> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.dwe.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Camera Controls
> A comprehensive guide to understanding and configuring your camera settings in dweOS.
## Overview
Each camera has groups of settings to control various parts of the camera:
* [System Controls](#system-controls-%2F-video-encoder-settings)
* [Exposure Controls](#exposure-controls)
* [Image Processing Controls](#image-processing-controls)
### Reset Controls
Click the (**Reset Controls**) button at the bottom of the camera control panel.
This will factory reset all camera image settings you adjusted.
This does not affect stream endpoints.
***
## System Controls / Video Encoder Settings
| Setting | Description |
| --------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Bitrate** | Determines the amount of data processed per second of video. Higher values yield better video quality but consume more network bandwidth. |
| **Group of Pictures** | Sets the interval between key-frames (I-frames) in the video stream. A higher value improves compression efficiency, while a lower value can reduce latency and improve stream stability over weak connections. |
### Variable Bitrate
When enabled, the stream's bitrate will dynamically adjust based on the visual complexity of the scene (VBR), saving bandwidth during static shots rather than pushing a constant bitrate (CBR).
In practice, it will use a bitrate between 10mbps and 70mbps.
***
## Exposure Controls
| Setting | Description |
| -------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Gain** | Artificially amplifies the video signal to increase brightness in low-light scenarios. |
| **Backlight Compensation** | Adjusts the exposure to properly illuminate darker subjects that are positioned against a bright background, preventing them from appearing as silhouettes. |
Increasing Gain too much can introduce digital noise or "grain" into your
video feed.
### Auto Exposure
| Mode | Description |
| -------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Aperture Priority Mode** | The camera automatically adjusts the exposure time (shutter speed) while keeping the iris/aperture under manual or fixed control. |
| **Manual Mode** | This allows manual control of the exposure time (shutter speed) setting. |
All DWE cameras are fixed aperture, therefore only aperture priority mode is available.
### Exposure Time, Absolute
When in **Manual Mode**, this setting allows you to manually dictate the specific duration the sensor is exposed to light per frame.
### Exposure, Dynamic Framerate
When toggled on, this allows the camera to automatically lower its framerate in dark environments.
This increases the exposure time per frame, resulting in a brighter image at the cost of video smoothness.
***
## Image Processing Controls
| Setting | Description |
| ----------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Brightness** | Adjusts the overall lightness or darkness of the video feed. |
| **Contrast** | Modifies the difference between the lightest and darkest areas of the image. |
| **Saturation** | Controls the intensity and vividness of the colors. |
| **Hue** | Shifts the overall color phase (tint) of the video. |
| **White-Balance, Automatic** | Toggles our custom auto white-balance algorithm designed to optimize color and clarity for underwater. |
| **Gamma** | Adjusts the brightness of the mid-tones in the video without severely affecting the extreme shadows or bright highlights. |
| **Sharpness** | Enhances edge detail to make the image appear crisper and more defined. |
| **Power Line Frequency** | Prevents video flickering caused by artificial lights. You should set this to match your local region's electrical grid frequency (e.g., `60 Hz` for North America, `50 Hz` for Europe/Asia). |
| **White Balance Temperature** | Adjusts the color temperature of the camera. Lower values produce cooler (more blue) tones, while higher values produce warmer (more orange) tones. |