BluSKY Camera Configuration Best Practices

Overview

Gold Standard Best Practices

When creating a Camera in BluSKY (under Setup-> Setup-> Camera), please ensure you are enabling these settings and keeping these pointers in mind.

1. Camera's Name Source: Ensure that the Camera is sourcing the value for its Name field from BluSKY, not the NVR.
2. Camera's Type: Ensure the type of Camera is specified in the Type field (bullet, dome, etc.).
3. Camera's Login Credentials: Ensure that the login credentials to access the Camera (via its browser page) are filled into the informational fields.
   • Note: these fields do not push down credentials to the Camera, but are rather used for storing them for reference.
4. Manual Request Toggle: Ensure that the Camera has Manual Requests enabled. This allows BluSKY users to manually request video clips from this Camera's recordings.
5. Pre-Event and Post-Event Recording: Ensure that the Camera has its event recording window set up correctly. The recommended values are 1 second of pre-event recording and 6 seconds of post-event recording.
6. Resolution of Streams: Consult the table below for the recommended resolutions for live and recorded streams. Note that 16:9 is the recommended aspect ratio for the best Video viewing experience in BluSKY.
    

   Resolution by aspect ratio	16:9	16:10	4:3
   Live stream (width x height)	1280 x 720	1280 x 800	1024 x 768
   Recorded stream	1920 x 1080	1920 x 1200	1600 x 1200

   
    
7. Frame Rate: Ensure that all Cameras have their live and recorded streams set to 15 frames per second (fps).
8. Bandwidth Limit: Ensure that all Cameras have their live stream bandwidth limit set to 512 kilobytes per second (kbps) and recorded stream bandwidth limit set to 1024 kbps.
9. Variable Bit Rate: Set this to "Yes"
10. Compression Rate: Ensure that all Camera streams have a compression rate of 10 for all streams.
11. Maps and Locations: Ensure that all Cameras are landed in the correct position and are facing the correct way on Interactive Maps. It is imperative that the coordinates and rotation angle are as accurate as possible. It is recommended to land the Camera in Interactive Maps, and then modify the auto-generated Location to suit your needs. Creating Locations ahead of device landing will just create duplicate data.
12. Motion Events: Ensure that all interior Cameras have motion events enabled, unless specifically requested otherwise. It is not recommended to enable motion events for external Cameras unless requested.
13. Device Associations: Ensure that any device in view of the Camera is associated with it.
14. Video Upload to Cloud: This setting allows for automatic video clip uploads to the cloud of certain specified Events. By default, cloud retention is 30 days.
    1. Ensure all cameras have Cloud Video set to 'Yes' and Portal Other Events are automatically uploaded.
    2. If the Camera is associated with an Intercom, enable Intercom Events.
    3. If the Camera is associated with a Monitoring Point, enable Monitoring Point Events.
    4. If the Camera has motion detection enabled, enable Video Motion Events.
15. Pre-Buffer: Ensure that pre-buffer is enabled for this Camera, and that the pre-buffer seconds field has a value greater than or equal to the pre-event seconds set earlier.
16. Firmware Versions: Ensure that the Camera is running the most recent firmware version.
    1. Note: the current firmware version is 2.22.
17. PTZ Settings: Ensure this is enabled if the Camera has PTZ settings. Enable the "PTZ Enabled" toggle, and leave the other toggles as "No".
18. Timezone Settings: Select the appropriate time zone that this Camera is located in. Ensure that the Camera is pointing to the correct NTP server for timestamp syncing purposes.
19. Datetime Overlay: Display the date and time stamps in the top left of the Video stream using the 'Datetime Overlay' field on the BluSKY Camera configuration page (under development; currently an informational field only).