Understanding Live Camera Playback
Open a camera and you land in the player, the one screen that does double duty: watch the camera live, or rewind and investigate what it already caught. It pairs the video with a feed of every detection and a timeline you can scrub, so the trip from "something happened" to the exact frame takes seconds, not a slog through raw footage.
This article covers how the player streams live video, how object detection shows up while you watch, how to move through the recording, and how to jump straight to a moment in time.
Live, Recorded, and How It Streams
The player opens on the live feed, at the live edge. Drag back along the timeline and it switches to recorded playback so you can study what just happened; select GO LIVE to snap back to the live edge whenever you want.
How the live video reaches you depends on the playback mode you choose: Auto (the default), Low Latency, or Standard. Each sets a different streaming path — for how each mode works and when to reach for it, see Understanding Live Streaming for Surveillance.
Object Detection in the Player
The player isn't just showing video, it's showing what the AI found in it. Object detection runs on the feed, and its results surface in three places you can act on.
- The Events panel. On the right, the Events panel lists every detection on the camera, newest first, with a total count at the top. Filter chips such as ALL, FACE, HEAD, and PERSON narrow the list to one class, and each chip shows how many of that class there are. Each row names the detection class, a count when several are grouped, the time range from start to end, the duration (or live while the object is still in frame), and a confidence percentage. Select a row to jump the playhead to that detection.
- The Overlay. Turn on Overlay and detection boxes draw over the video, framing each object the moment it's recognized, so you see exactly what tripped a detection rather than guessing.
- The timeline lanes. Below the video, the timeline gives each detection class its own lane (for example HEAD, FACE, PERSON) and marks every detection as a colored bar. It turns a stretch of footage into a map of activity, and selecting a marker jumps the playhead straight to that moment.
While you're watching live, a short on-screen notice announces new detections as they arrive, for example "3 new detections: person, head, face."
Moving Through the Footage
The toolbar gives you precise control over recorded playback.
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Prev event / Next event | Jump to the previous or next detection. |
| Prev hr / Next hr | Jump back or forward one hour. |
| -30s, -1m, -5m, -15m | Step backward by a fixed amount. |
| +30s, +1m, +5m, +15m | Step forward by a fixed amount. |
| Speed (0.25x to 8x) | Slow down or speed up recorded playback. Live plays at 1x. |
| Zoom (DAY to SEC) | Zoom the timeline from a whole day down to second-by-second detail. |
| Overlay | Show or hide the detection boxes on the video. |
| GO LIVE | Return to the live edge. |
Jumping to an Exact Date and Time
Stepping back in jumps is fine for "a few minutes ago," but when you know exactly when something happened, jump straight to it. Select the calendar button in the toolbar to open the Jump to Date & Time popover.
- Set the Date field. It's bounded to the range the camera has footage for.
- Enter the Time (24h) as HH:MM:SS, for example
19:57:42. - Select Go to move the playhead to that exact moment, or Cancel to close the popover without moving.
If the date or time falls outside the recorded range or isn't valid, the popover flags it and keeps Go disabled until you fix it.
Related Topics
- How to Review Surveillance Recordings
- Understanding Surveillance Recordings
- How Live AI Detection Works
- Understanding Live Streaming for Surveillance