Happytimesoft

1. Introduction
2. Launching the application
3. Main window overview
4. Video display layouts
5. Playing a stream
6. Video window controls
7. Context menu
8. Full-screen mode
9. Snapshots
10. Video recording
11. Media information
12. System settings
13. Custom layout
14. Saving and loading layouts
15. Audio control
16. Audio backchannel
17. Online help
18. Troubleshooting

Happytime RTSP Client is a multi-channel RTSP streaming player for desktop platforms. It lets you connect to one or more RTSP cameras / servers, view live video and audio in a grid of video windows, take snapshots, record video, and control audio playback.

Key features :
  Play multiple RTSP streams simultaneously (1, 4, 6, 9, or 16 channels)
  Multiple RTP transport modes: UDP, multicast, TCP interleaved, HTTP tunnel, WebSocket tunnel
  Hardware-accelerated video decoding
  Audio playback with per-window volume / mute control
  Snapshot capture (JPEG)
  Video recording to AVI files
  Flexible video-window layout, including a custom grid
  Save and load window layouts (including stream URLs and credentials)
  Automatic reconnection after signal loss
  Multi-language support (English / Chinese)

Start the application by running the RtspClient executable. The main window appears with the title "Happytime rtsp client 7.1".
On the first run, the default 4-window layout is shown.

The main window consists of two areas:
  Video display area — a grid of video windows used to display live streams.
  Toolbar — a horizontal bar at the bottom with the following buttons:


Toolbar buttons :
   : Stop all video streams.
   : Mute the audio of all streams.
   : Switch the whole window to full-screen.
   : Switch to a 1-window layout.
   : Switch to a 4-window layout.
   : Switch to a 6-window layout.
   : Switch to a 9-window layout.
   : Switch to a 16-window layout.
   : Open the custom layout editor.
   : Open the system settings dialog.
   : Open the online help page.

Use the layout buttons on the toolbar to change how video windows are arranged.
  1 / 4 / 6 / 9 / 16 — predefined grid layouts.
  Custom layout — define your own grid with an arbitrary number of rows and columns, and merge/span cells into larger zones (see Custom Layout).

Switching layouts preserves currently playing streams. Windows that are no longer used are reused where possible.

Method 1 — Play button (empty window) :
  1. Hover the mouse over an empty (black) video window. A large Play button appears in the center of the window, as the following:
    
  2. Click it to open the Set rtsp stream dialog, as the following:
    
  3. Enter the following information, then click OK to start playing:
    RtspAddr — the RTSP URL, e.g. rtsp://192.168.1.100:554/stream1
    Username — optional user name for authentication
    Password — optional password for authentication

Method 2 — Drag and drop :
Drag an RTSP URL (for example, from a web browser or a text file) and drop it onto an empty video window. The stream starts automatically.

Supported URL schemes :
  rtsp:// — standard RTSP over TCP or UDP
  rtsps:// — RTSP over SSL (TLS)
  http:// / https:// — RTSP tunneled over HTTP
  ws:// / wss:// — RTSP tunneled over WebSocket

Note : Credentials can also be embedded directly in the URL, e.g. rtsp://user:password@host:port/path.

Connection status : The video window displays the connection status as overlay text:
  Connecting — the client is establishing the connection
  Connect failed — the connection could not be established
  Authenticate failed — the user name / password was rejected
  NO Signal / NO Data — no media data is being received

When a stream is lost (connection failure, no signal, or no data), the client automatically tries to reconnect after 5 seconds.

Move the mouse over a playing video window to reveal a floating control bar, as the following:

Controls :
  Pause / Play — pause or resume playback
  Stop — close the current stream
  Microphone — enable / disable the audio backchannel (talk-back)
  Snapshot — capture a still image of the current video
  Record — start / stop video recording
  Progress — shows the current play time / total duration; drag to seek
  Volume — mute / unmute, and adjust the volume

The control bar hides automatically when the mouse leaves the window.

Right-click on a video window to open the context menu with these options:
  Close Video — stop the current stream
  Fill the whole window / Keep the original aspect ratio — switch the render mode
  Full Screen / Exit Full Screen — toggle full-screen for this window
  Media information ... — show codec and resolution details (see Media Information)

Double-click a video window, use the context menu, or press the Full screen toolbar button to enter full-screen mode.
Press Esc to exit full-screen mode.

  1. Hover over the video window and click the Snapshot button.
  2. The image is saved as a JPEG file in the snapshot path.

The snapshot save location is configured in System Settings → Recordings → Snapshot Path. A confirmation dialog shows the save path after a successful snapshot.

  1. Hover over the video window and click the Record button to start recording.
  2. Click it again to stop recording.

Recorded video is saved as an AVI file in the recording path configured in System Settings → Recordings → Recording Path.
You can configure automatic file splitting in System Settings:
  Max recording time — split the file after the given duration (HH:mm:ss)
  Max file size (KB) — split the file after the given size
When the limit is reached, a new file is created automatically.

Right-click a video window and select Media information ... to open the Media Information dialog, as the following:

  Video : codec, resolution, frame rate
  Audio : codec, sample rate, channels
  Url : the stream URL

Click the button on the toolbar to open the System Settings dialog, as the following:

Settings are grouped into the following sections:

General
  Language : Interface language: System / English / Chinese (takes effect after restart)
  Enable Log : Enable / disable log output
  Log Level : TRACE / DEBUG / INFO / WARNING / ERROR / FATAL

Transport
  Prefer to use RTP over UDP : Use RTP/UDP for media transport instead of TCP interleaved
  Force multicast RTP via RTSP : Force multicast RTP transport
  Tunnel RTSP and RTP over HTTP : Tunnel RTSP/RTP over HTTP (with the specified HTTP port)
  Tunnel RTSP and RTP over Websocket : Tunnel RTSP/RTP over WebSocket (with the specified port)
  Request metadata channel data : Request the ONVIF metadata channel

Video & Audio
  Hardware-accelerated decoding : Automatic / platform-specific / Disable
  Default video render mode : Keep the original aspect ratio / Fill the whole window
  Audio capture device : Select the microphone used for the audio backchannel

Recordings
  Snapshot Path : Directory for snapshot images (browse / open buttons)
  Recording Path : Directory for recorded video files (browse / open buttons)
  Max recording time : Maximum recording time before file splitting
  Max file size (KB) : Maximum recording file size before file splitting

Video Window Layout
  Save Layout : Save the current layout (including stream URLs) to an XML file
  Load Layout : Load a layout from an XML file

Click Confirm to save and apply the settings, or Cancel to discard them.

Click the button to open the Custom layout setting dialog, as the following:

  1. Choose the grid Row and Col size.
  2. In the grid editor, select cells to merge them into larger zones.
  3. Click OK to apply the layout.

The custom layout lets you create arrangements such as a large main window plus several smaller windows, as the following:

  Save Layout (in System Settings) : exports the current layout, the number of rows/columns, and the stream URLs / credentials of each window to an XML file.
  Load Layout (in System Settings) : imports a previously saved layout and reconnects the configured streams automatically.

The layout is also saved automatically when you close the application and restored on the next start.

  Volume : use the volume slider on the floating control bar to adjust the volume of a single window.
  Mute : click the volume icon to mute / unmute a window.
  Mute all : use the toolbar button to mute all windows at once.

The Microphone button on the floating control bar enables talk-back audio (the ONVIF backchannel), as the following:

Select the input device in System Settings → Video & Audio → Audio capture device.

Note : The microphone button is only available in builds that include backchannel support.

Click the Online help toolbar button to open the online help page in your default web browser.

"Connect failed" : Check the RTSP URL and that the camera/server is reachable. If the server requires a different transport, adjust the Transport settings.
"Authenticate failed" : Verify the username and password.
"NO Signal" / "NO Data" : The stream is not sending media. Check the camera and network; the client will auto-reconnect.
No picture but audio plays : Check the video codec and try a different hardware-decoding setting (System Settings).
Video is stretched : Switch the render mode to "Keep the original aspect ratio".
Cannot save snapshot / recording : Verify the snapshot / recording path exists and is writable.
Choppy video on UDP : Try "Tunnel RTSP and RTP over HTTP" or TCP transport in System Settings.