About the Media Gateway role - Security Center 5.11

Security Center Administrator Guide 5.11

Applies to
Security Center 5.11
Last updated
2023-11-10
Content type
Guides > Administrator guides
Language
English
Product
Security Center
Version
5.11

The Media Gateway role is used by Genetec™ Mobile, Security Center Web Client, and Genetec™ Web App to get transcoded video from Security Center. The Media Gateway role supports the Real Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP), which external applications can use to request raw video streams from Security Center.

When is video transcoding necessary?

Video transcoding is the conversion of a video stream from one video codec to another. Transcoding is used for the following reasons:
  • The client application does not support the codec used by the camera.
  • To reduce latency. For example, to downscale a high-resolution video when the PTZ camera is being moved.
  • To reduce bandwidth. For example, to downscale a high-resolution video when it is viewed on a mobile device.
  • To view fusion stream encrypted videos on Genetec™ Mobile and Genetec™ Web App.
Transcoding is very CPU intensive and should only be performed by high end servers. Adding a dedicated GPU card is recommended. Depending on your equipment and needs, you can decide to disable transcoding or only allow it under certain conditions.

When do you need raw video streams?

There are many uses for raw (not transcoded) video streams. For example, an external system can use the raw video streams to perform video analytics and trigger events. Another application can display video on a web page using a commonly available viewer that supports the camera's specific encoding.

Media Gateway features

  • RTSP and RTSPS (through TLS) are supported following the RFC 2326 standard.
  • IPv6 multicast is supported.
  • GPU hardware acceleration is supported.
  • Live and playback video can be requested.
  • Load distribution can be enabled by assigning multiple servers to this role.

Scope and limitations

  • Federated Omnicast™ 4.x streams are not supported.
  • Non-video streams such as audio, PTZ commands, overlays, and metadata are not supported.
  • IPv6 multicast is only used under the following conditions:
    • Both the client and the server have IPv6 enabled. Otherwise, the system falls back to IPv4.
    • The initial setup request was done using IPv6. Otherwise, the system falls back to IPv6 unicast.