Cameras
A camera in Alta VMS corresponds to a receiver on an Alta server.
Add a camera
Section titled “Add a camera”On the Cameras page click Add, pick the Alta server, and select the receiver to import. The camera inherits its stream properties (resolution, frame rate, bitrate, codec) from Alta.
Camera list
Section titled “Camera list”The list is searchable and paginated. Each row shows the camera name, status, server, and recording state. Filter the list by status (All Statuses / Online / Offline / Degraded / Provisioning) and by enabled state (All / Enabled Only / Disabled Only). Use the page-size selector (10 / 25 / 50 / 100) to control how many rows load at once.
Non-admin users see only the cameras in their groups (see Groups).
Select rows with the checkboxes to act on several cameras at once — delete, enable/disable, or turn recording on/off in a single step (up to 200 at a time). For non-admin users, selected cameras outside their groups are skipped and reported per item; the rest of the batch still completes. The same multi-select pattern is available on the other list pages (Groups, Maps, Events, Clips, Screenshots, Users, and notification rules).
Camera detail
Section titled “Camera detail”Open a camera to see and edit:
- Status — online, degraded, offline, or provisioning, with the reason.
- Stream properties — resolution, FPS, bitrate, codec.
- Recording — whether the camera is being recorded.
- Actions — open live, jump to archive, export a clip.
Edits that change settings on the Alta server are applied atomically — if an edit fails partway, the Alta-side change is rolled back automatically, so the camera and its Alta server do not drift apart.
Camera status
Section titled “Camera status”| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Online | Streaming normally |
| Degraded | Reachable but no usable source stream (e.g. zero bitrate) |
| Offline | Not reachable, disabled on Alta, or its Alta server is down |
| Provisioning | Newly added, not yet confirmed streaming |
A camera stuck in Provisioning (for example after an interrupted create) is moved to Offline automatically after a grace period (10 minutes by default). The transition is recorded in the audit log and the camera’s status history; no alert is raised.