PTZ Control

Meridian VMS provides full pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) control for ONVIF-capable cameras. Operators can control cameras from the Live View interface using on-screen controls, keyboard shortcuts, USB joysticks, or professional CCTV keyboards.

ONVIF PTZ

PTZ commands are sent to cameras via the ONVIF PTZ service. When a camera is added with ONVIF discovery or manual ONVIF configuration, its PTZ capabilities are detected automatically.

Supported Operations

Operation	Description
Continuous Pan	Continuous horizontal movement (left/right) at variable speed
Continuous Tilt	Continuous vertical movement (up/down) at variable speed
Continuous Zoom	Continuous zoom in/out at variable speed
Stop	Stop all PTZ movement
Absolute Move	Move to a specific pan/tilt/zoom position
Relative Move	Move by a relative offset from current position
Preset Recall	Move to a saved preset position
Preset Save	Save the current position as a named preset
Home	Return to the camera’s home position

Speed Control

PTZ speed is adjustable from 0.1 (slowest) to 1.0 (fastest). The speed applies to continuous pan, tilt, and zoom operations. Higher speed values result in faster camera movement.

On-screen controls use a virtual joystick where distance from center determines speed — moving the joystick slightly produces slow movement, while pushing it to the edge produces full-speed movement.

On-Screen Controls

The PTZ control panel is available in Live View when viewing a PTZ-capable camera. Click the PTZ button on the tile toolbar to open the control overlay.

Control Elements

Control	Description
Directional pad	8-direction movement (pan/tilt combinations)
Zoom slider	Zoom in/out with a vertical slider
Speed control	Adjust movement speed
Preset list	Dropdown of saved presets with recall buttons
Home button	Return to the home position

Keyboard Shortcuts

PTZ cameras can be controlled from the keyboard when a PTZ-enabled tile is selected in Live View:

Key	Action
Arrow Left	Pan left
Arrow Right	Pan right
Arrow Up	Tilt up
Arrow Down	Tilt down
+ / =	Zoom in
-	Zoom out
Space	Stop all movement
Home	Go to home position
1-9	Recall preset 1-9

Hold Shift with arrow keys for slower (fine) movement. Hold Ctrl with arrow keys for faster movement.

USB Joystick (Gamepad API)

Meridian VMS supports USB joysticks and gamepads for PTZ control via the browser’s Gamepad API. Any HID-compliant joystick is supported — no drivers or plugins required.

Axis Mapping

Joystick Axis	PTZ Action
Left stick X	Pan (left/right)
Left stick Y	Tilt (up/down)
Right stick Y or Trigger	Zoom (in/out)

Joystick deflection is proportional — small movements produce slow PTZ speed, full deflection produces maximum speed. The dead zone is configurable to prevent drift.

Button Mapping

Button	Action
Button 1 (A)	Recall preset 1
Button 2 (B)	Recall preset 2
Button 3 (X)	Recall preset 3
Button 4 (Y)	Go to home position
Left bumper	Previous camera in grid
Right bumper	Next camera in grid

Configuration

Joystick settings are available at Settings > Controls > Joystick:

Setting	Default	Description
Enable Joystick	On	Master toggle for joystick input
Dead Zone	0.15	Minimum axis deflection to register movement (0.0-0.5)
Sensitivity	1.0	Speed multiplier for joystick input (0.1-2.0)
Invert Y	Off	Invert tilt direction (push forward = tilt down)

Uniview KB1100 CCTV Keyboard

Meridian VMS supports the Uniview KB1100 professional CCTV keyboard, a rack-mountable controller with a 3-axis joystick, number pad, and function buttons. The keyboard communicates over a reverse-engineered UDP protocol.

Connection

The KB1100 sends UDP packets on port 60000. Configure the keyboard’s target IP to the management server address. The management server translates KB1100 commands into ONVIF PTZ calls.

KB1100 Controls

Control	PTZ Action
3-axis joystick	Pan (X), tilt (Y), zoom (twist)
Number pad + Enter	Enter camera number to select
Preset button + number	Recall preset by number
Set + number	Save current position as preset
Menu	Toggle PTZ control panel
Mon button	Select monitor/grid tile

Packet Format

The KB1100 uses a fixed-length UDP packet:

Offset  Length  Description
0x00    2       Header (0xA5 0x01)
0x02    1       Command type
0x03    1       Joystick X axis (0x00-0xFF, center 0x80)
0x04    1       Joystick Y axis (0x00-0xFF, center 0x80)
0x05    1       Zoom axis (0x00-0xFF, center 0x80)
0x06    2       Button state bitmask
0x08    1       Checksum

Pelco-D Keyboards

Other CCTV keyboards that use the Pelco-D protocol (serial RS-485 or TCP/IP) are also supported. Configure the serial port or TCP endpoint in Settings > Controls > CCTV Keyboard:

Setting	Description
Protocol	Pelco-D or Pelco-P
Connection	Serial port path (e.g., `/dev/ttyUSB0`) or TCP address
Baud rate	Serial baud rate (default: 9600)
Camera mapping	Map Pelco address numbers to Meridian cameras

Camera Presets

PTZ presets save specific camera positions for quick recall.

Managing Presets

From the PTZ control panel:

Move the camera to the desired position.
Click Save Preset and enter a name (e.g., “Gate Entrance”, “Parking Overview”).
The preset is saved on both the camera (ONVIF) and in Meridian VMS.

Presets are recalled from:

The preset dropdown in the PTZ control panel
Keyboard number keys (1-9)
CCTV keyboard number pad
Alarm definitions (move to preset on alarm trigger)
Home Assistant meridian.ptz_command service

Preset Tours

Configure a preset tour to cycle through multiple presets automatically:

Setting	Description
Presets	Ordered list of presets in the tour
Dwell time	How long to stay at each preset (seconds)
Speed	Movement speed between presets
Loop	Repeat the tour continuously

API Reference

Method	Endpoint	Description
`POST`	`/api/cameras/{id}/ptz`	Send a PTZ command (pan, tilt, zoom, stop)
`GET`	`/api/cameras/{id}/ptz/presets`	List saved presets
`POST`	`/api/cameras/{id}/ptz/presets`	Save a new preset
`POST`	`/api/cameras/{id}/ptz/presets/{preset}/recall`	Recall a preset
`DELETE`	`/api/cameras/{id}/ptz/presets/{preset}`	Delete a preset
`POST`	`/api/cameras/{id}/ptz/home`	Move to home position