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R
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ragaszto
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October 30, 2023
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PTZ control

  • October 30, 2023
  • 5 replies
  • 2 views

Hi! I would like to buy a PTZ camera and use it during video conferencing, so that the not present participants can control the pam, tilt and zoom functions of the camera. Can you help me in which cameras are compatible with this feature and how to install it into my Zoom client? Thanks, Arpad

    Best answer by bstrelko

    I don't believe that Zoom has a published list of compatible PTZ cameras for Client (they do have a Zoom Rooms Certified Hardware list); however, most PTZ cameras that use standard UVC protocol (most that use this include 'UVC' in their marketing) should work.

     

    Guide for enabling far-end PTZ control:

    https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/203028599-Using-far-end-camera-control

     

    Note that camera control appears to be far-end only (why no near-end control??), but this seems to fit your use case.

    5 replies

    bstrelko
    Community Champion | Customer
    bstrelkoAnswer
    Community Champion | Customer
    October 30, 2023

    I don't believe that Zoom has a published list of compatible PTZ cameras for Client (they do have a Zoom Rooms Certified Hardware list); however, most PTZ cameras that use standard UVC protocol (most that use this include 'UVC' in their marketing) should work.

     

    Guide for enabling far-end PTZ control:

    https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/203028599-Using-far-end-camera-control

     

    Note that camera control appears to be far-end only (why no near-end control??), but this seems to fit your use case.

      R
      Newcomer
      ragasztoAuthor
      Newcomer
      November 5, 2023

      Thank you. We are on the fence about ordering this product: https://www.amazon.com/WAAWO-4K-PTZ-Auto-Frame-Streaming%EF%BC%8CWorks/dp/B0BL3LQJZP?th=1

       

      Do you think this would be suitable to play some distant, virtual board games like Terraforming Mars?

       

      Thank you,

      Arpad

      bstrelko
      Community Champion | Customer
      bstrelko
      Community Champion | Customer
      November 5, 2023

      I have never used this camera and cannot recommend it. 

      I also would not be personally interested in this product because it only has 3x digital zoom (no optical zoom), is from an off-brand, and isn't a great price for the feature set. '4K' doesn't buy you anything on a cheap tiny sensor being piped into Zoom either.

      But again, I've never used this camera and cannot issue a recommendation either for or against it.

      R
      Newcomer
      ragasztoAuthor
      Newcomer
      December 17, 2023

      Hi!

      Thanks for the reply. Following up on this issue, we have decided to pass on the PTZ camera project. Instead we have been "teleboardgaming" with Teams (sorry) and my phone (Samsung Fold 3).  The software is very not user friendly and I wouldn't even try to interface with it, so we want to advance the set working with Zoom. The idea is to somehow give access to the remote user/attendee to the phone's zoom and possibly a gimbal stand, which can pam and tilt it as well. As a first step it would just be great if we could locally use the controls on the gimbal stand, naturally the tilting, but more interestingly the zoom if necessary. Then we would try some API or whatever software integration of the gimbal into Zoom, but that would be next step.  So is there a recommended gimbal to integrate to Zoom and some software settings to implement within the Zoom app settings? I saw, that the DJI gimbals are quite advanced, but don't have any specifics yet. Thanks, Arpad

      R
      Newcomer
      ragasztoAuthor
      Newcomer
      December 17, 2023

      As another follow up I am most worried about zooming with the phone with the gimbal controls, so I would try to give direct access to Zoom over the phone's camera's zoom function. Is this possible or is there some API to interface with? How can this be done? The gimbal's controls would be used locally to tilt the phone if and when necessary. 

      Thanks for any help in advance. 

      bstrelko
      Community Champion | Customer
      bstrelko
      Community Champion | Customer
      December 18, 2023

      This would be considered Far-End Camera Control: https://support.zoom.com/hc/en/article?id=zm_kb&sysparm_article=KB0066662

       

      If your phone supports PTZ functionality within Zoom, this should be as easy as ticking the correct settings.

       

       

        C
        Newcomer
        ClayHerman
        Newcomer
        January 11, 2024

        Thank you for the link, you made my day.

        F
        Community Champion | Customer
        Frank_TB
        Community Champion | Customer
        January 11, 2024

        Hello,

        Far-end camera control requires the host zoom client to be on a computer and wont work on a mobile (phone) based  meeting.

         

        I do not know of any way to make a phone gimbal work with Zoom.

         

        Regards

        If my reply helped, don't forget to click the accept as solution button!

         

        J
        Newcomer
        Julianan3423
        Newcomer
        January 11, 2024
        @ragaszto wrote:

        Hi! I would like to buy a PTZ camera and use it during video conferencing, so that the not present participants can control the pam, tilt and zoom functions of the camera. Can you help me in which cameras are compatible with this feature and how to install it into my Zoom client? Thanks, Arpad

        Some reputable brands for PTZ cameras include Logitech, HuddleCamHD, and PTZOptics. Check the specifications and compatibility of specific models.

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