This guide provides a deep dive into the axis-cgi/mjpg/video.cgi interface. It is intended for developers, system administrators, and technology integrators seeking a comprehensive understanding of how to effectively utilize this feature in their projects.
From the perspective of a web browser, you can embed the stream in a webpage by simply using the URL as the src attribute of an <img> tag or an <iframe> . The browser will continuously update the image as new JPEG frames are received. The same principle applies to other clients: when making a request to video.cgi , the response is an endless flow of JPEG images, not a standard video file.
rtsp://root:password@192.168.0.90:554/axis-media/media.amp?resolution=640x480&fps=25
: The Axis Technology Platform Migration Guide is useful if you are working with different firmware versions (e.g., transitioning from firmware 4.xx to 5.xx), as it explains changes in how MJPEG and audio streams are handled. Implementation & Application Papers
OpenCV (cv2) provides a straightforward way to capture and process the video stream:
The server keeps the HTTP connection open indefinitely and sends:
HTTP/1.1 200 OK Connection: close Date: Mon, 10 Apr 2023 12:00:00 GMT Server: Axis HTTP Server Cache-Control: no-cache, no-store Content-Type: multipart/x-mixed-replace; boundary=--myboundary
boundary = None for line in response.iter_lines(decode_unicode=False): if b"--myboundary" in line: boundary = line continue # Parse each JPEG part (simplified - real code needs content-length parsing)
url = "http://192.168.1.100/axis-cgi/mjpg/video.cgi?resolution=640x480" auth = ("username", "password") response = requests.get(url, auth=auth, stream=True)
When deploying Axis cameras with MJPEG streaming in production environments, follow these security guidelines:
: Adjusts the image quality and bandwidth consumption. Values range from 0 (lowest compression, highest quality) to 100 (highest compression, lowest quality). The default is typically 30 .
http://192.168.0.90/axis-cgi/jpg/image.cgi?resolution=640x480&camera=1&compression=25
It was a request for the Motion JPEG stream. No username, no password. Just a raw, hungry call.
http://192.168.17.108/axis-cgi/mjpg/video.cgi?resolution=640x480
:
Putting it together (practical meaning and usage):
Quick Tip: Accessing Motion JPEG Streams on Axis Cameras 🎥
Elias froze the frame. The compression artifacts blurred the man’s face, turning him into a pixelated mosaic of fear. But in his hand, distinct against the gray desk, was a key card.
response = session.get(url, stream=True) bytes_data = b'' frame_count = 0
rtsp://username:password@cam/axis-media/media.amp