Registering Cameras with RTSP for COVA

RTSP Camera Streaming

There may be circumstances where users and integrators are unable to use direct PoE connection or ONVIF registration through the network while adding cameras to a COVA recorder. A camera is added via ONVIF primarily when ONVIF compatibility is unavailable, such is the case with older, non-compliant cameras.

When dealing with cheaper, generic, or proprietary cameras that lack proper ONVIF implementation or use outdated ONVIF profiles, users can utilize a camera’s RTSP stream, which is usually used as a fallback to stream video directly when automatic device discovery fails.

This article will outline how to manually register a camera to a COVA recorder using a camera’s RTSP stream.

Supported/Affected Devices:

• DW COVA Recorder Series
• DW-COVA16xT
• DW-COVA8xT
• DW-COVA4xT

Camera Registration with RTSP

Part 1: Create a Custom Protocol

To add a camera to a COVA recorder using RTSP, first create a custom RTSP protocol.

1. Open the COVA Settings menu and navigate to the Camera menu.
2. Click the Camera Management button then select “Add Manually”.

1. The Add Manually pop-up window will display.
2. Use the drop-down and set the Protocol to “Custom”.

1. In the Custom setup window, set the Status to “Enable”.
2. [Optional] You can enter a name in the “Show Name” field to label the custom protocol (ex. “RTSP1”).

1. When registering a camera using an RTSP address configure the following:

• Type – select “RTSP”.
• Transfer Protocol – select “TCP”
• Port – enter the RTSP port that appears after the colon (:) in the RTSP URL address.
• Resource Path – enter the path of the URL that appears after the slash (/) in the RTSP URL address.

Example:

Main Stream – rtsp://192.168.0.246:554/profile1
Sub Stream – rtsp://192.168.0.246:554/profile2

1. Click the OK button when finished.

Part 2: Manually Add with the Custom Protocol

After creating the custom RTSP protocol:

1. In the Camera Settings menu, click the Add Manually button again.
2. In the Add Manually pop-up, configure the following:

• Address – enter the IP address of the camera
• Protocol – select the custom RTSP protocol that was created
• Username – enter the camera’s login ID
• Password – enter the camera’s login password

1. Click the OK button.
2. The registered device will appear in the camera list once added.