Adding Cameras to an HD Spot Module from DW Spectrum

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Affected Roles: Administrator, Power Users

Related Digital Watchdog Apps: DW Spectrum IPVMS

Software Version: DW Spectrum 6.0

Last Edit: February 24, 2025

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HD Spot Module

The DW Spot Monitoring Module (DW-HDSPOTMOD) allows viewers to monitor the live video streams of select cameras - available in either a 4-channel model or a 16-channel model.

While it may seem more convenient to have your camera(s) stream directly to both the recording device and the HD Spot Module, it can cause streaming issues as that configuration would be creating more "work" for the camera. This article will go over how to manually assign cameras to an HD Spot Module from DW Spectrum, while avoiding this issue.

 

**NOTE: The DW-HDSPOTMOD only supports H.264 format from cameras. To change this setting, you may need to connect with the camera's web client and change this output setting before adding it to the HD Spot Module.

 

Supported/Affected Devices

• DW Spot™ Monitoring Module
• DW Blackjack® Server Series

 

Setup Prerequisites

Disable Encrypted Connection Requirements

For the HD Spot Module to stream video from DW Spectrum, the “Force servers to accept only encrypted connections” setting must be disabled. This setting can be found by users with the Administrator role in the System Administration menu, under the Security settings.

 

Enable Digest Authentication

Additionally, a user profile from DW Spectrum must be used to authenticate the connection between the Spectrum System and the HD Spot Module. Digest Authentication must be enabled for the user profile that is used.

• For more information, you can refer to the “DW Spectrum – Enabling Digest Authentication” article.

 

Assigning Cameras from DW Spectrum

DW Spectrum uses ONVIF protocols to communicate with IP cameras when monitoring and recording video streams. To prevent overdrawing network bandwidth, it is recommended to avoid having the cameras stream to both the DW Spectrum Server and to the HD Spot Module simultaneously. If both devices draw video streams from a camera at the same time, you may encounter issues like video loss or other network-based streaming issues.

Instead, manually adding cameras to the HD Spot Module using an RTSP address can mitigate such issues.

 

Obtaining the Camera’s RTSP Stream Information

The server will automatically configure a multicast stream for a camera once the device has been added.

To obtain a camera’s RTSP stream information from DW Spectrum:

1. Open the DW Spectrum Client application and log in as the Administrator or as a Power User.

In the left-panel, right-click on the server and select “Server Settings” from the context menu.

 

2. Copy the server’s IP Address and Port number (default 7001). You will need this information to connect the HD Spot Module with the DW Spectrum Server.

 

3. Next, to obtain the Camera ID of the desired camera, right-click on the camera and open the Camera Settings menu.

Click on More Info and copy the Camera ID of the camera. This unique identifier will specify the desired camera for the RTSP stream.

 

**NOTE: The RTSP URLs that appear for the Primary Stream and Secondary Stream of the camera link directly to the camera itself, not the DW Spectrum Server. For creating a proxy connection through the server, you only need to copy the Server IP Address and the Camera ID for this step.

 

For more information on finding RTSP stream information from a DW Spectrum System:

• DW Spectrum - Finding Server RTSP Stream Information

 

 

Configuring the HD Spot Module

To manually assign an RTSP stream to an HD Spot Module:

1. Confirm that the HD Spot Module and DW Spectrum Server are using the same IP scheme and can communicate with each other over the local network.

 

**NOTE: If you have not completed the network setup for the HD Spot Module, as outlined in the Quick Start Guide provided with the HD Spot Module, please follow the instructions in the QSG before continuing.

 

2. Open a web browser and enter the IP address and web port of the HD Spot Module to connect with the device’s web viewer. This information can be found in the Network menu of the device.

 

3. The HD Spot Module’s Web Viewer login page will display.

Enter the administrator User ID and Password for the HD Spot Module to log in (Default ID: admin | PW: blank/determined at the time of initial setup).

 

4. After logging in, select the Monitoring tab and open the Registration menu.

Select “Manual Registration” to expand the menu section and configure the following:

• Protocol – set this setting to “RTSP” to use a real time streaming protocol.
• Channel – select the viewing channel that the camera will be assigned to in the HD Spot Module’s viewing grid.

 

 

5. Enter the DW Spectrum Server’s User ID and Password in the Registration settings at the top of the menu.

A user profile from DW Spectrum must be used to authenticate the connection between the Spectrum System and the HD Spot Module. Digest Authentication must be enabled for the user profile that is used.

 

6. Paste the copied RTSP URL into the corresponding fields.

• RTSP 1st URL: rtsp://<server_ip>:<server_port>/<camera_id>?stream=0
• RTSP 2nd URL: rtsp://<server_ip>:<server_port>/<camera_id>?stream=1

Click the Manual Add button to add the camera, then click the Save button.

 

7. Check the display monitor that is directly connected to the HD Spot Module hardware to confirm that video from the camera is streaming successfully.

Repeat the steps above for any remaining cameras that you want to add to the Spot Module.

 

 

 

For More Information or Technical Support

DW Technical Support: 866.446.3595 (option 4)

https://www.digital-watchdog.com/contact-tech-support/

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DW Sales: 866.446.3595                    [email protected]        www.digital-watchdog.com