This page collects the limits that apply to cameras and explains how Hermetry treats camera video and credentials. It covers live view, the camera feature available today.
Plan limits
| Limit | Standard IoT package | What happens at the limit |
|---|---|---|
| Cameras with live view | 12 | Turning live view on is refused: “Your plan allows {limit} cameras with live view, and {current} of {limit} are used.” |
| Camera minutes per month | 10,000 | Viewers see the still picture Camera minutes used up until more minutes are available or the month changes |
| Devices | Your plan’s device limit | Each camera or recorder channel is a device; an add that does not fit is refused |
Your plan may set other values. The usage page shows Camera minutes for the current month, and administrators get alerts at 80 % and 95 % by default, plus a notice when it is used up and when it is exceeded. See Usage and quotas and Your subscription and entitlements.
What a camera minute is: one minute in which a camera is being pulled because someone watches it. Several viewers of one camera count once. A camera with live view on but nobody watching costs nothing. After the last viewer stops, the pull runs on for about 20 seconds, which counts.
Estimating minutes. One camera watched 8 hours a day on 22 working days uses about 10,560 minutes a month. A wall screen with four cameras running all the time uses about 4 × 43,200 = 172,800 minutes in a 30-day month. Leave the “still watching?” question on wherever you can.
Other limits
| Limit | Value |
|---|---|
| Codecs | H.264 only; no audio |
| Channels in one add | 64 |
| Adds at a time | One per organisation; one connection test or add every 2 seconds |
| Opening a live link | 24 times a minute per person and camera; then “The picture was asked for too often. Wait a moment and try again.” |
| A stream link | Valid for 10 minutes; the Watch tab renews it by itself |
| Cameras running at once on the platform | Limited by the installation; at the limit, “Too many cameras are being watched on this installation right now. Try again in a moment.” |
| “Still watching?” on the Watch tab | Every 5 minutes, 30 seconds to answer |
What happens to the video
- Nothing is stored. Live video is passed through from the camera to the viewers while someone watches, in short segments held in memory, and is not kept afterwards.
- Nothing is converted. Hermetry does not decode or re-encode the picture.
- No audio is pulled from the camera.
- Only on demand. Hermetry connects to the camera’s video only while someone watches it, and stops about 20 seconds after the last viewer.
- Through Hermetry’s own address. The browser receives the video from Hermetry, never from the camera. The camera’s address and password never reach the browser.
Credentials
- The camera’s password is stored encrypted and is never shown again, in the UI, the API or a log line. Changing the host, a port or the user asks for the password again.
- Use a view-only camera user. Hermetry needs nothing more for live view and health readings. Give the user the right to receive alarms only if you use camera events, and the right to change a stream only if you use the Set to 2 seconds key frame action.
- Passwords of supported cameras are sent as a Digest answer, never in clear; a device that offers only Basic sign-in is accepted over HTTPS only.
Who can watch
To watch a camera, on its Watch tab or on a dashboard, a person needs:
- the permission Watch the live picture of a camera (User by default), and
- read access to the camera’s device, including any access policy that narrows which devices they see. See Access policies.
Without both, the live link is refused. A dashboard shared with someone does not let them watch a camera they could not watch on its device page.
To limit who watches a sensitive camera, narrow access to its device, or keep live view off when nobody needs it.
Audit
These camera actions are recorded in the audit log: a device made a camera (iot_camera.camera.created), live view turned on and off (iot_camera.camera.live_enabled, iot_camera.camera.live_disabled), streams read again (iot_camera.camera.streams_refreshed) and a camera removed (iot_camera.camera.deleted). Endpoint changes and connection tests are recorded by the endpoint, and the key frame action by the camera’s protocol. No row holds a password or a camera address. See What is audited.
Your obligations
Video of people is personal data in most countries. Hermetry’s live view stores no footage, but watching a camera is still processing. Inform people that the area is monitored, limit who can watch, and follow your local rules. See Privacy and data erasure.