PTZ Control Sluggish over IP
Apologies in advance if this is in the wrong place. I'm pretty new to video production, and it's an inherited responsibility.
I'm setting up a system for recording (and possibly) streaming school board meetings. I'm using two AviPas AV-1563 PTZ cameras along with an AV-3104ip controller. The runs from my cameras to my switch and controller are about 75 ft (cat6a and SDI). It's all connected with a managed NetGear GS316EPP switch. I set up a separate vlan for this project that only has the cameras, camera controller, video switch (ATEM SDI Extreme ISO), and laptop connected to it.
The problem that I have is that the joystick controller is very sluggish. If I pan or zoom, for example, it takes a second for the camera to respond, and then even after I've released the joystick, it continues to move. It's very frustrating to set up the shots that I want, because every movement undershoots or overshoots my intention.
To troubleshoot, I've tried only connecting one camera and the controller to the switch (doesn't help), shorter CAT6 cables (better, but still not good), and connecting the camera directly to the controller (works perfectly).
Is there something else I should be looking at to try to fix this? I reached out to Avipas, and they offered to RMA the equipment for "testing", but I was hesitant to go that route. They suggested that I use their switch, but I'm reluctant to do that because I'm ultimately going to need more than 4 ports.
Any suggestions for how to troubleshoot this? Thanks for any help.
Posted Nov 28, 2022, 5:39 PM UTC
There are two communication control protocol options. Visca and ONVIF. Call support and have them walk you through switching from whichever your on now to the other. Also update firmware on cams and controller. Had the same problem with the same products and this sorted me out
Thanks! I did have support confirm that there's not a firmware update, but I'll try to switch protocols next.
Do you happen to know which one you ended up on? I was using ONVIF initially. Today, I switched over to Visca, and the problem got WORSE. So maybe I was already on the good one. :-)
With ONVIF, I was seeing a delayed response. So if I push the joystick left, the display would say LEFT, and still say LEFT for a few seconds after I released the joystick. With Visca, it keeps going left until the camera is all the way left before it stops.
The firmware I'm running appears to be newer than the ones available on their site, so I'm hesitant to change that.
The only other recommendation support had is to use their POS switch. I don't have any confidence that their 4-port unmanaged switch will fix the problem, but it may be worth the $69 to find out.
I landed on ONVIF. Also, I decided to buy POE injectors to power my cameras so they all got POE over the ethernet and I don't need local power at each cam. They're definitely not the best by any stretch of the imagination.
Yep. From what I've seen, ONVIF works better than Visca. I'm using a POE switch, but I don't think power has anything to do with it.
My next step is to try an unmanaged workgroup switch. It shouldn't matter, but maybe there's an issue with vlan overhead or something that's causing a problem. If that doesn't work, I'll dig out wireshark and try to see what's going on from a network perspective.
Gotta tell ya, when I was fighting this same issue I explored a lot of potential gremlins. I bought a new controller. I bought a new camera. I tried switching the communication to go over fiber instead of copper to rule out interference. At the end of the day, it was firmware and ONVIF and they've been operating fine since I got the right combo. Wish I could tell you what version I'm on for the cams and controller but my fly pack is in storage as I get slow when it gets cold.