Abstract: In a system for discovering devices in a video network, a network management system (NMS) determines whether a video device in the video network supports a first network protocol, such as SNMP. If the device supports the first protocol, the NMS automatically uses the first protocol to retrieve attributes of the device from the device. If the device does not support the first protocol, the NMS automatically determines whether the device supports a second protocol, such as HTTP. If the device supports the second protocol, the NMS automatically uses the second protocol to retrieve the attributes of the device. In an example embodiment, if the device does not support the second protocol, the NMS may test for support of additional protocols, such as Telnet or VT-100. If one of those protocols is supported, the NMS may automatically use that protocol to retrieve the attributes of the device.