HOWTO set azimuth on a Sony SNC-EP550

A useful and unique feature on Sony’s keenly priced HD PTZ dome the SNC-EP550 is its azimuth, or ‘compass point’ setting. This howto also applies to other PTZ cameras in Sony’s latest range.

Calibrating the camera’s azimuth allows you to display the camera’s compass point orientation on the on-screen display (OSD) via the camera’s ‘superimpose’ setting. This can be especially handy for anyone orienting the view against a map or a set of site drawings.

The process to set azimuth is very simple:

First, you want to calibrate the camera to North. Log in to the camera and browse to system > superimpose. At the Camera Direction section click ‘Setting’ and up will pop a new window (tip: this popup window will automatically close if you click outside of it). Here you will see the setting for Azimuth as shown below:

Simply move the camera (using a different browser window if necessary) until it is viewing directly North, select whether you want 8 compass points or 4 (i.e. do you want to see N, NE, SE, S etc in the OSD, or just N, S, E and W?) then click the ‘Set’ button. The camera is now calibrated for direction.

Next, and again under the ‘Superimpose’ tab, you want to tell the camera to display the direction setting within the image and on-screen. Do this by selecting ‘Camera direction’ in the ‘superimpose format’ box (shown below) for the position you want the direction to display in. Select ‘Superimpose: on’ to activate this.

Once this is done the camera will display the compass direction in which it is pointing in the OSD at all times. If you use a preset guard tour this information is available to the user at-a-glance.

Note: Though the camera’s web interface is full accessible in all browsers, most settings can only be saved using Internet Explorer.

The SNC-EP550 is available as an indoor unit only or in an outdoor kit complete with external housing.

Published on February 13th, 2013 by Kevin Bowyer