RTSP and ONVIF: find your camera's stream address and test it

RTSP is the Real Time Streaming Protocol. It is how a camera or recorder sends live video to a program that asks for it. An RTSP address, also called a stream URL, looks like a web address but starts with rtsp://. When an RTSP address leaves out the port number, the standard says to use port 554.

ONVIF is an industry group and the set of standards it publishes. Its stated mission is standardized interfaces so that IP-based security products work together whatever the brand. It was founded in 2008 by Axis Communications, Bosch Security Systems and Sony, and has more than 500 member companies. A camera that is ONVIF conformant can be found on the network, logged in to and asked for its video by software from another maker. ONVIF groups features into profiles. Profile S covers basic video streaming and Profile T covers advanced video streaming. In October 2025 ONVIF announced that it is retiring Profile S in favor of Profile T, and said that systems already running on Profile S keep working.

In practice, ONVIF is how software finds a camera and its streams, and RTSP is how the video then travels. Many cameras and recorders offer both. Some offer only one, and some offer neither.

• The camera's or recorder's IP address. Find it in the recorder's network menu, in your router's list of devices, or with the maker's finder tool. Our guides cover the SADP tool for Hikvision, the ConfigTool for Dahua and the IP Finder for CP Plus.
• A user name and password that may view video. Use an account made for this. Do not guess passwords, because too many wrong tries can lock the account. Dahua's recorder manual, for example, lets the owner choose how many wrong logins trigger a lock (1 to 10) and for how long (1 to 30 minutes).
• A computer on the same network as the camera or recorder.
• RTSP or ONVIF switched on, where the device has a switch for it. The sections below show where.

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Each maker builds the address in its own way. These patterns come from the makers' own support pages and manuals. Replace USER, PASSWORD, IP and PORT with your own details. For any other brand, look for RTSP in the camera's manual or on the maker's support site, and do not copy an address from a forum without checking it against your model.

• Hikvision: rtsp://USER:PASSWORD@IP:PORT/Streaming/Channels/101 is the main stream of the first channel, and /Streaming/Channels/102 is its sub stream. On a recorder the channel number comes first and the stream number last: /Streaming/channels/1701 is the main stream of channel 17, and /Streaming/channels/1902 is the sub stream of channel 19. Hikvision's support page gives 554 as the default RTSP port without authentication and 10554 with it, so check the port in your device's network settings.
• Dahua: rtsp://USER:PASSWORD@IP:PORT/cam/realmonitor?channel=1&subtype=0. The channel number starts at 1. A subtype of 0 is the main stream and 1 is the first extra (sub) stream. The default port is 554 and can be left out. Dahua's wiki says the password cannot contain #.
• CP Plus: the same pattern as Dahua. CP Plus's IP camera manual gives rtsp://username:password@ip:port/cam/realmonitor?channel=1&subtype=0, with channel starting at 1 and subtype 0 for the main stream and 1 for the sub stream.
• Uniview: rtsp://IP:554/media/video1 is the main stream, /media/video2 the sub stream and /media/video3 the third stream. With authentication on, use rtsp://USER:PASSWORD@IP:PORT/media/videoX. Uniview notes that :554 is not necessary.
• Axis: rtsp://IP/axis-media/media.amp returns the default stream set in the device. Add parameters after a question mark to choose the codec or resolution. Axis says all RTSP requests need credentials.
• Hanwha: the stream address depends on the model and firmware, so take it from the camera's manual or Hanwha's support site, or find it with ONVIF Device Manager (below).

Port. 554 is the standard RTSP port. If your device uses another one, add it after the IP address with a colon, for example :10554.

Main stream or sub stream. Most makers give each camera a full-quality main stream and one or more lighter sub streams. Use the sub stream for a quick test, because it loads faster, and the main stream for full quality.

Special characters in the password. Characters such as @, : and / have jobs in an address, so a password that contains them can break it. RFC 3986, the standard for addresses, writes a special character as a percent sign followed by two hexadecimal digits, so @ becomes %40. A simpler password on the account you use for streaming avoids the problem.

Keep the address private. An address with the password in it shows the password to anyone who sees the address. RFC 3986 itself warns against putting user and password in an address. Use it for testing on your own network, and do not share it.

VLC is a free, open source media player from VideoLAN. Download it only from videolan.org, the official site. It is available for Windows, Mac and Linux among other systems.

• 1. Install and open VLC.
• 2. Choose Media, then Open Network Stream.
• 3. On the Network tab, paste the RTSP address.
• 4. Click Play. If the address has no user name and password in it, VLC asks for them. Uniview's guide describes the same steps.
• 5. If you see video, the address works. If not, check the IP address, the port, the user name and password, and that the computer is on the same network as the camera. Dahua's wiki says its VLC example needs an H.264 stream and not H.265, so if the camera is set to H.265, try H.264 for the test.

ONVIF Device Manager (ODM) is a free, open source Windows tool for working with ONVIF devices. It is not made by the ONVIF organization. ONVIF's own help desk says so and points to the project's page on SourceForge, which is where to get it. That page describes device discovery, live view, configuration and events among its features, and shows a last update in January 2024. Use only that page.

• 1. Open ODM on a Windows computer on the same network as the camera. It discovers ONVIF devices on the network. Select yours.
• 2. Enter the camera's ONVIF user name and password, then choose Log in. Dahua's wiki describes this step.
• 3. Open live view. If you see video, ONVIF works on that camera.
• 4. Look at the bar at the bottom of live view. Dahua's wiki says the RTSP address of the stream is shown there. Copy it into VLC to test it.
• 5. If you can log in but see no picture, check the camera's video encoding. Dahua's wiki describes changing an H.265 camera to H.264 to get video in ODM.

Whether ONVIF is on out of the box depends on the brand and the firmware. The ONVIF login is often a separate user from the camera's main account. Dahua's recorder manual notes that on older camera firmware the ONVIF password does not change when you change the system's login, so update the firmware or change the ONVIF password by hand.

• Hikvision: open the camera's web page and go to Configuration, then Network, then Advanced Settings, then Integration Protocol. Tick Enable ONVIF (some versions call it Enable Open Network Video Interface), add an ONVIF user and choose its level, then click Apply. Hikvision lists Media User, Operator and Administrator. A Media User can view real-time streams.
• CP Plus: one CP Plus IP camera manual, for a speed dome camera, says ONVIF login verification is on by default and sits under Network, then Platform Access, then ONVIF. Its account settings list ONVIF users alongside admin and added users.
• Other brands: open the camera's web page and look for ONVIF under Network, Integration or Platform Access, or check the manual for your model.

• Nothing plays in VLC. Check the IP address, port, user name and password, and that you are on the same network.
• The login keeps failing. Stop after a few tries. Accounts can lock, and a locked account blocks the real users too.
• The camera is plugged into the PoE port on the back of a recorder. Dahua's manual says cameras on those ports are isolated and cannot be reached directly. Use the recorder's address and the camera's channel number in your maker's address pattern instead.
• The picture is slow or stutters. Use the sub stream.
• It works in VLC but not in other software. Check that the other software uses the same address, port and account, and that its stream setting matches the camera's video encoding.

With an RTSP address or an ONVIF connection, other programs can read the video: a player like VLC, a recorder from another maker, and software like ours.

Our software works with any camera, DVR or NVR that offers a standard RTSP or ONVIF stream, including Hikvision, Dahua, CP Plus, TVT, Uniview, Axis and Hanwha. It runs on a Windows computer at your site and installs in about 60 seconds. Four things are standard on every site: smoke and fire, people after hours in zones you mark, a covered camera, and a warning when a camera goes offline. A second, larger model checks every event before you are alerted, and the alert is a photo on WhatsApp, Telegram or the Foreman app while it is still happening. Your recordings stay on site, your recorder keeps recording as usual, and we never train on your footage.