Live View

The Live View page provides real-time camera monitoring with sub-second latency video. Operators can build multi-camera layouts by dragging cameras from the location tree into a configurable grid, with full PTZ control, audio, and motion indicators.

Streaming Technology

Local Network — WebRTC via MediaMTX WHEP

For operators on the local network, Meridian VMS uses WebRTC WHEP (WebRTC-HTTP Egress Protocol) delivered through MediaMTX on each recording server:

Sub-second latency — typically under 500ms from camera to browser
No browser plugins — native WebRTC in all modern browsers
Codec support — H.264 and H.265 with automatic SDP codec injection
No re-encoding — stream-copy from camera through MediaMTX to browser

The WebRTC connection is established automatically through the management server.

Remote Access — WebRTC P2P

For operators connecting through the cloud portal, streams use WebRTC peer-to-peer with STUN/TURN:

P2P when possible — direct connection via STUN (lowest latency, no relay bandwidth)
TURN fallback — relayed through regional coturn servers when P2P fails (symmetric NAT, corporate firewalls)
End-to-end — stream flows directly from recorder to browser when P2P succeeds

fMP4 WebSocket Fallback

In environments where WebRTC is blocked (restrictive proxies, some mobile networks), the system falls back to fMP4 over WebSocket:

Fragmented MP4 segments streamed over a WebSocket connection
Higher latency (1-3 seconds) but works through any HTTP-compatible proxy
Automatic fallback — no configuration required

Camera Grid

Dragging Cameras to the Grid

The left sidebar displays the full location tree:

Expand the tree to find the desired camera or location.
Drag a camera onto any empty grid tile to display its live feed.
Drag a location (site, area, city, region) to fill available tiles with all cameras under that subtree.

Each tile shows the camera name overlay and a real-time feed that begins playing immediately.

Layout Selector

Layout	Tiles	Use Case
1x1	1	Single camera focus or detail monitoring
2x2	4	Small site or entrance monitoring
3x3	9	Medium site overview
4x4	16	Large site or multi-area monitoring
5x5	25	Control room overview
6x6	36	Maximum density overview
Mixed	Varies	Custom asymmetric layouts with different tile sizes

Switching layouts preserves assigned cameras where possible.

Tile Controls

Each grid tile provides controls on hover:

Fullscreen : Expand a tile to fill the browser window. No stream reconnection — seamless transition.

Audio : Toggle audio playback for cameras with audio streams. Audio is muted by default to avoid control room noise. Audio streams are delivered alongside video via WebRTC.

FPS Counter : Current frames-per-second being rendered. Useful for diagnosing performance issues.

Status Indicator : Color-coded connection state: - Green — streaming normally - Yellow — reconnecting or degraded - Red — offline or error

Motion Indicator : Animated border or badge that activates when the AI detection engine detects motion or objects on the camera. Draws operator attention to active cameras.

PTZ Controls

For PTZ-capable cameras, the tile toolbar includes a PTZ button that opens the control overlay. See PTZ Control for full details on:

On-screen directional pad and zoom slider
Keyboard shortcuts (arrow keys, +/- for zoom)
USB joystick support via Gamepad API
CCTV keyboard support (KB1100, Pelco-D)
Preset recall and preset tours

Privacy Zones

Privacy zones black out specific regions of the camera view to protect sensitive areas:

Configured per camera in camera settings
Applied server-side before the stream reaches any viewer
Persistent — privacy zones are applied to both live view and recordings
Appear as solid black rectangles overlaid on the video

Use cases include masking neighboring properties, ATM keypads, or employee break areas.

Carousel Mode

Carousel mode automatically cycles through cameras at a configurable interval:

Tiles rotate through the assigned camera set, advancing after each interval
Configurable dwell time per camera (5 seconds to 5 minutes)
Pause at any time to investigate a specific view
Resume continues from the current position

Saved Views

Camera layouts can be saved as named views for quick recall:

Define standard configurations (“Perimeter Cameras”, “Building Entrances”, “Parking Areas”)
Switch views with a single click from the view dropdown
Share views with other users
Set a default view per user that loads on login

RBAC and Visibility

The location tree and camera list respect role-based access control. Operators only see cameras and locations that their assigned role grants access to.