Full manual

Viewcam Manager for Windows

V8.E.07.06

Your guide to become a

Viewcam Master!

© Sinosharp Viewcam Limited July 2014

Contents

Quick Start Guide ............................................................................................................................................................. 1

How to view a Viewcam in your Local Network? .......................................................................................................... 1

How to view a Viewcam through internet? .................................................................................................................. 1

1. Overview .................................................................................................................................................................... 3

Intellectual Property ..................................................................................................................................................... 3

Main Application ........................................................................................................................................................... 3

Technical Support and Services .................................................................................................................................... 3

Version .......................................................................................................................................................................... 3

2. Setup .......................................................................................................................................................................... 4

Hardware Installation ................................................................................................................................................... 4

Software Installation ..................................................................................................................................................... 5

3. Login introduction ...................................................................................................................................................... 6

System Login ................................................................................................................................................................. 6

4. Local Viewcams .......................................................................................................................................................... 7

Camera Viewing in LAN ................................................................................................................................................. 7

Group Management ...................................................................................................................................................... 7

LAN Camera Settings ..................................................................................................................................................... 8

5. Remote Viewcams ..................................................................................................................................................... 9

WAN browsing .............................................................................................................................................................. 9

Camera settings .......................................................................................................................................................... 10

Add remote IP camera ................................................................................................................................................ 10

Group management .................................................................................................................................................... 11

WAN Camera Settings ................................................................................................................................................. 11

6. Video Monitoring ..................................................................................................................................................... 12

P/T/Z controls ............................................................................................................................................................. 12

Pan/Tilt controls .......................................................................................................................................................... 12

Zoom and other optical controls ................................................................................................................................ 12

Setting and calling a preset camera position ............................................................................................................ 13

Life controls ................................................................................................................................................................. 13

Capture a snapshot and record video ......................................................................................................................... 13

Audio functions ........................................................................................................................................................... 13

Other controls ............................................................................................................................................................. 14

7. System management ............................................................................................................................................... 15

The menu bar .............................................................................................................................................................. 15

Menu buttons ............................................................................................................................................................. 15

System settings ........................................................................................................................................................... 15

Video settings ............................................................................................................................................................ 16

Change User Account Password ................................................................................................................................. 17

Log ............................................................................................................................................................................... 17

Help ............................................................................................................................................................................. 17

Device notify ............................................................................................................................................................... 17

8. Camera management .............................................................................................................................................. 18

Add device ................................................................................................................................................................... 18

Change device password ............................................................................................................................................. 19

Change access code .................................................................................................................................................... 19

Change device alias ................................................................................................................................................... 16

Change Password ........................................................................................................................................................ 17

Log ............................................................................................................................................................................... 17

Help ............................................................................................................................................................................. 17

Device notify ............................................................................................................................................................... 17

9. Playback ................................................................................................................................................................... 22

10. Wi-Fi settings ........................................................................................................................................................... 24

Fixed IP address .......................................................................................................................................................... 25

11. Alarm settings .......................................................................................................................................................... 26

General alarm settings ................................................................................................................................................ 26

Alarm management .................................................................................................................................................... 27

Regional alarm setting ................................................................................................................................................ 28

Setting up e-mail alerts ............................................................................................................................................. 29

Using a Gmail address to send alarm emails .............................................................................................................. 29

Using another email address to send alarm emails .................................................................................................. 29

12. SD card settings ........................................................................................................................................................ 30

13. SD card file download .............................................................................................................................................. 31

14. Color management .................................................................................................................................................. 32

Camera properties ...................................................................................................................................................... 32

Color space .................................................................................................................................................................. 32

More about colors: The Hue, Saturation, Brightness color model ............................................................................. 33

Video settings ............................................................................................................................................................ 34

15. Frequently Asked Questions ................................................................................................................................... 35

Why does the video of my Viewcam have a delay?.................................................................................................... 35

The network connection takes too long. Can this be improved? ............................................................................... 35

The screen color is not very good. Can I adjust this? .................................................................................................. 35

The video looks too dark. How can I adjust this? ....................................................................................................... 35

When I double-click the Camera ID, the video appears black or blurred. How can I solve this problem? ................ 33

How can I check the firmware version of my Viewcam? ............................................................................................ 35

I want to share my Viewcam with other people, but I like to stay in control. Can I give access to my Viewcam

without having to tell them the Access code? ............................................................................................................ 35

I get a message saying: “Your device with ID “VCxxxxxx” encountered a video failure!”. What does this mean? .... 36

How can I see my computer’s IP address and gateway address? ............................................................................... 36

When I double-click a Camera ID, I see a message saying: “The Access code is incorrect”. How can I solve this

problem? ..................................................................................................................................................................... 37

How can I change the Password or the Access code of my Viewcam? ...................................................................... 37

I have previously changed my Access code (or Password) and forgotten it. How can I get access to my Viewcam? 37

How can I restore the original factory settings of my Viewcam? ............................................................................... 37

I forgot the password of my Viewcam user account. Can you remind me? ............................................................... 37

I only use my Viewcam in my local network. Can I block all remote connections from internet? ............................. 38

Can I restart my Viewcam remotely through the internet? ....................................................................................... 38

I cannot find my Wi-Fi network name in the list of available networks. How can I solve this? ................................. 39

My Viewcam doesn’t want to connect to my Wi-Fi network. How can I solve this problem? ................................... 39

Why does my Viewcam show offline in WAN, while the camera is online in LAN? ................................................... 39

The head position of my Viewcam is not accurate anymore. Can this be solved? ..................................................... 39

1

Quick Start Guide

How to view a Viewcam in your Local Network?

Select the “LAN” tab in the right top corner of the main window of Viewcam Manager. All Viewcams which are available

in your local network will be listed in the Device list. If not all Viewcams are listed, right-click inside the blank area and

select “Refresh”.

Double-click on a Camera ID to see the video stream of that Viewcam in the play window. If you double-click more than

one Camera ID, the play window will adjust itself to show the video streams of all the selected Viewcams. If you didn’t

setup any Viewcam yet, you can read how to do this in the chapter “Setup”.

How to view a Viewcam through internet?

Select the “WAN” tab, enter your “User name” and “Password” and click “Login”. If you don’t have a user name yet,

click “Register” at the top of the screen and define a user name and password by yourself. Click the “Register” button to

finish registration.

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Right-click inside the blank area of the WAN tab and choose “Add device”. Enter a Viewcam Camera ID and Access

code in the window which has opened. You can find the Viewcam Camera ID and Access code at the bottom or at the

cable of your Viewcam. You can also enter an alias of your own choice to easily recognize this Viewcam among others.

To manage your Viewcam’s security settings, click the 3rd button “Device management” in the menu bar. The

menu bar is located at the left top corner of the program window. If you want to read more about the security settings,

please continue in the chapter “Device management”.

Double-click the Camera ID in the WAN list to see the video.

Blue shows the camera is online;

Red shows the video is being monitored;

Grey shows the camera is offline.

For more information about how to use Viewcam Manager, please read the following chapters. Everything you want to

know is there. It's easy. Invest a little time and you will be a Viewcam Master!.

Thank you for choosing Viewcam!

3

1. Overview

Thank you for using Viewcam Manager.

This manual has the intention to help people make better use of our monitoring platform. The manual is divided into

system installation, functional description and frequently asked questions. Through the manual, you can learn how to

use Viewcam Manager.

Intellectual Property

Sinosharp Viewcam Limited owns the completely independent intellectual property of platforms and related products.

Without written permission, no person or company has the rights to reproduce Viewcam's products, software or the

documents related to aforementioned.

Main Application

Network monitoring of teller machines, bank tellers, supermarkets, factories, cafes, etc.

Providing monitoring service to care house, kindergartens, and schools.

Intelligent Access Control System.

Intelligent Building Management & Intelligent Community System.

Electric power plants, telecommunications base stations & those unmanned systems.

Outdoor equipment monitoring & management.

Traffic control system of bridges, tunnels & intersection.

Produce line monitoring, storage monitoring.

24-hour monitoring of road traffic.

Remote monitoring of forests, water sources & rivers resources.

Technical Support and Services

If you encounter any technical problems, you can contact your local distributor. If your problem can not be resolved

immediately, your distributor will reflect the question to our head office technical department to ensure your problem is

solved with the highest priority. You can also try to resolve it through the following ways;

1. Follow the software Help.

2. Upgrade the software to the latest version.

2. Find the answer to your question on the FAQ page of Viewcam’s website.

3. Contact Viewcam’s support team through Viewcam’s website.

Version

This manual is updated to be used with Viewcam Manager for Windows, version number V8.E.07.06

4

2. Setup

Hardware Installation

Connect the network cable.

Plug one end of the network cable into the network port of your Viewcam as in the picture below and plug the other end

into your router.

Connect the power cable.

Plug the connector of the adapter into power jack as in picture below and plug the adapter in a free power socket. The

two lights near the network port will turn on to confirm the camera is powered on.

If the network lights don’t switch on, please re-plug the power or network cable, and check if the router is working well.

5

Software Installation

Insert the software CD which came with your Viewcam into the CD-ROM drive of your computer, locate the

folder called “Windows” and double click on the installation icon of Viewcam Manager to begin the software

installation.

Tip: You can always download the latest version of the software from the Viewcam website.

Allow the installation to proceed.

If User Account Control asks you to allow Viewcam Manager to be installed, click the button “Yes”.

Follow the steps of the installation wizard.

After you finish installation, there will be a desktop shortcut.

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3. Login introduction

System Login

Start Viewcam Manager by double-clicking on the desktop icon or by selecting Viewcam Manager in the Windows start

menu.

Select the tab “LAN”. All locally available Viewcam camera ID’s will be listed without having to login. If not all cameras

are listed, right click inside the blank area and select “Refresh”.

Select the tab “WAN”, enter your “User name” and “Password” and click “Login”. If you don’t have a user name yet,

please click “Register” at the top of the screen and define a user name and password by yourself. Click the “Register”

button to finish registration.

If you want to switch to another User account, click "Logout" in the upper right corner, enter another User name and

Password and click the login button.

If you want to close Viewcam Manager, click the Close button in the upper right

corner and choose "Yes" to confirm.

You can disable the confirmation question in the Settings menu.

7

4. Local Viewcams

LAN means Local Area Network. It is the network you are currently connected to. In most cases, it is the local network

in your home or office. Any computer, camera or other network device which is not connected to your current LAN, is

connected to the WAN, the Wide Area Network.

The LAN list of Viewcam Manager will automatically display all the currently in the LAN available Viewcams. You can

create groups, browse Viewcams and change some settings.

Camera viewing in LAN

Double-click a Camera ID from the list to open the video in the play window. If you double-click more than one Camera

ID, the play window will adjust itself to show the video streams of all the selected Viewcams. Double-click on one of the

playing video streams to enlarge it to the full play window size. Double-click the video again to shrink it back down.

A detailed description of the monitoring options is described in the chapter “Video monitoring”.

Group Management

If you have many Viewcams, it can be convenient to group them.

Right-click anywhere in the white space below the camera ID’s and

select “Create a group” from the pop-up menu.

Enter the group name you like.

If you want to delete a group you can right click the group name, select "Remove a group" and confirm by clicking the

button “Yes”.

To add a camera to the group, simply drag and drop the camera into it. To remove a camera from the group, simply

drag it out of the group into the camera list.

8

LAN Camera Settings

The settings of each Viewcam can be modified. Right click on the camera ID and choose the relevant setting from the

pop-up menu.

A. If your Viewcam is a multi-stream model, you can choose

between H264/MPEG4 player and Sub-stream player to play the video

stream of your choice.

B. Set the IP address: Specify a fixed LAN IP address to the camera,

or let your router automatically assign an IP address to the camera

(DHCP). Only change these settings if you know what you are doing.

Select “Only use the

device in the LAN” if

you don’t need and

don’t want your

Viewcams to be

accessed through

internet.

C. Setup WiFi to connect your Viewcam wirelessly to your network.

D. Set recording schedule: Plan the video recordings.

E. SD Card configuration.

F. SD card file download.

G. Setup E-mail alerts: To setup motion detection and email snapshots.

H. Change the device alias: Give a name to your Viewcam to distinguish it easy in the camera list.

I. Restore to factory default settings.

J. Device restart, Reboot your Viewcam remotely if necessary.

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5. Remote Viewcams

WAN means Wide Area Network. It is every network outside your own local network. Although not completely correct,

WAN is commonly called “the internet”. When a Viewcam is not on your local network, we say it is “Remote”.

The WAN camera list will display all the Viewcams which were earlier added to your Viewcam user account. You can

group, browse, modify and delete Viewcams in this list.

WAN browsing

After login to Viewcam Manager, the WAN camera list will display the Viewcams in your Viewcam user account.

Double-click a camera ID to view the corresponding video images. Click the video image to perform related operations

with the control buttons. More about these buttons is described in the chapter “Video monitoring”.

Note:

Shows that the camera is online, available to monitor.

Show the camera is not online. It cannot be monitored.

Shows this camera is currently being monitored.

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Camera settings

Click the button “Image settings” at the bottom-right corner of the control panel.

A window called “Device properties” will open where you can adjust the video

quality settings.

In the Device properties, you can also set the alarm

sensitivity and the sound detection sensitivity. This

will be in detail described in the chapter “Alarm

settings”

Add remote IP camera

If you need to monitor a Viewcam which is setup outside of your LAN, for example in another city or foreign country, you

can add the Camera ID manually. In the WAN list, right-click anywhere on the white space below the camera ID’s and

select “Add device”. You can give the new camera a name in the field Device alias. This is not mandatory. Fill in the

Camera ID and the Access code of the Viewcam you want to add. Then click “OK” to confirm.

11

Group management

If you have many Viewcams, it can be convenient to group them. Right-click anywhere in the white space below the

camera ID’s and select “Create a group” from the pop-up menu.

Enter the group name you like.

To rename a group, right-click the group name and select

“Change the group name”. Adjust the group name as

desired and confirm by clicking the button “OK”.

To delete a group, right click the group name, select

"Remove a group" and confirm by clicking the button

“Yes”.

To add a camera to the group, simply drag and drop the camera into it. To remove a camera from the group, simply

drag it out of the group into the camera list.

WAN Camera Settings

The settings of each Viewcam can be modified, although with less functionality as in the LAN Camera Settings. Right

click on the camera ID and choose the relevant setting from the pop-up menu.

If your Viewcam is a multi-stream model, you can choose between

H264/MPEG4 player and M-JPEG player to play the video stream of your

choice.

Change access code: For security reasons it is advised to change your Access

code once in a while.

Change the device alias: Give a name to your Viewcam to distinguish it easy in

the camera list.

Remove device: You can delete a camera from your User account by

selecting “Remove device”, followed by clicking the button "Yes".

12

6. Video Monitoring

Viewcam Manager includes several tools to monitor the situation around your

Viewcam. In the bottom right corner of Viewcam Manager, function buttons are

grouped into a Control panel.

P/T/Z controls

P/T/Z stands for Pan, Tilt and Zoom.

Pan means horizontal movement.

Tilt means vertical movement.

Zoom means enlarging a part of the image to make it look closer or opposite,

making the image smaller to see more of the surroundings.

Pan/Tilt controls

If your Viewcam has a model number which starts with VC-2 or VC-7, you are the happy owner of a Viewcam with Pan

/ Tilt function.

Pan controls Left and Right and Tilt controls Up and Down.

Patrol switch: Click once to switch on automatic Pan / Tilt movement. Click again to switch off.

Horizontal patrol: Click once to start and click again to stop.

Vertical patrol: Click once to start and click again to stop.

Move to preset. Turn your Viewcam to a specified preset position.

Set preset. Set the current position of your Viewcam as a preset position.

Pan / Tilt speed: Set the moving speed of your Viewcam.

Zoom and other optical controls

With optical zoom, part of the image is enlarged using an adjustable camera lens to make it look closer. With digital

zoom, the whole image is enlarged by the software.

Optical zoom: This button works with Viewcam’s with a model number ending on 02 or higher.

Digital zoom: This function is available on all Viewcam’s.

Aperture switch: These buttons only work with Viewcam’s with this function.

13

Setting and calling a preset camera position

Setting a preset position:

Use the P/T controls to turn your Viewcam to the position you want to preset and

click the “Set preset” button. Choose a position number from the list which appears.

Tip: Position number 1 is the position where your Viewcam will turn to when it is

powered on. Position number 2 is the position where your Viewcam will turn to

when it receives an alarm through the green alarm In/Out connector.

As soon as you selected a number, the list will disappear and the preset position

has been stored into your Viewcam’s memory. You can repeat this and store a total

of maximum eight preset positions.

Calling a preset position:

Click the “Move to preset” button and choose a number from the list. If you have stored a position under the chosen

number, your Viewcam will now automatically turn to this stored position.

Life controls

With the life controls you can take snapshots of the current situation, record life video, listen and talk back.

Capture: Save a snapshot of the current image to your computer.

Record: Click once to start recording video. Click again to stop recording.

Listen: Hear what is going on around your Viewcam.

Speak: Talk to the person near your Viewcam.

Capture a snapshot and record video

While watching the video of your Viewcams, you can record real time video or take snapshots. These files will be saved

on your computer or to a network location of your choice.

Video recording: Select the video stream you want to record by clicking on it once. Click the record button to start

recording. Click the record button again to stop recording.

Snapshot capture: Select the video stream of which you want to make a snapshot by clicking on it once. Click the

capture button in the Control panel.

Audio functions

Listen: Select the Viewcam of which you want to hear the sounds of the surroundings by clicking once on the video

stream. Click the listen button to open the audio channel from your Viewcam to your computer. The microphone in your

Viewcam is very sensitive. This enables you to also hear things a little further away from your Viewcam.

Speak: Select the Viewcam through which you want to speak to people nearby it by clicking once on the video of that

Viewcam. Click the speak button to open the audio channel from your computer to your Viewcam. Click the speak

button again to close the audio channel.

14

Other controls

The last set of controls in the Control panel is used to make more permanent setting, such as setting a motion detection

area, flip the image horizontal or vertical, Wi-Fi setup, enter the log file and the Video quality settings.

Other controls

Set the motion detection area: For Viewcam’s with this function.

Flip vertical: Flip the image of your Viewcam upside down for installation on the ceiling.

Flip horizontal: Mirror the image of your Viewcam.

Wi-Fi setup: Setup the wireless connection for your Viewcam.

Log: Open the log file window to see login history and alarm history.

Settings: Adjust the video settings.

15

7. System management

The menu bar

The upper left corner of Viewcam Manager has 8 buttons. From left to right they are: Full screen, Settings, Device

management, Playback, Change password, Log, Help & Device notify. Some of the buttons will only become active

after you login.

Menu buttons

Full screen: Click this button to display the play window full screen. Click “Exit full screen” to return.

Settings: The options for the system settings are described below.

Device management: Here you can manage and set access authority to your Viewcams.

Playback: Here you can search and playback recorded video.

Change Password: Here you can modify your login password.

Log: The history record of activities of Viewcam Manager.

Help: If you encounter a problem, please click the help button to look for a solution.

Device notify: This window will show a notice when other users have access to your Viewcam.

System settings

Click the “Settings” button to open the settings window. In the first tab you can adjust the general behavior of Viewcam

Manager.

Set the behavior when closing the main window.

(De)select asking confirmation when exiting the software.

Clear the login records by clicking on the button “Clear login

records” and confirm by clicking the button “Yes’.

Show or hide the Viewcam system tray icon.

3D option: When selecting “Use smooth 3D transition”, the video

streams in the play window will zoom in and out when selected.

This setting is only suitable for computers with a powerful video

card.

Update: When you click the button “Check for updates now”, a browser window will open and you will visit Viewcam’s

online software database. Here you can find the latest version of Viewcam Manager for Windows. Compare the latest

version number with your current version number to determine if you already have the latest version. In general,

Viewcam Manager for Windows is updated several times per year. If you would like to receive notifications of software

updates, please register for the Viewcam newsletter.

Program language: The default language setting for Viewcam Manager is English. If you would like to change the

language, click the drop-down menu to see the available languages.

16

Video settings

Select the tab “Video” to show the video system settings window.

The default location where your recorded video will be saved is

C:\Video\. Double-click on C:\Video\ to open this location. Video

recordings from Viewcams in your local network are stored in

the folder called “LAN”. Video recordings of remote Viewcams

are stored in the folder called “WAN”. These folders only appear

after video has been recorded.

At the right side of the location path you can see the available

storage space in this location.

You can add extra storage locations by clicking the “+” sign at the right

side. Choose a location in the pop-up window and click “OK” to confirm.

Result:

Loop recording: Loop recording means that when the default storage location is full, Viewcam Manager will record the

new recordings over the oldest ones. You can feel sure you always have the latest recordings available.

Keep space: If you don’t want Viewcam Manager to completely use all storage space in the default folder, you can set a

value how many storage space should stay untouched. This value is standard set to 2 GB.

Captured files, also called snapshots or pictures, are saved in the folder MONFile which is placed in the default storage

folder. You can change the storage location by clicking the button “…”, select the desired folder and click the button “OK”

to confirm.

To delete all video recordings, click the button “Clear record files” and confirm by clicking the button “Yes”.

To delete all pictures, click the button “Clear picture file” and confirm by clicking the button “Yes”.

Alarm settings

The alarm settings are described in the chapter “Alarm settings”.

17

Device management

The device management, also called camera management, is described in the next chapter.

Playback

The playback function is described in the chapter “Playback”

Change Password

Your Viewcam User account login password can be modified. Click the "Change

password" button, enter the original login password, two times the new password

and confirm by clicking the button “OK”.

Log

Click the log button to open the “Log” window.

In the log window you can follow which user logged in

(Viewcam), how the user logged in (number before the user

name = mobile device), when the user logged in (date, time)

and what action the user took (Login / Logout, Open or close

video, Listen / Speak, Start / stop recording and so on).

Besides user actions also system occurrences are logged such

as system startup and termination, Alarm sensitivity and so on.

You can enable / disable certain logging by (un)checking the

options in the top of the window.

Click the button “Clear” to clear the log file. Please note there

will not follow a confirmation question.

Help

Clicking the “Help” button will open the help window

where you can browse all chapters of this manual.

Device notify

The device notification window lists the users who have

access to your Viewcams. When a new user obtained

access, the “!” button in the menu will start blinking.

18

8. Camera Management

Click the third button of the menu bar to open the Device management window.

In Device management you can adjust your Viewcam’s security settings, set permissions in order to allow other users

access to your Viewcam and perform maintenance actions such as rebooting the camera and adjusting the SD card

settings.

Add device:

To gain management rights of your Viewcam, you add the Viewcam to your account in “Device management”. You will

need the Camera ID and the Password which can be found on the EasyConnect® label on the bottom or at the cable of

your Viewcam.

- In “Device alias”, you can give your Viewcam a personal name.

- Fill in the Camera ID.

Make sure that the letters VC are written with capitals.

- Fill in the Password.

- Set the access authority level.

- When ready, click the button “OK”.

19

Change password:

Here you can set a new management password for the camera. This

password is used to perform management settings. Just enter the new

password, verify it and click the button “OK” when ready.

Change access code:

Here you can set a new access code. The access code is used to allow

remote access to the video images of the camera. After entering the new

access code two times, select the appropriate access rights. You can choose

between:

- Allow access. This gives only viewing rights.

- Allow access and recording: This adds video recording rights.

- Allow access, recording and operate: The users have full control

over the Viewcam.

Click the button “OK” when you are ready.

Change device alias:

Here you can give (or change) a personal name to your

Device restart:

With one single click, you can remotely reboot your Viewcam. In case your Viewcam doesn’t behave as expected,

rebooting may solve the problems in an easy way. It is harmless, but you will lose access to your Viewcam for a few

minutes.

Delete device

To remove a Viewcam from the device list in Device management, select the Viewcam you want to remove, click the

button “Delete device” and confirm by clicking the button “OK”.

20

Permission Management

The factory settings of your Viewcam allow nobody else than you can monitor the video of your Viewcam. If you want

others to be able to use your Viewcam, you can authorize them to get access. For this, both you and the authorized

user will have to undertake some actions.

To start the authorization, you need to know the User name of the Viewcam user account of the person you want to

authorize. After you have collected this information, click on the button “Add Permission” in the Device management

window.

Enter the full and correct User name in the search field and click on “Search”.

The User name will appear in the bottom area. Select the User

name by clicking on it.

After you selected the User name, you can select

the permission level:

0: No right. The user is in your list, but cannot

access your Viewcam.

1: Allow access. The user can only see the video.

2: Allow access and record. In addition, the user can

now also save video and snapshots.

3: Allow access, record and operate. The user has

full control over your Viewcam.

Click the button “Add” when you are ready. In the Device management window, the user is now added and the

permission level shows at the right of the User name.

The user whom has been granted permission to your Viewcam has to add your Viewcam Camera ID to his User

account. Depending on which software this user uses, he will be required to enter an Access code. In this case, he can

enter any 4 digit Access code, because the access rights are managed by you.

21

Change access permission level

To change the permission level of an authorized user, first select the User name in the authorized user list. Click the

button “Change permission” Select the new permission level in this menu.

The permission level at the right of the User

name now changes in a Drop-down menu.

The changes are saved automatically.

Delete an authorized user from the Permission list

To delete a user from the Permission list, select the User name in the list and click the button “Delete Permission”.

Click “OK” to confirm when prompted.

22

9. Playback

You may have saved video recordings to your

computer as described in the chapter “Video

monitoring”. To find and playback those video’s,

click on the Playback button in the menu to open

the Playback window.

Click “Search” to show the full list of video

recordings.

Or select the checkbox “The specific time” to

activate the Start time and End time menus. After

selecting the search dates of your choice, click

“Search” to show a list of recordings within the

selected date range.

23

You can drag the column headers with your left mouse button to view the full

column width.

Double-click on one of the recordings in the list to

start playback the recorded video.

Click once on the video to activate the controls.

Available controls are (from left to right):

- Play

- Pause

- Stop

- Slow down playing speed

- Speed up playing speed

- Step forward frame by frame

- Snapshot

- Open file from location

- Cutting start point

- Cutting end point

If you recorded more than 30 videos, the recordings will be listed in separate

pages. Use the drop-down selector to jump to the page of your choice or use

the buttons “Previous” and “Next” to browse to other pages,

If you moved a recording to another location, Viewcam Manager will not be

able to find it anymore. You can choose to delete the database record for this

recording or you can return the recording back to its original location.

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10. Wi-Fi settings

Before you start setup the Wi-Fi, make sure your Viewcam is connected to your local network with a network cable.

Your Viewcam and your computer should be connected the same network. Now Viewcam Manager will be able to find

your Viewcam when you select the LAN tab.

- Right click on the Camera ID and select “Setup WiFi”. The Wi-Fi settings

window will open.

- Select “Start WiFi setting”

- Scan for available networks by clicking the button “Scan”.

- Select your Wi-Fi network name from the drop-down list.

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- Input your Wi-Fi network password.

- Make sure “DHCP” is selected.

- Click the button “OK” to confirm the setup.

Viewcam Manager will confirm the Wi-Fi setup. Click the button

“OK” to dismiss the message.

Your Viewcam will reboot automatically.

- Take out the network cable from your Viewcam.

Fixed IP address

If your local network has been setup with fixed IP addresses for each device connected to the network, you can assign a

fixed IP address to your Viewcam by selecting “Fixed IP”.

After selecting “Fixed IP”, the IP address fields have become

active and can be adjusted.

The right settings depend on your local network settings. If you

don’t know these, ask your network manager for advice.

Click the button “OK” to confirm the changes. Your Viewcam will now automatically reboot.

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11. Alarm settings

General alarm settings

In the Alarm window, you can set the preferred recording time for video and in case the alarm is triggered and choose

an alarm sound to warn you with audio about the alarm event.

Click on the settings icon in the menu bar to open the settings window and choose the tab Alarm.

- “Alarm notification time” is the time that the text is displayed on the video in case of alarm.

- Select “Alarm audio notification” to activate the audio alarm function. Select an alarm sound from the library that

came with Viewcam Manager, or chose an existing .WAV file from your own sounds.

-

- Select “Alarm recording time” to activate video recording in case of alarm. Set the preferred minimum recording

time in the input field. As long as the alarm is being triggered, Viewcam Manager will keep recording and stop only

when there is no alarm situation anymore.

- Select “Alarm capture” to activate taking snapshots in case of alarm. Set the amount of time snapshots should be

taken in the input field. Viewcam Manager will make approximately one snapshot per second.

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Alarm management

- Double-click on the Camera ID in the camera list to open the video stream.

- Click on the video itself to select it. A white border will appear around the video

to show this video stream is selected.

- Click on the settings icon in the right bottom corner of the control, panel.

As a result, the Device properties window will open.

At the bottom of the Device Properties window, you will find the Alarm Management

area. Here you can set the sensitivity of the motion detection.

The sensitivity can be set for each camera individually to optimize them for their individual installation environment.

Click on the Drop-down menu and select the desired sensitivity.

Generally, it is a good practice to start at “Middle” and adjust the

sensitivity up or down if required based on your experiences in

the local situation.

Similar to motion detection you can select the sound detection

sensitivity.

Confirm your selection by clicking the button “Apply” and close the window by clicking the button “Close”

The result of your settings you can see in the left top corner of the video.

Whenever motion or sound is detected, your Viewcam will display “Device

alarm”.

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Regional alarm setting

If you are the owner of a Viewcam Advance series camera, you can set up to

three motion detection areas within the observation area of your Viewcam. Any

movement outside of these areas will not give alarm. But as soon as something

inside the selected area moves, the alarm will be triggered

First, make sure you have selected the video stream by checking if there is a

white border around the video. Next, click the Motion detection area icon..

Next, click the “New detection area” button and use the mouse pointer to draw an

area on the video.

Choose the desired alarm sensitivity from the

drop-down menu. If you don’t know the best

sensitivity level yet, it is good practice to start

on level 5 and adjust up or down later.

You can use the button “Clear all areas” if you are not satisfied with the current selections and start over.

Finally, click the button “Apply” to confirm the

settings and click the button “Close” to close

the window.

Keep in mind to update the motion detection

areas if you change your Viewcam’s viewing

direction,

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Setting up e-mail alerts

Select the “LAN” tab in the right top corner of the main window of Viewcam Manager. All Viewcams which are available

in your local network will be listed in the Device list. If not all Viewcams are listed, right-click inside the blank area and

select “Refresh”.

Right-click on the Camera ID of the Viewcam which

you want to setup the e-mail alerts and select “Setup

E-mail alerts” from the drop down menu.

Using a Gmail address to send alarm emails

Select "Motion detection" by checking the checkbox.

Under "Mail alerts" enter the following information:

Receiver E-mail: The email address of the person that should receive the alarm emails.

Sender E-mail: Your email address (username@gmail.com or username@your_domain.com)

SMTP server: smtp.gmail.com

SMTP port: 587

SMTP user: Your full email address (including @gmail.com or @your_domain.com)

SMTP password: Your Gmail password

Alarm pictures: Select 0, 1, 2 or 3 alarm pictures to be included as attachment in the alarm email.

Data encryption: Select "USE_TLS".

Mail content: You can enter here a personal alarm message which will be sent in the body of the email.

Confirm the settings by clicking the button "OK".

Using another email address to send alarm emails

Please find the email settings provided to you by your Internet Service Provider and enter them in the e-mail alerts

window similar to the Gmail setting.

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12. SD card settings

If your Viewcam came equipped with a Micro SD card slot, you can place a

Micro SD card of maximum 32 GB to record alarm video and snapshots.

Tip: Please note that SD cards don’t support hot swapping. First switch off

the power of your Viewcam before you place the Micro SD card.

To setup the SD card settings, right-click the Camera ID in the LAN tab and

select “SD card configuration” to open the SD card settings window.

The settings window is divided in four sections: SD card capacity, Recording

configuration, SD card backup and a section with buttons.

The section “SD card capacity” shows the total

capacity, the used capacity and the remaining

capacity of the placed SD card.

If you use an SD card which has been used before

in another device, it is always a good idea to format

the SD card to free up space. Simply click the

button “Format SD card” and confirm by clicking

the button “Yes”.

The section “Recording configuration” is where you set the recording behavior of your Viewcam.

- Select “Video motion detection alarm recording” to record an alarm video every time your Viewcam detects motion.

- Select “External input alarm recording” if you have connected an external alarm sensor to your Viewcam.

- Select “Start automatic recording” if you want your Viewcam to start recording every time it is switched on.

With this function selected, your Viewcam will record 24 hours a day. Also when there is no motion detected.

- Select “Auto cycle recording” to automatically delete the oldest recordings to free up space when the SD card is

full.

- Select “Voice recording” if you want to record audio together with the video. This uses extra recording space.

- Select “Main stream” (larger and more detailed video) or “Sub stream”. This works only on Multi-stream Viewcams.

- The video partition size is standard 50 MB. You can adjust this if you think it is better for you.

If you have access to an FTP server for remote storage of computer data, you can fill in the FTP server login

information in the section “SD card backup”. The files on your SD card will then automatically backup to your FTP

server.

When you are ready with adjusting the SD card settings, click the button “OK” to confirm and save the settings.

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13. SD card file download

To view the recorded video and snapshots you first need to

download them to your computer.

To open the file manager window, right-click the camera ID in the

LAN tab and select “SD card file download”.

In the file manager window, click the button “Search” to download

the list with files which are stored on the SD card.

Double-click a recorded file to start

downloading it. You can download

maximum three files at the same time

The files are downloaded to the folder SDFile which you can

open by clicking the button “Open download directory”.

This folder is located inside the default video recording location.

You can read more about the default locations in the chapter “System settings”.

After downloading the files, simply double-click on them to open the Viewcam player software and see the

recordings.

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14. Color management

Camera properties

A good image quality is one of the most important factors for a surveillance camera. Every Viewcam is in the factory

carefully calibrated to be delivered to you with the most suitable settings. The perfect settings can however depend on

location specific circumstances, so it is good if you take some time to learn more about the options your Viewcam offers

to adjust the color settings and the video settings.

Double-click on the Camera ID to open the video, then

Right-click on the video and select “Settings” from the pop-up

menu.

In the Device Properties window which has opened, you will

notice three areas: Color space, Video Settings and Alarm

Management. Alarm Management is described in the chapter

“Alarm settings”.

Color Space

The factory color settings are determined by

testing. Commonly, the defaults are:

Hue: 28/32

Brightness: 20/30

Saturation: 18/24

Contrast: 28/32..

These factory settings give a good image quality in most situations. You can adjust the settings if your specific

installation environment requires adjusted settings.

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More about colors: The Hue, Saturation, Brightness color model

- Hue: Hue is described with the words like: red, purple, blue, etc. More specifically, hue is described by the

dominant wavelength in models such as the CIE system. Hue is also a term which describes a dimension of color

we readily experience when we look at color. It will be the first of three dimensions we use to describe color.

- Brightness: We also perceive color changing along two other dimensions. One of the dimensions is

lightness-darkness. How light or dark a color is, is referred to as a colors brightness. In terms of a spectral

definition of color, brightness describes the overall intensity or strength of the light.

- Saturation: Saturation refers to the dominance of hue in the color. On the outer edge of the hue wheel are the

'pure' hues. As you move into the center of the wheel, the hue we are using to describe the color dominates less

and less. When you reach the center of the wheel, no hue dominates. These colors directly on the central axis are

considered desaturated. These desaturated colors constitute the grayscale; running from white to black with all of

the intermediate grays in between. Saturation is the dimension running from the outer edge of the hue wheel (fully

saturated) to the center (fully desaturated). In terms of a spectral definition of color, saturation is the ratio of the

dominant wavelength to other wavelengths in the color. White light is white because it contains an even balance of

all wavelengths.

- Contrast: Contrast is the difference in luminance and color that makes an object distinguishable from other objects.

In visual perception of the real world, contrast is determined by the difference in the color and brightness of the

object to other objects within the same field of view.

Source: http://www.ncsu.edu/scivis/lessons/colormodels/color_models2.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contrast_(vision)

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Video settings

- Resolution: The video resolution of VGA Viewcams can be set to 640 x 480 pixels and to 320 x 240 pixels. HD

Viewcams can additionally be set to 1280 x 20 pixels. When you own a VGA Viewcam, you can still choose 1280 x

720 from the menu, but it will not result in a higher resolution video.

- Frame rate: The frame rate is the quantity of “still pictures” in each second of video. More frames per second will

make the video look smoother. It will also increase the weight or volume of the video stream. For viewing the video

stream of your Viewcam with a smart phone, 15 frames per second is acceptable.

- Frequency: In Europe, PAL frequency (50Hz) is common. In the USA, NTSC (60Hz) is standard. When you

experience a kind of flickering image quality from your Viewcam, try to adjust this setting to anther frequency.

- Data rate: CBR means “Constant Bit Rate”. This is the best setting for streaming video. VBR mean “Variable Bit

Rate”. This is the preferred setting for recording video to a hard disk.

With the slider you can set the desired Constant Bit Rate.

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15. Frequently Asked Questions

Why does the video of my Viewcam have a delay?

The video delay is related to upload speed of the internet connection where the Viewcam is installed, the download

speed of your current internet connection and the video resolution. If you encounter this problem, please let our

technical support team know your Camera ID and tell us under which circumstances you meet this problem. We can

then analyze the situation and try to solve the problem. You can set the resolution of the camera to a lower setting..In

general the speed will be faster. If this does not help, there may be a problem with the installation, a network related

problem or other reason.

The network connection takes too long. Can this be improved?

The connection time is related to the quality of the internet connection between you and your Viewcam. The situation

may be poor and causes the connection to break before it’s successfully connected. Your computer and your Viewcam

don’t play a part in this problem. If this problem occurs regularly, please contact with Viewcam’s Support Team to assist

you in finding a solution.

The screen color is not very good. Can I adjust this?

The screen color settings are set in the factory based on testing your Viewcam. These settings may not be the best

settings for your environment. The color settings can be adjusted in the Device properties. Right-click on the video

image, choose “Setting” and the Device properties window will open. Here you can adjust the settings. You can read

more about color settings in the chapter “Colors and video quality”.

The video looks too dark. How can I adjust this?

Video brightness is an adjustable setting. Generally, a contrast level between 28 and 32 and a brightness level between

20 and 30 will result in a good quality image. The optimal parameters are related to the environment where your

Viewcam in installed. To adjust the parameters, right-click on the video image, choose “Setting” and the Device

properties window will open. Here you can adjust the settings.

When I double-click the Camera ID, the video appears black or blurred. How can I solve this problem?

Check in the system settings if “Use smooth 3D transition” is selected.

If this currently is selected, de-select it and restart Viewcam manager.

Check if the problem is solved.

If the above option didn’t give the desired results, visit the Viewcam website and download and install DirectX9.

How can I check the firmware version of my Viewcam?

To check the firmware version of your Viewcam, right-click the Camera ID in the LAN tab and select “Set the IP

address”. In the top of the window you will see the

firmware version number.

I want to share my Viewcam with other people, but I like to stay in control. Can I give access to my Viewcam

without having to tell them the Access code?

Yes, you can. In the chapter “Camera management” you can read the paragraph “Permission management” to learn

how to give access to your Viewcam without losing control.

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I get a message saying: “Your device with ID “VCxxxxxx” encountered a video failure!”. What does this mean?

Your Viewcam didn’t get a good IP address assigned. This can be caused by two reasons:

- If you can’t watch video on LAN, check your Viewcam to see if you connected the network cable and power supply

correctly. The other end of the network cable must be well connected to your router or modem. After connecting the

network cable well, it can take up to a few minutes for the camera to recover from the wrong settings. Right click

“refresh” in the Camera list to check.

- Another reason can be that in your network two or more DHCP servers are

active at the same time. Standard networks just have one DHCP server. With

one DHCP server your Viewcam works well. Its Camera ID will be found

automatically on LAN without the need to set a fixed IP address. But if your

network has two or more DHCP servers, you will have to assign a fixed IP

address to your Viewcam.

- Right-click the camera ID and choose “Set the IP address” to open the IP

Address information window.

- Check whether the IP address of your Viewcam is in the same range as your

computer. For example, if your computer’s IP address is 192.168.0.36 and your

camera’s IP address is 192.168.1.34, then you have to change your camera IP

address to 192.168.0.34.

- Check whether the Viewcam’s gateway address is the same as your computer’s gateway address or not. For

example, if your computer’s gateway address is 192.168.0.1, but your camera’s gateway address is 192.168.1.1,

then you have to change your camera’s gateway address to 192.168.0.1.

When you are finished adjusting the settings, restart Viewcam Manager and the camera will work well.

How can I see my computer’s IP address and gateway address?

Click the Windows “Start” button in the bottom left corner of your

monitor screen. Type run and press the “Enter” key on your keyboard.

Input cmd at the following window and click the “OK” button.

In the window that has opened, enter the

letters “ipconfig” and press the “Enter” key on

your keyboard. In the window, your own

computer’s current IP address and gateway

address will be shown.

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When I double-click a Camera ID, I see a message saying: “The Access code is incorrect”. How can I solve this

problem?

The right Access code of your Viewcam is printed on the EasyConnect label on the bottom or on the cable of your

Viewcam. Check the Access code and follow the steps described in the Chapter Device management to adjust

the wrong code.

How can I change the Password or the Access code of my Viewcam?

First, login to your Viewcam account, then click the button “Device management” in the Menu bar. Select your Viewcam

in the “Device list” and click the button “Change access code” or “Change password”. For detailed instructions, please

read the chapter “Camera management”.

I have previously changed my Access code (or Password) and forgotten it. How can I get access to my

Viewcam?

Viewcam doesn’t have any means to retrieve your changed Access code or changed Password. In case you have

changed and forgotten them, the only way to get access to your Viewcam is to restore the original factory settings.

How can I restore the original factory settings of my Viewcam?

You can restore the original factory settings of your Viewcam in Viewcam Manager by right-clicking the Camera ID in

the LAN tab, select “Restore to factory default settings” and confirm by clicking the button “Yes”.

Another way to restore the original factory settings is by pressing the reset button on your Viewcam down for ten

seconds. For Viewcams without cable, you will need a toothpick or paperclip to press the reset button.

I forgot the password of my Viewcam user account. Can you remind me?

We cannot help you remember your current password, but we can provide a new password. After you have received

the new password, you can change it into the password you would like to use.

Select the WAN tab. Click on “Forgot password?“.

Fill in your User name and the email address you used for registering

your User account. After clicking “OK”, the Viewcam account server

will automatically send a new password to your email address.

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I only use my Viewcam in my local network. Can I block all remote connections from internet?

Yes, you can. Right click the camera ID in the LAN tab and choose “Set the IP address”. Then select the option “Only

use the device in the LAN”.

Can I restart my Viewcam remotely through the internet?

Yes, if your Viewcam is connected to the internet you can restart it remotely.

Click the third button in the menu bar to enter the Device management. Select

the camera you want to restart and click the button “Device restart”.

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I cannot find my Wi-Fi network name in the list of available networks. How can I solve this?

Place your Viewcam as close as possible to your Access Point, usually your router or modem, and scan again for

available networks. If you still cannot see your Wi-Fi network name in the list of available networks then your Access

Point probably doesn’t broadcast the network name. Please refer to the manual of your Access Point to learn how to

change this setting.

If you can see your Wi-Fi network name when your Viewcam is close to your Access Point, but not when it is further

away, then your Viewcam is out of range of your Wi-Fi network. You can replace the Wi-Fi antenna with a stronger

model or place a Wi-Fi repeater between your router and your Viewcam.

My Viewcam doesn’t want to connect to my Wi-Fi network. How can I solve this problem?

In nine out of ten cases, it is a wrong entered password what causes these problems. Try to connect with another

device, such as your mobile phone, to the Wi-Fi network, using the same password. If this works well, please make

sure you enter the password correctly in the Wi-Fi setup window of Viewcam Manager.

Why does my Viewcam show offline in WAN, while the camera is online in LAN?

Select the tab “LAN”. Then right-click on the camera ID

and choose "Set the IP address".

Check if the settings gateway address and DNS server of

your Viewcam are the same as of your PC. If not, please

click "Fixed IP" to change gateway information and DNS

server.

Make sure the option “Only use the device in LAN” is not

selected.

The head position of my Viewcam is not accurate anymore. Can this be solved?

Notice: Be careful, your Viewcam is a high-tech piece of equipment built with sensitive components. Don’t use your

hand to rotate the head. If the real position is a small error you can restart the device to solve the problem.