

In the next video Peter will show you how you can find your camera on the local network using C# .NET. It's gonne be exciting.

Thanks for watching. We hope you enjoyed this video. See you in the next chapter.

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