How quickly video loads and PTZ cameras respond depends on many factors, including the decoding latency of your web browser. In addition, not all browsers support high-quality H.264 video. So to ensure that your videos load in Web Client as quickly as possible, choose a browser that supports H.264 and that has the lowest latency.
Browser latency is the average amount of time it takes a browser to decode and display a video frame.
The latency of a browser is just one of the factors that affects how close to real-time a live video plays; how quickly video loads in a tile when you play, rewind, fast forward and play in slow motion; and how responsive PTZ cameras are to commands. Other factors that affect the speed at which video loads include the processing power of your computer and the Security Center servers, and the latency of the network between you, the Security Center system, and the cameras.
Typically, most browsers decode MJPEG streams within 300 ms. However, only some browsers can decode H.264 streams, and the latency of these browsers varies.
The following table compares the time it takes some common browsers to load H.264 video in a single tile of the Web Client Monitoring task.
| Browser that supports H.264 | Browser latency for H.264 stream |
|---|---|
| Google Chrome | 300 ms |
| Mozilla Firefox NOTE: If you are not seeing high-quality
(H.264) video in your Firefox browser, make sure that H.264/avc3 on the media
source extension is enabled.
|
300 to 800 ms |
| Microsoft Edge | 3 seconds |
| Microsoft Internet Explorer 11 on Windows 10 | 3.3 seconds |
Some browsers, like Microsoft Internet Explorer 11 on Windows 7, cannot decode H.264 video. If Web Client detects that your browser does not support H.264 streams, it displays the video anyway, but as a lower quality MJPEG stream. So, if you need to display high-quality video in Web Client, choose a web browser that supports H.264.
- When controlling a PTZ camera
- When playing video in slow motion, rewind, and fast forward.