Most cameras support sending out a stream in a particular format. The most common one is H264 over RTSP. RTSP won't work natively with the image tiles though to display the feed on the dashboard. It only accepts MJPEG. Most middle to higher end cameras will support both though.
You can capture the RTSP stream with something like the Synology Surveillance Station and then send out an MJPEG stream from that because it will re-encode the stream for you.
This is actually starting make sense! Thank you! One more question in terms of sensors. Aside from security, can wired sensors be used for "fun" home automation things down the line (ie: window sensor senses window is open which sends message to turn AC off) or because they are wired to the security system they will only function as a security component?
Yes, if my wife leaves any door open for more than 5 minutes it turns off the AC and starts playing Metallica turned to 11 until she closes the door.
If it's about to rain and a window is open all our phones get a notification it's about to rain and which window is open. Also the fireplace light comes on just in case I don't have my phone around me.
I when I arm or disarm the alarm it changes the color of my Innovelli dimmer notification led in the kitchen depending on what mode it's in.
When I open the laundry room door with an alarm contact on it in the mornings monday through friday it opens the garage door and starts my truck.
Here are a couple of other rules where I use alarm sensors as triggers for lighting.
Wow!!!! I am so excited to get this all up and running so I can start making all these rules. I love cool tech but just never had the opportunity to do the "behind the scenes" work to make it all run. This will be a fun adventure (though frustrating at times too I'm sure haha) Thank you so much for your help again!
We live in Houston so no one ever opens a window... It's too damn hot, but the door sensors get used a lot for automations.
Be sure to read these and try to follow them closely... It will save you a lot of headache getting everything up and running smoothly:
In addition to everything else, pickup a z-stick or uzb7. It's a USB stick you can join to the hub as a secondary controller. It will help with pairing problem devices and getting rid of failed pairs. You can pickup the UZB7 on mouser for around 19 bucks or so usually.
https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Silicon-Labs/SLUSB001A?qs=u16ybLDytRbJsMfgk3EnSA%3D%3D
Almost forgot but not related to alarm devices.... Save yourself a bunch of headaches and go with zigbee locks and motion sensors. Zigbee motion sensors are 2 to 4 times faster than their zwave counterparts and the Zigbee locks just always work and zwave locks can be hit or miss. For motion sensors the SmartThings 2018 model is my preferred option but they are not in production any more and can be hard to find. Next for me would probably be the Hue motion sensors. A lot of people use them with great success. For bathrooms I use the Nyce ceiling motion sensors with humidity sensing.
They use 2 double a batteries and last over 2 years with them. For Locks, the Yale SL 256 keyless is my favorite at the moment but they have a keyed option as well.
Just wanted to chime in and say thanks for all this info, as well. We have a DSC with two areas (two buildings). I installed an Envisalink but it never played well with the convoluted system required for my ISY-994. I'm looking forward to getting it up and running with HE ow that I've switched over. Future questions likely so thanks in advance.
Definitely going the zigbee route for a lock. I'm trying to stay Zwave free for now just because I'm so new to all this and know that without the right solid mesh setup I could be looking at more problems if I add zwave into the mix. Thanks! Currently looking at Yale and Schlage.
I have a good mix of both so I don't tax either mesh. I went with zwave for all the switches and zigbee for all the outlets. Gives me a good backbone for both. The perimeter sensors are all hardwired contacts through the alarm system to the envisalink and then to HE. All the inside contacts are zwave and all the motion sensors are zigbee.
So far my "research" has me leaning towards the following:
Security System: DSC or Honeywell with Envisalink integration
Sensors: wired sensors
(looking into synology as you recommended)
Bulbs: Philips Hue (since i have the hub already)
Dimmers/switches: lutron caseta or GE/Jasco (zigbee)
Motion sensors: Philips Hue... if I can't find any iris sensors (zigbee)
Lock: Yale (Zigbee)
Plugs/Outlets: Centralite plug, GE/Jasco in wall outlet
Repeaters: A few Ikea Tradfri Repeaters if needed
TV: Samsung Q60 and Q70 (got these thinking I'd go with ST hub before it went belly up with their hardware)
Can't even narrow it down for the following devices.
Blinds: Not sure but considering anything less expensive than lutron currently
Garage: clueless, confused, and undecided
Cameras: haven't started the research yet
I'm aware this list is a mess, but it's a start hahaha. As you can see I still have a ton of research to do since I've only decided for sure on my locks, bulbs, TVs, and repeaters 
There's an integration for these TV's.
GDZ000-8 works well add on a tilt sensor for added assurance that it's actually in the state you expect. It has one that comes with it but a second opinion is always nice.
Oh that's fantastic! I thought I read somewhere there was no way to integrate so this is awesome.
As the only potential Z wave device would this be a problem even if my garage is fairly close by to the HE hub?
If it is just pickup a plug and split the distance.
I put out a code bounty for it a while back but he asked me to donate the bounty to a charity. I have yet to find anything to be impossible where software and hardware changes are possible.
Good new thread to track.
I have a DSC 832 and have read what I could adn downloaded the HE direct code.
Running Alarmserver with ST right now but getting a hub from Santa as I hear non-native apps like DSC on ST will stop being allowed in the future.
One thing to make sure of is external access. Right now I can arm/disarm remotely from the ST app.
Is there clairification on how this is done with HE? I'm pretty deep into WebCore and ST for 6 years so hopefully it won't hard to set up if I can get some stering.
Cheers
Dsc to envisalink to he and vice versa. If you want to run a node server you can offload the envisalink traffic to a raspberry pi to keep things running smoothly.
Remote arming and disarming is done the same as ST. HE supports cloud link dashboards so it can work remotely with the phone app.
That's the problem reading all this stuff without the HE. I don't even know the capabilities of the Dashboard. I thought I read somewhere you needed a cloud service if you wanted remote (cell phone) access so that seemed to tie in to the DSC problem.
Hopefully the ST transition on the software side wono't be too bad otherwise I'll run HubConnect for a while until I get sorted.
Nope it's a lot like the old st system except most of the code is executed locally. There are some api people use that are cloud based like Alexa and google, Honeywell thermostats, ecobee, rachio, etc... Hubitat hosts the cloud dashboard access.
Even most of the drivers are drop in replaceable with very minor changes.
Download the Hubitat app
