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Cameras ​

Add the boat's network cameras once, here. They become the list every Video Camera, Camera Matrix and Camera Loop widget picks from, so a camera added in Setup can go on any screen by its name. Putting one on a screen is in Video Camera.

Live video from any camera that serves RTSP on the boat network, and pan, tilt, zoom and presets on a camera that takes them over ONVIF. Which makes have been tried is in Camera compatibility.

Open the cameras ​

In the Zora Setup app, tap Add-ons & Third-Party, then Cameras on the Extensions tab. The chip on the card shows how many cameras are set up.

The list shows each camera with a picture from it, refreshed every second, its display name and its camera name. A camera with more than one source, keep-warm or audio says so on its row. Tap a camera to change it. The bin deletes it after Delete Camera? asks.

Add a camera ​

Tap + under the list. Adding takes two steps, Find and Connect.

Find

  1. Tap Scan network. Every ONVIF camera that answers is listed with its name, address and maker. Tap yours.
  2. If yours is not there, or it has no ONVIF, tap I'll type the address myself.

Connect

  1. Username and Password: the camera's login. Zora writes them into the addresses below, whichever you fill in first.
  2. Camera Name: letters, numbers, hyphens and underscores, such as foredeck, cockpit or engine. It cannot be changed later; to rename a camera, delete it and add it again.
  3. Display Name: what the widgets show. Leave it empty to use the Camera Name. For a scanned camera, the hint suggests its model.
  4. Source URL (RTSP): the camera's stream. A scanned camera fills this in.
  5. ONVIF URL (optional): needed for pan, tilt and zoom, image settings, snapshots and motion alerts. A scanned camera fills this in. Reolink uses port 8000, Hikvision and Dahua port 80.
  6. Tap Add. It stays greyed until there is a valid name and a source.

When you save a scanned camera with its source left as found, Zora switches it to the camera's low-resolution H.264 sub-stream, which plays smoothly over the boat network. An address you typed yourself is kept as typed. Zora also asks the camera over ONVIF what it can do; a camera that does not answer still streams.

If the streaming engine refuses the camera, or cannot be reached, nothing is saved and the dialog says why. Correct the address and tap Add again.

Change a camera ​

Tap a camera in the list. At the top, ONVIF capabilities shows the maker, when the camera was last scanned, and a chip for each thing the camera offers: green where Zora uses it, grey where it does not yet. Rescan reads them again, and needs an ONVIF URL.

The tabs:

  • General: the Display Name. The Camera Name is locked.
  • Connection: the source, the login and the ONVIF URL. Test next to the source asks the camera for its stream and shows Reachable with the video and audio formats, or Unreachable with the reason. Zora also tests on its own a moment after you change an address or the login. Scan network replaces the source with a scanned camera's.
  • Behavior: Play camera audio sends the camera's sound to the widgets; leave it off for a camera with no microphone. Keep warm (faster first frame) keeps the stream connected on the server so the picture comes up faster; use it for the cameras you watch most.
  • Image, when the camera offers it: Brightness, Contrast, Saturation, Sharpness and the IR cut filter. Each goes to the camera as you let go of the slider.
  • PTZ, when the camera offers it: point the camera, type a Preset name and tap Save current. Each preset in the list can be recalled or deleted.

Tap Update to save.

Backup sources ​

A camera with a second way onto the network, wired and Wi-Fi for example, can carry both in one entry. On the Connection tab, open Add backup source for failover and tap Add backup source. You can add two, each with an optional Label.

Zora tries the sources in order: if the primary stops, it moves to the next. The arrows change the order of the backups and the cross removes one. The primary always stays first. Empty rows are dropped when you save.

Motion alerts ​

For a camera that offers motion events, the Behavior tab has Motion event alerts. Switched on, motion raises an alarm on Zora's screens, Motion detected on followed by the camera's display name, without sound. It clears when the motion ends.