SIMATIC HMI Comfort Panel Camera View: RTSP and HTTP Setup

SIMATIC HMI Comfort Panel Camera View: RTSP and HTTP Stream Configuration

The Camera View object in WinCC Comfort / WinCC Advanced lets a SIMATIC HMI Comfort Panel render a live MJPEG or RTSP video stream directly inside an HMI screen. Although the object is straightforward to insert, a high percentage of field failures trace back to three causes: a malformed URL, a streaming protocol the panel firmware cannot decode, or network reachability between the camera and the panel. This reference walks through correct URL construction, TIA Portal V13 SP1 and later configuration, the difference between RTSP and HTTP/MJPEG, panel firmware limits, and a structured troubleshooting matrix for non-Siemens third-party IP cameras.

1. Scope and Applicability

Camera View is supported on the Comfort Panel family and the WinCC Runtime Advanced / Comfort PC runtime. The base object is the same; only the panel model and the firmware image determine which codecs and stream types can be decoded.

2. Prerequisites

Before opening TIA Portal, validate the supporting infrastructure.

2.1 Engineering software

• TIA Portal V13 SP1 Update 6 (the source's reported version) or later: V14 SP1, V15, V15.1, V16, V17, V18, V19. Newer firmware images on the panel often require the engineering tool to be on a matching or higher version to download the project.
• WinCC Comfort or WinCC Advanced license with the Camera View option enabled in the project tree.

2.2 Panel firmware

• Confirm the Comfort Panel is flashed to a firmware image that supports the desired stream protocol. RTSP support was added incrementally; for V13-era panels, RTSP relies on the runtime component shipped in the corresponding firmware update.
• Use the panel's Service & Commissioning page or ProSave to read the firmware version. The V13 SP1 U6 panel image ships with WinCC Comfort V13 SP1 U6 components.

2.3 Network and camera

• The IP camera and the HMI must share an IP subnet or the camera's IP must be reachable through correct routing. Default panel port is 102 for the engineering channel; that is not the relevant port for video.
• Verify the camera's video server is reachable from the programming PC first using a browser. The browser test that succeeds at http://10.24.22.22:8080 confirms HTTP is published on TCP 8080 - but it does not by itself prove RTSP works at rtsp://10.24.22.22:8080.
• Check firewall rules on any industrial firewall / router / managed switch between the panel and camera. RTSP commonly uses TCP 554; HTTP MJPEG commonly uses TCP 80, 8080, or 8081.

3. RTSP vs HTTP MJPEG - Which Protocol to Use

Camera View on Comfort Panels does not implement a generic H.264/H.265 decoder. The runtime expects either:

If a third-party camera is used, MJPEG over HTTP is the most reliable fallback because it does not require the camera to negotiate an RTSP session - the panel simply opens a TCP connection and pulls JPEG frames. RTSP provides a managed session but introduces another failure surface (DESCRIBE, SETUP, PLAY responses, RTP/RTCP ports).

4. URL Format Specification

The URL is the single most common cause of a black Camera View area. The panel passes the string verbatim to the camera; a typo at any position is a hard failure with no diagnostic on the HMI screen.

4.1 Generic syntax

rtsp://[user[:password]@]<host>[:port][/path]
http://[user[:password]@]<host>[:port][/path]

4.2 Worked examples

4.3 Special characters in credentials

If the camera password contains :, @, /, ?, or whitespace, the string must be percent-encoded per RFC 3986. The panel does not always re-encode raw credentials before transmission, so a password such as p@ss:1 is ambiguous to the URL parser. Use the percent-encoded form, e.g. p%40ss%3A1.

5. TIA Portal V13 SP1 Configuration Procedure

1. Open the TIA Portal project containing the Comfort Panel. Switch the active view to the HMI device.
2. In the project tree, expand Screens > <your screen>.
3. From the Tools task card, drag Camera View onto the screen. The control is the icon resembling a video camera inside a frame.
4. Click the control. In the Properties > General pane, locate the URL field. Enter the full RTSP or HTTP MJPEG URL exactly as documented by the camera manufacturer.
5. In Properties > Appearance, set the position, size, and update rate. Comfort Panels can typically sustain 5-15 fps at 320x240 to 640x480 for MJPEG streams; do not exceed what the panel CPU can decode.
6. Configure authentication if the camera requires it. The URL embeds credentials; no separate dialog is provided.
7. Compile the project, then download to the panel. Use Online > Extended Download to Device if the panel has a project already loaded.
8. Switch the panel to Runtime and open the screen containing Camera View.

6. Validation Procedure Before Deployment

1. From the engineering PC, open VLC media player. Choose Media > Open Network Stream, paste the candidate URL. If VLC can render the stream, the URL is correct; if VLC fails, fix the camera side first.
2. Open a browser and load the HTTP preview URL. The browser test in the user's report succeeded for HTTP, so MJPEG is the fallback that should work.
3. From the panel itself, use the service page (if enabled) to ping the camera IP. Comfort Panels do not include a generic TCP/UDP probe tool on every firmware; the engineering diagnostic is to load the project and observe the Camera View area.
4. Capture a network trace with Wireshark on a mirror port or a tap between the panel and the camera. Filter for rtsp or tcp.port==554 (RTSP) or tcp.port==8080 and look for SYN attempts; a refused connection indicates a routing, firewall, or wrong-port condition.

7. Common Root Causes of Streaming Failures

8. Firmware, Panel Limits, and Performance

Comfort Panels decode video on the same ARM SoC that drives the HMI runtime. The decode budget is shared with screen refresh, alarms, tags, and script execution. Practical limits, drawn from the Siemens support notes and field experience:

• Resolution: 320x240 to 640x480 is the practical envelope for live MJPEG at 5-15 fps on TP700/KP700 and up. Higher resolutions (e.g. 1920x1080) generally fail or fall to single-frame refresh.
• Codec: MJPEG is widely supported across the V13 SP1+ firmware range. H.264 RTSP depends on the specific firmware revision - check 109096785 for the most recent table.
• Concurrent connections: A panel typically opens a single connection per Camera View object. If the same camera is referenced in two screens that are both active, behavior depends on the camera's maximum-connection count.
• Update rate: Even with a high-capacity camera, setting a frame rate above 15 fps on the camera side does not help - the panel will drop frames.

9. Non-Siemens IP Camera Compatibility

Siemens qualifies a list of third-party cameras in the application note 65647473 - Monitoring with Network Cameras and SIMATIC HMI Comfort Panels. Cameras outside that list are not officially supported, but in practice most cameras that publish MJPEG on a stable HTTP port work. The pragmatic recipe when a non-Siemens camera is used:

1. Set the camera to a single MJPEG stream at 640x480, 10 fps, fixed bitrate, no authentication or a simple user/password pair.
2. Construct the URL exactly per the camera vendor's documentation. Test it in VLC first.
3. Insert Camera View in TIA Portal using the HTTP MJPEG URL.
4. If the panel still shows a black box, switch the URL to an RTSP URL (most cameras publish both) and verify the port is 554.
5. If RTSP also fails, the panel firmware likely does not support the camera's H.264 profile. The non-Siemens camera should not be the obstacle as long as MJPEG is available; use MJPEG.

10. Network Architecture and Port Configuration

Industrial deployments typically place cameras on a separate VLAN or subnetwork. A reliable pattern:

• Cameras on a dedicated Security/CCTV VLAN, isolated from the control VLAN.
• Router-on-a-stick or L3 switch routes the panel subnet to the camera subnet.
• Firewall rules permit only TCP 554 (RTSP) and TCP 8080 (or as configured) between the panel and the camera.
• If the camera publishes RTP/RTCP, the firewall must allow the negotiated RTP port range. Many cameras negotiate ephemeral ports above 50000; allowing UDP 50000-50100 is a typical compromise.
• Disable IGMP snooping on the camera VLAN unless a proper querier is configured; otherwise RTSP multicast-style streams will silently drop.

11. Commissioning Checklist

1. Confirm the camera's HTTP preview URL renders in a browser from the engineering PC.
2. Confirm the camera's RTSP URL renders in VLC from the engineering PC.
3. Confirm the panel can ping the camera (via service page) and that the IP is on the correct subnet.
4. Confirm firewall rules open the relevant TCP/UDP ports.
5. Configure Camera View in TIA Portal with the URL documented in step 1 or 2.
6. Compile and download the project. Run the panel in Runtime.
7. Verify a live image renders inside the Camera View area.
8. Verify a sustained image for at least 10 minutes - this catches timeout / keepalive issues.
9. Document the camera URL, model, firmware, and panel firmware in the project backup.

12. Diagnostic Logging on the Panel

Comfort Panels expose a diagnostic page that records connection attempts. Procedure:

1. On the panel, navigate to Start Center > Settings > Service & Commissioning (or directly to the Service menu if configured).
2. Open Diagnostics > Camera (or the relevant subsection, depending on firmware revision).
3. Trigger the screen containing Camera View. The diagnostic log records the URL attempted, the HTTP/RTSP response code, and the time of the last successful frame.
4. Cross-reference the response code with the camera vendor's documentation.

If the diagnostic page is not available, the Wireshark capture in step 4 of section 6 is the most reliable diagnostic tool for production environments.

13. Known Pitfalls Specific to TIA V13 SP1 Update 6

• The V13 SP1 Update 6 toolset downloads only the runtime components of the matching firmware image. A panel flashed with a newer image (e.g. a V14 image downloaded separately) cannot be re-provisioned by the V13 tool without first downgrading the panel image via ProSave.
• The example URL in the V13 SP1 documentation is camera-specific. The official Siemens statement is that the URL is an example for a particular camera and the user must consult their own camera's manual - this is not a placeholder the user is allowed to leave in the project.
• HTTP without authentication is rare on modern IP cameras; if credentials are required, the URL must contain them. The Camera View object does not provide a separate authentication dialog.
• Some V13 SP1 firmware revisions accepted only the older RTSP URL syntax. If a camera requires the newer ?transportmode=unicast query string, consult the camera vendor and the Siemens FAQ for the matched firmware.

14. When to Replace the Camera Stream Approach

If the camera cannot publish a stream type the panel can decode and the panel firmware cannot be upgraded (locked to V13 SP1 U6), the only remaining options are:

• Insert a hardware transcoder between the camera and the panel that converts H.264 RTSP to MJPEG HTTP, accepting the additional device, latency, and failure surface.
• Replace the camera with a Siemens-qualified model from 65647473.
• Use a PC-based runtime (WinCC Runtime Advanced on a panel PC) that can host a generic H.264 decoder and stream to the panel via remote desktop or a custom HMI tag interface - typically not justified for a single camera view.

15. Quick Reference - Diagnostic Decision Tree

Camera View black on panel
|
+-- Browser at http://camera:8080 OK?
|   |
|   +-- No --> Fix camera / network first
|   |
|   +-- Yes --> VLC plays rtsp://camera:554/... ?
|               |
|               +-- No --> Wrong port or unsupported codec; switch to MJPEG
|               |
|               +-- Yes --> Confirm TIA URL matches VLC URL exactly
|                           |
|                           +-- Mismatch --> Correct the URL in the project
|                           |
|                           +-- Match --> Wireshark between panel and camera
|                                       |
|                                       +-- No SYN --> Firewall blocks panel
|                                       +-- SYN/RST --> Camera rejects
|                                       +-- SYN/ACK then RST --> URL parse error on camera
|                                       +-- Full handshake, no data --> Wrong codec or auth

16. Field-Proven Configuration Notes

• Use the camera's substream (often channel 2 or subtype 1) for the panel, and reserve the main stream for a recording server. The substream is typically already 640x480 / 10 fps and matches the panel's decode budget.
• Set the camera's authentication to HTTP Digest or Basic; the panel does not negotiate newer schemes.
• If the URL is long, paste it into Notepad first and verify it character-by-character. URLs from camera vendor documentation frequently include trailing spaces or invisible characters.
• Save the project backup including the exact camera URL; on-site engineers will not always be able to reconstruct it from the panel image alone.

17. Cross-References and Reading Order

• Siemens FAQ 109096785 - canonical URL examples and the protocol-support matrix for Camera View.
• Siemens application note 65647473 - Monitoring with Network Cameras and SIMATIC HMI Comfort Panels - tested cameras, port/bandwidth guidance, and field limits.
• The Comfort Panel manual for the relevant article number, available from the Siemens Industry Online Support product page for each panel.