diff --git a/web/src/utils/cameraUtil.ts b/web/src/utils/cameraUtil.ts
index f85966660..6b5d9e584 100644
--- a/web/src/utils/cameraUtil.ts
+++ b/web/src/utils/cameraUtil.ts
@@ -1,20 +1,30 @@
 /**
  * Generates a fixed-length hash from a camera name for use as a valid camera identifier.
- * Used when user enters a display name with spaces or special characters.
+ * Works safely with Unicode input while outputting Latin-only identifiers.
  *
  * @param name - The original camera name/display name
  * @returns A valid camera identifier (lowercase, alphanumeric, max 8 chars)
  */
 export function generateFixedHash(name: string): string {
-  const encoded = encodeURIComponent(name);
-  const base64 = btoa(encoded);
+  // Safely encode Unicode as UTF-8 bytes
+  const utf8Bytes = new TextEncoder().encode(name);
+
+  // Convert to base64 manually
+  let binary = "";
+  for (const byte of utf8Bytes) {
+    binary += String.fromCharCode(byte);
+  }
+  const base64 = btoa(binary);
+
+  // Strip out non-alphanumeric characters and truncate
   const cleanHash = base64.replace(/[^a-zA-Z0-9]/g, "").substring(0, 8);
+
   return `cam_${cleanHash.toLowerCase()}`;
 }
 
 /**
  * Checks if a string is a valid camera name identifier.
- * Valid camera names contain only letters, numbers, underscores, and hyphens.
+ * Valid camera names contain only ASCII letters, numbers, underscores, and hyphens.
  *
  * @param name - The camera name to validate
  * @returns True if the name is valid, false otherwise
@@ -34,7 +44,7 @@ export function processCameraName(userInput: string): {
   finalCameraName: string;
   friendlyName?: string;
 } {
-  const normalizedInput = userInput.replace(/\s+/g, "_");
+  const normalizedInput = userInput.replace(/\s+/g, "_").toLowerCase();
 
   if (isValidCameraName(normalizedInput)) {
     return {