I am currently working on a WinForm app to stream videos from IP camera using the RTSP protocol in C#. Everything worked fine. Part of the requirement for the app includes a
Regarding RTSP in C# see this thread Using RTMP or RTSP protocol in C#
Regarding Ping ... you can implement is as DESCRIBE operation ... but pay attention do not make it too frequently, the device should be affected.
http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2326.txt