It's the first thing to check if something looks off during a session, and it's useful to keep an eye on during any live production.
What You'll Need
Permissions — You need control permissions for the Studio (Admin or Producer role). If you're a Viewer, the Monitoring icon won't appear at all.
At least one Bridge linked — The Monitoring icon is grayed out if no Bridges are connected to your Studio.
Sources added — To see meaningful data, you need at least one video or audio source in your session. Without any, you'll see a tab with buttons to add sources.
Opening the Monitoring Tray
Look at the top-right area of your Studio header. You'll see a monitoring icon (it looks like a signal gauge). Click it, and a panel titled "Monitoring" pops up below the icon.
To close it, click the icon again or click anywhere outside the panel.
What's Inside the Monitoring Tray
The Monitoring Tray is organized into tabs along the top:
Overview — Only shows up when you don't have any video or audio sources connected yet. It gives you quick buttons to add a video source or audio source.
Video Sources — Lists every connected video source with detailed quality metrics. The tab label includes a count (e.g., "Video Sources (2)"). Disabled if you don't have any video sources.
Audio Sources — Lists every connected audio source with quality metrics. Tab label includes a count. Disabled if you don't have any audio sources.
Recording — Shows sources that are actively recording, along with any that have failed or couldn't start. Tab label includes a count. Disabled if nothing is recording.
When you open the panel, it automatically lands on the Video Sources tab if you have any video sources. Otherwise, it shows the Overview tab.
Video Sources
The video sources you've added to the Studio appear here, along with the Bridge they're connected through.
Each source shows two rows of metrics — one for Sending (upstream) and one for Receiving (downstream). This is an important distinction:
Sending (upstream) is the quality of the stream going from the Bridge to the Iris Cloud. This is influenced by the Bridge's upload bandwidth. If this looks bad, the issue is on the Bridge side.
Receiving (downstream) is the quality of the stream coming from the Iris Cloud to your browser. This is influenced by your current download speed. If this looks bad, the issue is on your end.
For each direction, you'll see:
Quality Score — A number out of 5.0 (e.g., "4.2 / 5.0"). Higher is better.
Resolution — What the camera is currently outputting (e.g., 1080p, 720p, 4K).
Bitrate — The data rate of the stream, in kbps.
FPS — Frames per second being sent or received.
For cameras connected through an embedded Bridge (Iris Enabled devices), you'll also see CPU, RAM, and Disk usage for that device.
Each source also shows:
A colored dot indicating connection status — green means connected, red means offline.
The Bridge name it's connected through.
A gear icon — click it to jump straight to that device's settings.
Audio Sources
The Audio Sources tab works similarly to Video Sources, with upstream and downstream rows for each audio source. The metrics are a bit different since we're dealing with audio:
Audio Level — A live meter showing the audio signal level.
Bitrate — Data rate in kbps.
Codec — The audio codec currently in use.
For audio sources connected through an embedded Bridge, you'll also see CPU, RAM, and Disk usage.
Recording
The Recording tab shows any sources that are currently recording, along with their stats:
Recording indicator — A green dot means the recording is active. A red dot means something went wrong.
Source name
Duration — A live timer showing how long the recording has been running.
File size — How much space the recording has used so far.
Resolution (for video sources)
Bitrate
FPS (for video sources)
If a recording runs into trouble, you'll see one of two messages:
"Recording unexpectedly stopped." — The recording failed while it was running.
"Recording could not be started. Please try again." — It didn't start at all.
You can click the gear icon next to any recording source to open the Recording settings dialog.
Warnings and Alerts
The Monitoring Tray will show you inline warnings when something isn't right. Here's what you might see and what it means:
"Your upstream source quality is poor." The stream quality from the Bridge to the cloud has dropped. This usually means the Bridge's internet upload speed is struggling. Try improving the Bridge's connection or reducing the video quality settings.
"Your downstream source quality is poor." The stream quality from the cloud to your browser is low. This is usually your internet download speed. Try closing bandwidth-heavy apps or improving your connection.
"System resources are high." (yellow warning) The Bridge is under heavy load — high CPU or RAM usage. If a stable profile is available, you'll see an "Apply stable profile" button. Clicking it adjusts the device's settings to use fewer resources, which can help stabilize things.
"Critical resource usage detected." (red warning) The Bridge is critically overloaded. Video may be automatically paused to protect the system. You'll see options to "Re-enable video" and/or "Apply a stable profile." If this keeps happening, consider reducing the number of active sources or restarting the Bridge.
Bridge offline warning If all your Bridges go offline, a banner appears at the bottom of the panel telling you to check your internet connection or restart the Bridge.
Resource highlighting: CPU usage above 80% is highlighted in red. RAM usage above 90% (for video sources) or above 80% (for audio sources) is also highlighted in red — so problem areas are easy to spot at a glance.
Bridge Tray
The Bridge Tray shows information about the Bridges linked to your Studio:
Restart — Restarts the Iris Bridge on your computer. This is the quickest way to address failures and get your Studio back online. Your Studio and sources will go offline temporarily during the restart.
Performance Metrics:
CPU Usage, RAM, and Disk Space — Current utilization of the computer running the Bridge.
Version — The version of Iris your Bridge is running. If a newer version is available, you'll be prompted to update here.
Tips for Getting the Most Out of Monitoring
Check the Monitoring Tray regularly during live sessions to catch issues before they become visible on-stream.
Pay attention to both the Sending and Receiving rows — they tell you whether the problem is on the Bridge side or your side.
If you see yellow or red resource warnings, use the "Apply stable profile" button before trying anything more disruptive like restarting the Bridge.
Keep your Iris app updated. Version info is visible in the Bridge Tray.
If metrics show "--" dashes, the device is either still connecting or disconnected — check your Bridge status.
Troubleshooting
What's happening | Likely cause | What to do |
Monitoring icon is grayed out | No Bridges are linked to your Studio | Link a Bridge first |
Monitoring icon isn't visible at all | You don't have control permissions | Ask the Studio owner to give you a Producer or Admin role |
All metrics show "--" | Device is disconnected or still connecting | Wait for it to connect, or check your Bridge status |
"Upstream source quality is poor" | Slow or unstable upload speed on the Bridge's network | Improve the Bridge's internet connection or lower video quality settings |
"Downstream source quality is poor" | Slow or unstable download speed on your end | Improve your internet connection or close bandwidth-heavy apps |
"System resources are high" | Bridge CPU or RAM is elevated | Click "Apply stable profile" if available, or reduce active sources |
"Critical resource usage" / video paused | Bridge is critically overloaded | Click "Re-enable video" and/or "Apply a stable profile." Consider reducing sources or restarting the Bridge |
Recording tab shows an error | Recording failed or couldn't start | Check disk space, then try starting the recording again |
FAQs
Where do I find the Monitoring Tray? In the top-right corner of your Studio header. Look for the monitoring icon near the Bridge icon.
Can I keep it open while I work? The Monitoring Tray is a popover — it closes when you click outside of it. You can't pin it open permanently.
What does the Quality Score mean? It's on a scale of 0 to 5.0. Higher is better. It factors in things like packet loss and dropped frames. If it drops below about 2.5 on either the upstream or downstream side, you'll see a warning.
What's the difference between Sending and Receiving? Sending (upstream) is the stream going from the Bridge to the cloud — influenced by the Bridge's upload speed. Receiving (downstream) is the stream coming from the cloud to your browser — influenced by your download speed. They can differ depending on each side's connection.
Why do some devices show CPU, RAM, and Disk but others don't? Those system metrics only appear for embedded Bridge devices (Iris Enabled cameras where the Bridge software runs directly on the hardware). Desktop Bridges show their resource usage in the Bridge Tray panel instead.
Can I open device settings from the Monitoring Tray? Yes. Each device has a gear icon — click it to go straight to that device's settings.
What does "Apply stable profile" do? It automatically adjusts the device's settings to a configuration that uses fewer system resources. This can help resolve performance issues. In some cases, the device may need to reboot.
Does the Monitoring Tray work in both the desktop app and the browser? Yes, it works in both as long as you have control permissions.
Will the gridlines or other UI overlays interfere with the Monitoring Tray? No. Gridlines are a separate overlay on the viewport. The Monitoring Tray is its own panel and doesn't interact with gridlines.