ONVIF for IP cameras

A camera and a recorder from two different makers should be able to talk without a translator. ONVIF is the phrasebook, and the profile letters tell you which pages it contains.

The short answer

ONVIF is a family of specifications that lets IP cameras, video encoders and recording software from different makers find each other, be configured and be controlled in a common way [1][4][5]. It does not carry the video itself: the camera tells the client a stream address, and the video then arrives over RTSP [6]. Products are grouped into profiles, for example Profile S, T and G, which fix the set of features a conformant device and client must support [1]. Our assessment: before you buy a camera for a recorder, check the profile and the conformant-products list, and ignore a loose "ONVIF compatible" on the box.

How it works

1. Profiles instead of a blank page. A profile has a fixed set of features that a conformant device and client must support, so a Profile T client works with a Profile T device. Some features are conditional, for example PTZ, which only makes sense on PTZ cameras. Products can support several profiles, such as T and G on a camera with local storage [1][4].
2. Only registered products count. The ONVIF site says that conformance to a profile is the only thing that ensures compatibility, and only registered products with conformance are considered ONVIF conformant [1].
3. The video profiles. Profile S covers basic streaming: video over an IP network, configuring and controlling the stream, plus PTZ control, audio in, multicast and relay outputs where supported [2]. Profile T adds H.264 and H.265, imaging settings, motion and tampering alarm events, metadata streaming and bidirectional audio [3]. Profile G is for edge storage and retrieval, so a camera or encoder can record and a client can search and replay [4][5]. Profile M covers metadata and events for analytics, including publishing over MQTT [4].
4. Profile S is on its way out. The ONVIF page marks Profile S as being deprecated and names 31 March 2027 as the last date for product conformance submissions (state at retrieval). Profile S was released in 2011 and Profile T in 2018 [2][4].
5. How the stream is found. The media service operation GetStreamUri returns a URI for a media profile, to start a live stream with RTSP as the control protocol. The types include RTP over UDP unicast, multicast, RTP over TCP, secure RTSP and RTSP tunnelled over HTTP or HTTPS. GetSnapshotUri returns a URI for JPEG snapshots over HTTP [6].
6. How the camera is steered. The PTZ service offers AbsoluteMove, RelativeMove and ContinuousMove for pan, tilt and zoom, and GotoPreset recalls a saved preset [7]. Which moves work depends on the coordinate systems the PTZ node supports [7].
7. Features differ by profile. The ONVIF feature overview (v2.6, April 2022) compares which features are mandatory or conditional per profile and lists the user-authentication methods [5].

A practical example

You add a camera to recording software. You enter its address and login, and the software uses ONVIF to ask for the media profiles and their stream URIs, then pulls the video over RTSP from an address such as rtsp://CAMERA-IP:PORT/PATH that the camera itself defines [6]. If the camera supports the PTZ service, the same software can send move and preset commands [7]. We have not documented any cameras in our inventory (14 to 16 Oct 2026), so this is a generic walk-through.

Checklist

• Look up the model in ONVIF's list of conformant products and note its profiles [1].
• For a new purchase, prefer Profile T over Profile S, because S is being deprecated [2][3].
• Choose Profile G if the camera should record to a card and let clients search and replay [4].
• Verify the stream URI the camera reports and test it in a player before you rely on it [6].
• Change the default login of the camera and keep it off the open internet; ONVIF does not make a camera safe.
• Check whether PTZ control is listed before you pay for a moving camera [3][7].