CST Video Management Software 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A VMS is configured to record in 'continuous + event' mode. What does this mean?
- It records only during triggered events
- It records continuously at low frame rate and switches to high frame rate during events (Correct answer)
- It alternates between two cameras continuously
- It records audio continuously and video only on events
Correct answer: It records continuously at low frame rate and switches to high frame rate during events
Continuous + event mode records a baseline stream at reduced frame rate or quality at all times and triggers a higher-quality recording stream when an event or alarm occurs.
Question 2: Which VMS feature provides a chronological visual summary of all recorded activity periods for a camera, typically shown as a color-coded bar?
- Timeline scrubber (Correct answer)
- Event log grid
- Activity heat map
- Sequence player
Correct answer: Timeline scrubber
The timeline scrubber displays recording periods as a color-coded bar, allowing operators to visually identify recorded segments and quickly navigate to specific times.
Question 3: What risk does running a VMS on a shared general-purpose server (alongside other business applications) introduce?
- Increased camera resolution limits
- Resource contention that can cause dropped frames or recording gaps (Correct answer)
- Incompatibility with IP cameras
- Loss of ONVIF compliance
Correct answer: Resource contention that can cause dropped frames or recording gaps
Sharing server resources with other applications can cause CPU, RAM, or disk I/O contention, degrading VMS performance and potentially causing frame drops or missed recordings.
Question 4: In a federated VMS architecture, what is the role of the 'central management server'?
- It records video from all sites locally
- It provides unified access and management across multiple independent VMS installations (Correct answer)
- It replaces individual site servers with cloud storage
- It handles only PTZ control for remote sites
Correct answer: It provides unified access and management across multiple independent VMS installations
A central management server in a federated architecture provides a single pane of glass for operators to view, manage, and search video across geographically distributed VMS sites.
Question 5: Which encryption standard is most commonly recommended for protecting stored video files on a VMS server?
- MD5
- AES-256 (Correct answer)
- Base64
- SHA-1
Correct answer: AES-256
AES-256 (Advanced Encryption Standard with 256-bit keys) is the industry-standard symmetric encryption algorithm recommended for protecting stored video data at rest.
Question 6: What does 'video dewarping' refer to in a VMS that supports fisheye cameras?
- Removing water damage artifacts from video
- Software correction that transforms a 360° fisheye image into a flat, navigable perspective view (Correct answer)
- Stabilizing shaky video footage
- Adjusting white balance for outdoor cameras
Correct answer: Software correction that transforms a 360° fisheye image into a flat, navigable perspective view
Video dewarping is a software process that mathematically corrects the radial distortion of a fisheye lens, converting the circular image into a usable flat or panoramic view.
Question 7: A technician needs to verify that a VMS is recording at the configured frame rate. Which tool within the VMS is most useful for this verification?
- User permissions audit log
- Camera statistics or diagnostic panel showing actual received FPS (Correct answer)
- Network topology map
- License manager screen
Correct answer: Camera statistics or diagnostic panel showing actual received FPS
The camera statistics or diagnostics panel displays real-time metrics including actual frames per second being received and recorded, confirming whether the configured rate is being achieved.
CST Video Management Software 3
A VMS is configured to record in 'continuous + event' mode.
What does this mean?