Check the Camera View

Scout shows a live view from a camera so you can aim it and focus it from the ground instead of climbing back up.

Open the preview

1. Tap an initialized camera and sign in.
2. Tap the preview image.
3. Tap again to go full screen, and rotate the phone to landscape for a wider view.

The preview refreshes by pulling stills from the camera repeatedly. It is a fast sequence of snapshots rather than a video stream, so expect a visible refresh cadence rather than smooth motion. That is normal and is not a fault with the camera.

Sub-stream or main stream

Switch to the sub-stream for a lower-resolution, lower-bandwidth view. Use it when you are on a slow site network or a congested Wi-Fi and the main stream is crawling.

Use the main stream when you are judging focus or checking fine detail, because the sub-stream is too soft to focus against.

Use it to aim

The preview is the point of this feature. With the phone in one hand you can:

• Confirm the camera covers the area the customer asked for, before you tighten the mount
• Check for a wall, downpipe or sign clipping the corner of the frame
• Set focus and see the result immediately
• Spot a camera mounted upside down, which is easier to see on screen than on a ladder

Once the view is right, capture a snapshot. It goes into the install report as evidence of the aim at handover.

If the preview stays blank

• Confirm the device is Initialized and you signed in with the right password.
• Confirm you are still on the site network. Walking out of Wi-Fi range drops the preview without a clear error.
• Recorders do not offer a preview in Scout. Open the channel on a camera instead.