External PTZ Module

Configuration Dialog

To use external PTZ module, configure it in System Configuration dialog. Most security keyboards require 2 ports to work. One for DVR control and one for PTZ control. External PTZ module and Aux Module are for different ports. Parameters are explained as following.

 

Mode disabled  
  SerialPort Extra parameters must be configured in tab SerialPort.
  BF-430 IPAddress, IPPort, SessionPwd must be entered corerctly.
IPAddress   For BF-430.
IPPort   For BF-430.
SessionPwd   For BF-430. Leave blank if password is not required.
ControllerID   Currently not used.
DVR_ID   NVR handles the commands only when keyboard is in DVR mode and set to this ID.
PbCAM_ID   Keyboard(stick) controls playback when keyboard is in CAM mode and set to this ID.
DPtzCAM_ID   Keyboard(stick) controls digital PTZ.
PtzCAM_ID   Keyboard(stick) controls analogue PTZ.
DVRProtocol   Protocol of the keyboard. Keyboard also need to be configured. DVR and CAM modes may use different protocols.
     

Configure SerialPort

 

COMPort

Check COM port number in Device Manager of Windows.
BaudRate Depends on the keyboard configuration.
COMBuffer  
BitsPerByte Usually 8.
StopBits Usually 1.
Parity Usually None.
FlowControl Usually Xon/Xoff.
   

Configure LILIN Keyboard (PIH-931D)

Connect PIH-931D to computer

DVR and IN must be connected to 2 different COM ports.

 

Set protocols in NVR

For DVR port, protocol is LilinD.

For PTZ port(IN), protocol is MLP2.

 

Set protocol on PIH-931D

PTZ protocol must be set to MLP2(PIH-7601/7602/7610 PIH-7622).

If it's set properly, "MLP2" is shown on LED screen when moving stick in  PTZ mode.

 

Operations of LILIN Keyboard (PIH-931D)

PTZ(CAM) Mode

To enter this mode, press SHIFT then press CAM.

To change ID, press number keys then press CAM.

In PTZ mode, stick can be used for PTZ, digital PTZ, or playback.

 

RIGHT fast forward
LEFT fast backward
DOWN seek forward
UP seek backward

 

DVR Mode

To enter this mode, press SHIFT then press DVR.

To change ID, press number keys then press DVR.

To change focused player, press number keys then press ENT.

 

Pause player
Show live video
Manual recording
Fast backward (press multiple times to increase speed)
Fast forward (press multiple times to increase speed)
Stop player
Step backward
Step forward
Change layout
Change layout
Change layout
Change layout
   

Troubleshooting and Testing Keyboard Connectivity

Due to the transient nature of serial-based communication, it could be difficult to diagnose connectivity problem until your configuration is completely correct. Therefore our system offer a keyboard debug tool that might aid the process of connection setup:

Invoke Player Control Panel to see the keyboard debug tool:

Debug box  for primary  port
Debug box for auxiliary (Aux)  port

 

The content in the debug box illustrate the curent state and suggest actions as below:

Debug Box Content Description Suggested Actions
INIT Port initialization is not completed, most likely due to configuration error. Check to see if COM port name is correctly specified. Also check to see the specified COM port is not currently in use.
OK, <N1>, <N2> Port is connected. <N1> is the number of bytes received. <N2> is the number of meaningful commands parsed.

Port connectivity is established. Try to perform operations on the keyboard. Then observe:

  • If <N1> keeps at zero, it means nothing is received. Check the physical connectivity.
  • If <N1> increases, it means some data is received. Check <N2>. If <N2> keeps at zero, it means the data received is not meaningful to the parser. Check to see if COM port settings and keyboard protocol (DVRProtocol) are correctly configured.
  • If <N2> increases, it means meaningful command packets has been parsed. With correct input sequence, you should be able to use keyboard.

Example Setup

This example uses two external devices, as illustrated as below:

Device Device Outlook Description
USB-RS232 Cable This cable, when connected with proper drivers installed, creates a COM port on your PC. You can use Windows Driver Manager to see which COM port it connects to.
RS232-485 Converter This device converts RS-232 protocol to RS-485 protocol bidirectionally. If used in conjunction with USB-RS232 cable, you can connect a RS-485 device to a PC.

 

Connect the devices as the block-diagram illustrated below:

 

 

This should create two COM ports on your PC. You should be able to see what COM ports they use in Windows Device Manager. (To invoke Device Manager, use Start Menu=>Run=>"devmgmt.msc"). Suppose the two COM ports are COM3, and COM4.

Note: The COM3 and COM4 illustrated above is only an assumption. COM port numbers are dynamically assigned when the cable plug-ins to your computer. You must check the actual settings according to what your Device Manager shows. Since the two keyboard ports are not the same, you must connect two ports separately and distinguish them carefully.

 

Open "Cfg. Console" dialog. Enter following information to the "External PTZ module" node:

Mode SerialPort
DVR_ID 1
DVRProtocol LilinD
(Change to SerialPort tab
and enter following)
COMPort

COM3
BaudRate 9600
COMBuffer 2048
BitsPerByte 8
StopBits 1
Parity None
FlowControl Xon/Xoff

Enter following information to the "Aux module" node:

Mode SerialPort
PbCAM_ID 1
DPtzCAM_ID 2
PtzCAM_ID 3
DVRProtocol MLP2
(Change to SerialPort tab
and enter following)
COMPort

COM4
BaudRate 9600
COMBuffer 2048
BitsPerByte 8
StopBits 1
Parity None
FlowControl Xon/Xoff

 

Use the "Debug tool" illustrated in previous section to see if data is coming in and commands is being parsed. If the <N2> is increasing then congratulation the keyboard is successfully connected to your computer with following configuration.