Think Outside the Box with New Financing Options

Editor / Provider: a&s International | Updated: 6/14/2011 | Article type: Hot Topics

The financial downturn tightened lending in many industries, introducing changes to channel dynamics. a&s talks to security solution providers on how they have adapted to market conditions with options like leasing to help customers.

The cliché "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade" is about making the most of a tough situation. The economic meltdown was a bitter pill for many to swallow, even in security, as projects slowed and credit became tight.

Unfit or unscrupulous players were eliminated in lean times, while increased consolidation took place among the surviving companies. In April, investors Generation3 Capital and Waveland Investments acquired a controlling stake in wireless mesh provider Fluidmesh. It joins Avrio RMS Group — a specialist in IP surveillance solution for public safety — to form Carrick Bend. This combination of equipment and service offers greater value, as well as maximizing resources for clients with tighter budgets.

Other notable acquisitions included purchases in PSIM. ADT Security Services acquired Proximex and Verint

▲ Mark Harraway, UK Country Manager for Controlware

Systems bought Rontal Engineering Applications, both completing portfolio gaps in management software. PSIM unites disparate systems to work together as one, delivering enhanced efficiency and performance to users short on time and funds. Retail solutions provider Agilence made a similar boost to its solution lineup by acquiring Vidient's video analytics. Greater consolidation demonstrates how poolingresources can result in more targeted offerings that deliver added value to more discriminating customers.

Because of the lean times, manufacturers are supporting their integrators with special financing programs. Video solution provider Infinova and VMS provider On-Net Surveillance Systems (OnSSI) are among the vendors who extend financing options, such as special lines of credit.

The Internet is also leveling the playing field from the traditional security channel. Equipment prices are easily found online, making price-conscious buyers challenge integrators on why they charge more than the lowest deal, said Mark Harraway, UK Country Manager for Controlware. "If you do a system design, you have to justify camera selection more or the amount of professional services," he said. "People will ask if they need a high-end PTZ camera and if they can instead opt for a couple of static cameras."

Other users simply build their own DIY solutions by ordering from the Internet. "If someone's looking for additions to an existing system, they'll do a pricing exercise from the Internet," Harraway said. "You have to justify your pricing or value-add more."

More flexible payment options are also changing how business is done. "The recession has changed how we interact with customers," said Lance Holloway, Director of Technology Strategy, Stanley Convergent Security Solutions. "We have solutions move forward through our leasing program rather than paying everything upfront."
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Manufacturer Financing
As equipment moves through the channel, some manufacturers offer their installers discounts. OnSSI sells

▲Lance Holloway, Director of Technology Strategy, Stanley Convergent Security Solutions

through manufacturer representatives, distributors and its certified installers; it does not sell directly to end users. To support its channel partners, it launched a financial services program that allows customers to finance projects from software, hardware, labor, maintenance and training, without using their own cash or credit lines. "We worked with Susquehanna Commercial Finance for certified channel partners or integrators, to finance the whole project and not just the software," said Gadi Piran, President of OnSSI.

This is helpful for applications with fixed annual budgets. For example, K-12 school districts will not know how much public funding they have until the next school year. Instead of delaying until the districts receive their budgets, integrators can start work right away, Piran said. The company's certified partners can apply through the OnSSI program for projects up to US$100,000 by completing a one-page credit application. For larger amounts, they must provide additional financial information.

Some manufacturers choose not to use financing."Some system integrators try to pressure us, saying they'll pay in 180 days, but if we reduce prices by 2 to 3 percent, they'll pay in 30 days," said John Romanowich, President and CEO of SightLogix. "One time, we were specified on the request for proposal, so we were able to negotiate a one-third down payment. It depends on the architect and engineers."

Loyalty Programs
Similar to OnSSI's certified channel partners program, Infinova launched its own certified integrator program for

▲Mark Wilson, VP of Marketing for Infinova

better support. Its integrators need to pass a technical product certification to be eligible. Infinova will award certified integrators who meet an "achievable" quarterly incentive by giving them an additional year on standard warranties, said Mark Wilson, VP of Marketing for Infinova. "Users can get the benefit of the incentive and co-op marketing."

Infinova also supports its channel partners with brand promotion funding. "The types of things we sponsor are executive seminars for key executives, as we provide training content," Wilson said. "They're interested in what benefit surveillance brings to their businesses, as it enables value beyond security."

OnSSI does not demand exclusivity from its distributors, although its certified channel partners must pass a certain level of training that has to be maintained every two years, Piran said. Its preferred partners have a gold program, when they sustain a certain level of sales per year and receive discounts based on that amount. The channel partners will also be supported with marketing funds. "We hold training all over the U.S., via seminars and webinars," Piran said.
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Venture Capital
Running a business requires great solutions, talented employees and cold hard cash. For start-ups, funding

▲Gadi Piran, President of On-Net Surveillance Systems

from venture capitalists helps maintain their operations and get them on their feet. Young video surveillance players who have successfully raised venture capital include ObjectVideo, 3VR and Pivot3. Component suppliers in security with venture capital funding include Pixim and Stretch, as silicon designs require a significant investment.

However, several companies do not depend on venture capital. Next Level, OnSSI and SightLogix are privately funded, so they do not need to attract investors.

Redefining Distribution
From the distributor perspective, business practices have changed with the times. "A lot of what we do is project-driven for installations, so correspondingly we don't need to hold that much stock," Harraway said. "The days of sitting there waiting for orders to roll in are long gone. We're seeing projects being delayed."

Warehousing requires balancing supply and demand. "Switches move incredibly fast," Harraway said. "The hard drives you ship in January will be twice that size in December. Currently, 2 TB is the standard, and now there's talk about 3 TB; last year, we thought 750 GB was big. You don't want to hold that inventory because in three months, you'll be seeing something else."

Depending on the project, the distributor may ask for advance payment or specific payment terms. "We can renegotiate those terms depending on the challenges the integrator is facing, and then go back up the channel to

▲John Romanowich, President and CEO of SightLogix

the manufacturers," Harraway said. "In regard to warranties or other services, the moment I ship, the clock starts ticking."

Manufacturers look to distributors for their contact base, which requires them to pound the pavement. "The best way to do that is to pick up the phone and tell customers about a new product for their market and ask if it is of interest," Harraway said. "Users want to spend the minimum they possibly can but still get the best system."

Customers are always looking for the biggest bang for their buck, but limited means has forced end users to be even more selective. As manufacturers and channel players have offered more flexible payment options to users, they help meet needs without overly burdening themselves. In turn, distributors, integrators and manufacturers are working together on lending, with extended terms, preferred pricing or rental options. In short, the recession has brought challenges, but nimble players have managed to beat the market with creative thinking. Money is hard to come by, but understanding customer needs and utilizing all possible financing options can still yield a profitable outcome.

Infinova Surveillance Cameras Transport through Chinese Expressways

Editor / Provider: Infinova | Updated: 6/9/2011 | Article type: Infrastructure

Infinova announced that 2,870 Infinova cameras are covering 516 miles of expressways throughout the northern province of Shanxi in China.  Expressways include Shangman, Xihan, Baoniu, Weipu, Shangjie, Baomao, Tongxi and Zhong’nan Mountain Tunnel. Besides Infinova cameras, the implementations also include Infinova matrix switchers, DVRs, fiber optic transceivers and modems, housings, Ethernet modems and other Infinova equipment.

"These complex installations show how obtaining equipment, from the cameras with several types of transmission technologies, to the DVRs, from the same vendor can make implementing such systems easier," said Mark Wilson, Marketing VP, Infinova. "For instance, the Shangman Expressway is integrated with 136 sets of Infinova WDR, dome and PTZ cameras as well as matrix switchers. The Xihan Expressway features the same cameras plus 260 pairs of fiber optic modems."

The WDR cameras are featured throughout the expressways. For example, the Zhong’nan Mountain Tunnel, at 11-mile the longest tunnel in China, uses 305 WDR to view through the low-light and illumination within the tunnel.  WDR cameras offer superiority over CCD cameras, providing a higher signal to noise ratio, improved color rendering and better image quality, yielding excellent video for the various expressway surveillance sites, all of which require detailed images under difficult lighting conditions.

Surveillance systems used on the expressways differ from traditional surveillance systems. The highway systems have decentralized edge sites, distributed along the expressways, all of which need to stand up to weather extremes, temperature fluctuations and the other rigors of an outdoor environment. Due to the long distances, transmission quality is a challenge and fiber is the best choice for the intelligent transport systems. To assure reliability, both node fiber optic modems and video encoders/decoders are deployed.

The use of a node fiber optic modem reduces the engineering costs of an expressway surveillance system. Also called a bus digital fiber optic modem or link type digital fiber optic modem, the video transmission system is networked through one or two fibers. Deploying a standard time division multiplex and an add/drop multiplex approach, the node fiber optic modems save fiber resources and extend transmission distances.

Firetide Wireless Video Surveillance System Cracks down on Crimes in Pennsylvania

Editor / Provider: Firetide | Updated: 5/27/2011 | Article type: Government & Public Services

Muggings, home break-ins, armed robberies, drug deals and even medical emergencies have been caught on Bethlehem, Pennsylvania's police department's wireless video surveillance system since it was first deployed in September 2009 and has dramatically helped improve the city's safety. Police have identified criminals, recovered stolen cars, busted drug dealers and users, cracked long-standing investigations and saved at least one person during a medical emergency. The system, deployed by Let's Think Wireless, uses Firetide's wireless infrastructure mesh equipment and Bosch PTZ cameras that are monitored in real time, 24 hours a day, seven days a week by police officials.

“Not even two years since the first wireless system was deployed and, to our surprise, we have had so many successes,” said Stuart Bedics, Bethlehem police Commissioner. “The wireless mesh network gives us coverage and access to areas where we don't have a police presence. It also provides us extra set of eyes to back up police when they are citing violations or conducting an investigation.”

Bethlehem PD chose the wireless infrastructure mesh system over a fiber-based one because it is less costly and gives them the flexibility to move and place cameras as needed. 50 surveillance cameras connected to 48 Firetide nodes have been placed in parks, high-crime areas and on the three bridges of the city. In addition, the wireless network has been integrated with Lehigh University's 13-camera wired video surveillance system extending the police's view into the campus. The primary viewing station is the 911 dispatch center where one of five dispatchers monitors the cameras 24/7. The watch commander, vice and narcotic officers, commissioner and Lehigh University officials also have access to the camera feeds. In addition, in one of Bethlehem's parks, the dispatchers are aided by Object Video's analytics software to protect a children's water park and public pool. The analytics software works in conjunction with two cameras to detect people entering the facility after hours and alert the PD.

“We chose to partner with Firetide because they have the best and proven wireless mesh infrastructure for video. The flexibility, performance and advanced features of their infrastructure are outstanding for sending and receiving video from multiple places all at once,” said Mickey Branson, Senior Director of National Sales, Let's Think Wireless.

The network has mushroomed from a pilot in two Elm Street parks in September 2009 to the 50-camera wireless network in high-crime areas in the South Side, in the new community art center and the multiple parks of the annual Musikfest site, among other locations. Funding comes from a combination of City of Bethlehem's budget and local sponsors such as the Elm Street Association, the Lehigh Transportation Authority for its parking garages and the non-profit agency of the Musikfest.

While most of the success stories are real-time apprehensions of criminals by police alerted to an incident by a 911 dispatcher, many are also after-the-fact apprehensions coming from reviewing video recordings that are stored for up to 30 days. For example, one recording helped police identify a car thief when in review the video showed the suspect parking the stolen car.

“Bethlehem is an example of the performance and flexibility of a video surveillance system required by law enforcement. The project also shows that public safety video surveillance is an excellent investment, especially in today's environment of strained municipal budgets,” said Bo Larsson, CEO of Firetide. “Wireless speeds projects and reduces infrastructure costs, especially in city environments where it would be cost prohibitive and disruptive to dig up sidewalks and close streets for construction. Reliable “eyes in the sky” needed to ensure public safety and protect first responders are now possible with wireless infrastructure mesh.”

Capturing Crystal Clear Images With Megapixel Technology

Editor / Provider: a&s International | Updated: 4/12/2011 | Article type: Tech Corner

Megapixel surveillance is not a new concept — its applications and benefits are starkly clear. What has changed are smarter cameras, taking advantage of the added pixels and a better understanding of illumination in real life. In the first of a two-part report, A&S examines how smarter megapixel cameras are getting; the second part looks at best practices for optimal performance.

The big picture for megapixel surveillance cameras looks bright, in the wake of the recession. HD and megapixel cameras are expected to make up nearly 30 percent of network camera shipments in 2011, according to IMS Research. By 2015, it is forecast that more than 60 percent of network cameras shipped will be of megapixel resolution.

The resolution increase has a noted effect on the whole surveillance system. While a 2.1-megapixel or 1,080p HD image is six times larger than a D1 image, the additional pixels require a bigger pipe to transmit more data. The infrastructure and storage costs for megapixel are well-documented, with ROI and TCO being used as arguments in favor of bigger pictures. The fate of megapixel is linked to the future of IP networks, with HD forecast to make up most high-resolution cameras compared to megapixel, according to IMS.

Megapixel surveillance requires careful planning, but the benefits of added resolution boost the accuracy of analytics. Edge devices take advantage of faster processors, resulting in smarter use of pixels. Analytics can help reduce bandwidth, as an event will trigger video streaming, rather than constantly sending the same still images over the network. A more distributed architecture puts less strain on networks and makes life easier.

Clarity is the main driver for megapixel. “At the end of the day, you're putting in a security system to protect life and provide evidence in a court of law,” said Stephen Moody, Security Development Manager for ViS Security Solutions, an integrator in Ireland.

Cracking the Code
H.264 is the de facto standard compression for megapixel cameras, due to its efficiency in crunching large data files into smaller ones for transmission and storage. As compression evolved from M-JPEG's stills to MPEG-4 and now to H.264, a variety of profiles yield differences in performance. With 17 profiles in all, three are the most common: baseline, main and high, said Sachin Khanna, PM for CCTV, Bosch Security Systems.

By profile, the baseline is appropriate for video conferencing; the main profile is good for broadcast video; and high profile is most applicable for HD broadcast video. “H.264 requires a fair amount of processing power for encoding and decoding; this may limit the camera's frame rate and dictate the NVR platform to achieve the desired performance,” said Rich Pineau, CTO of Oncam Global.

Most H.264 profiles stem from 2-D applications, with not all profiles being capable of integration. “Even if both cameras are H.264 and the manufacturers are partners, the system could still not work,” said Patrick Lim, Director of Sales and Marketing for Ademco Far East. “The I/O and output are hard to integrate. Some engineers say it's easy to plug and play — there's no such thing.”

 [NextPage]Different H.264 profiles are useful and important to maximize performance and efficiency, which affects camera selection. “Outside the top end of applications, people evaluate camera performance by visually comparing images from the cameras with different profile settings,” said Andrew Pigram, Technical Director at Norbain. “Ultimately, users want the highest quality for the lowest bandwidth, but will choose the right video stream profile for recording, transmission and live viewing.”

The compression's performance is marked by how well it captures moving images, without spiking in bit rate. “There are a variety of simple yet effective ways to evaluate encoder performance, such as waving a hand in front of the camera or panning the camera itself, like simulating a speed dome,” said Bengt Christensson, Senior Director of Marketing, Ambarella.

Baseline and high profile H.264 meet real-time requirements of about 100 to 200 milliseconds, with longer delays for megapixel, said Xiang Wei, CTO and VP of Engineering, Grandstream Networks.

Using H.264 permits megapixel cameras to match standard definition (SD) bit rates. An SD PTZ camera using MPEG-4 compression would need about 2.5 to 4.0 megabits per second (Mbps); the bit rate would fall to 1 to 1.75 Mbps using H.264, keeping storage manageable. “Most cannot see a difference between 1.5 Mbps and 6 Mbps in H.264 in side-by-side testing,” said Ed Thompson, CTO of DVTel.

However, some integrators prefer to work with MPEG-4 over H.264, minimizing any effects on quality. “It depends on the surveillance and recording platform because one of the serious cons is not every manufacturer supports the H.264 codec, particularly in remote monitoring situations,” Moody said.

Multiple Streams
No single compression profile will make or break a camera — it boils down to the viewing purpose. Nearly all megapixel cameras support multiple streams, allowing users to choose the appropriate one for different situations. “During off hours, a building could be monitored with M-JPEG at a slow frame rate, and switch to H.264 at a faster frame rate when an alarm is triggered,” said Becky Zhou, APAC Sales Director for Arecont Vision.

H.264 compression is less efficient with motion and also loses detail, while M-JPEG does not lose a frame. “If you have a lot of movement and every pixel changes every second, H.264 predicts what happens and what takes place in the scenery,” said Gerrit Schreiber, Senior PM at Basler. “But with M-JPEG, you are looking at the detail. For a plain surface, M-JPEG is most clear. But if you are looking at a mosaic with a high amount of detail, M-JPEG will increase bandwidth requirements.”

“M-JPEG is somewhat like the cockroach of the industry: It isn't very pretty, but it's very good at what it does, and it isn't going anywhere,” said Ian Johnston, CTO of IQinVision.

The lifespan of M-JPEG will be extended by increased storage. “There's going to come a time when cloud storage becomes so cheap and everyday, storage constraints will be a thing of the past,” said Todd Pinnell, PM for Video at Speco Technologies. “It's what you want to see and what you want to pay.”

[NextPage]Component Issues
One of the most noticeable trends in megapixel surveillance is intelligence. Analytics are being baked into the latest DSPs from Texas Instruments and Hisilicon, making basic algorithms — people counting, motion detection, missing object detection and tracking — nearly universal on megapixel cameras. “Basic intelligence would be motion detection; then, next are some more advanced analytics that go beyond to things we haven't thought of yet,” said Vance Kozik, PM at StarDot Technologies.

Analytics take advantage of faster processors and increased pixel counts. This makes edge devices suited for detail recognition, particularly for facial or license plate recognition that requires zoom, said Philip Siow, Senior Consultant for South APAC, Axis Communications.

While most megapixel cameras support basic analytics, they will support more intelligent access control and intrusion functions, said Ebony Huang, President and CEO of Brickcom.

HD or megapixel cameras are expected to become smarter with analytics and storage on the edge, changing video system architecture from server-centric to edge-centric and providing reductions in TCO. “With fewer servers to buy, install and maintain, coupled with a lighterweight network when not streaming the recording video back to the servers, the system becomes cheaper and easier to install and maintain,” Thompson said.

A smarter camera that puts less stress on the network will enable megapixel cameras to handle 24/7 recording. “There are also a few trade-offs to consider,” Christensson said. “Higher resolution and pixel rates require more processing, and features such as WDR will further add to the DSP cycles needed, requiring low-power ISP implementations.”

Higher pixel density will require higher processing power for the infrastructure, said William Ku, Director of Brand Business for Vivotek.

Image Sensors
Objectively, there are some benchmarks for identifying a megapixel camera with a good sensor. “Look at the pixel size,” Schreiber said. “Do not trust any of the sensitivity figures, because there is no standard.”

To combat poor low-light sensitivity, IR illuminators boost image sensor performance. “For side-by-side low-light performance, a CCD is more light-sensitive than a CMOS sensor,” Kozik said.“However, that is beginning to change.”

More pixels in megapixel sensors will generate more noise at night. “The performance with IR lighting for night conditions is quite important because there are some megapixel implications, particularly with IR-cut filter switching sometimes not being as smooth as a typical CCD camera,” Moody said.

[NextPage]Lenses
Megapixel cameras are constrained by the optical limits of lenses. True megapixel lenses are rare, expensive and therefore have not kept pace with image sensor increases. “One thing people use megapixel cameras for is the wider view requiring fewer cameras, but it's a challenge to do that with more background motion,” Moody said. “Lens adjustment in external areas of a large warehouse or retail situation may pick up too much background motion interference, with no relevance for the site's consideration. It is important that the scene does not overspill onto a surrounding road, where there may be excessive traffic flow.”

There are 5- or 10-megapixel lenses for machine vision, but they can retail from US$700 to $1,400 each — about the same price or even more than the camera itself. “There's not a standard lens that can provide the resolution for a 5-megapixel image sensor,” Schreiber said. “The pixel size is so small at 2 microns that it cannot be held with a standard lens. I can give you an example of a 5-megapixel camera using a bad lens resulting in a worse image than a 1.3-megapixel camera with a good lens.”

A good megapixel lens should have the same resolution at the edges as well as the center, Khanna said. Image performance should be maintained throughout lighting changes, particular for outdoor scenes that require IR correction.

Fisheye lenses are catching on in megapixel surveillance, thanks to increased sensor sizes. A good hemispheric camera should select a fisheye lens that is responsive and matches its sensor, Pineau said.

Looking at the spec sheets is good reference, but nothing beats field tests. “We do quite a lot of large projects, where the client requests 100 to 200 cameras, so this type of application warrants looking at megapixel or HD cameras to reduce the camera quantities,” Moody said. “We go out with footage, show them how it was tested in various conditions and show them the results for cameras 1, 2, 3 and 4. We will show them the one we would recommend; it is important that the client understands the choice and why we have recommended a certain type of camera over another.”

On paper, there are relatively few differences between cameras. However, software and programming will affect performance; two cameras using the same hardware can produce completely different results. In our next section, we explore best practices in megapixel camera installation, particularly for illumination, as well as real-life project specifications.

Bosch Renovates UK Local Authority Surveillance Network

Editor / Provider: Bosch Security Systems | Updated: 4/7/2011 | Article type: Government & Public Services

UK's North East Lincolnshire Council is carrying out a major overhaul of its surveillance infrastructure, selecting Bosch Security Systems PTZ cameras to be at the center of its new surveillance network.

The councils existing PTZ cameras have been operating for more than 16 years and are becoming obsolete. Following consultations it was decided to roll out a programme to replace each of the units with Bosch cameras. To date, three cameras have been installed in Grimsby town center and a further nine existing cameras are due to be replaced in the Spring.

As well as the new cameras, the council is also installing a direct link from Grimsby Police Station into its new digital recording system, this will allow the images from each camera to be retrieved more quickly should the police require evidence to support a conviction; a process that used to take hours can now be completed in seconds. The quality of the images captured by Bosch cameras has already made identifying offenders far quicker and easier and therefore more useful to the police.

The replacement scheme is being funded jointly by the council and the Balfour Beatty‘s Workplace Partnership, as a spokesman explained: “We have 147 cameras operating in North East Lincolnshire, and we monitor a total of 161 cameras throughout the borough. Initially we are installing nine Bosch's cameras which have been chosen over other options due to their reliable performance and tough, vandal-resistant construction that ensures little or no maintenance is required. They are easy to install which reduces the time and cost involved in setting-up and commissioning the camera. Since installing the three cameras we have now, we have had no failures reported.”

Cameras have been installed in areas such as Grimsby Town Centre, Freeman Street and Cleethorpes. Waltham has seven cameras that are operated by the Parish Council; there is an option within the project to allow these cameras to be linked to North East Lincolnshire Council's system. The Council is also planning to install three more cameras in Immingham town centre.

From April last year, the cameras recorded a total of 440 incidents including 143 assaults, 150 thefts and 27 acts of vandalism, of which 184 were reviewed by police. It is hoped the improved image quality and easy access to footage will significantly increase this conviction rate.

Quality Domes Hold No Viewing Limits Ⅱ

Editor / Provider: a&s International | Updated: 3/25/2011 | Article type: Tech Corner

Lens
A lens with auto back focus is essential for image quality. “For a fixed dome, what's really important is a good lens that's easy to adjust,” Corrall said. “You can go to any focal length, and it will stay in focus. That's important to installers and makes sure the focus is always crisp.”

The dome's lens must also have enough resolution to support the image sensor. As higher resolution is seen mostly in fixed network domes, standard definition (SD) lenses will not focus light properly on image sensors with more pixels. This will result in blurred edges and loss of corner detail.

Full high definition resolution at 1080p is 16:9 or 2.1 megapixel, which is a wider aspect ratio compared to 4:3 in SD. “The corner detail needs to have sufficient TVLs,” said Allen Yang, PM at Etrovision Technology.

Bubb le Trouble One of the easiest ways to distinguish a dome's quality is by looking at the dome bubble. “Bubbles are made of either polycarbonate for superior strength or acrylic for superior clarity,” Crosby said. “Acrylic allows for the greatest performance with IR illumination. Both low-light and IR performances are affected by any tinting that the bubble may have. The more tinted, the more covert, but the lower the sensitivity.”

Under normal conditions, customers prefer smoked bubbles, but clear domes are accepted for outdoors, Atsushi said.

Corrall agreed, noting that many people do not expect an effect from smoked bubbles. “It can be like viewing through sunglasses.”

The bubble should be as flawless as possible, so the camera has a clear view no matter where the lens is pointing. “Under high magnification, a dome cannot lose focus,” Huang said. “A commercial bubble may work at 20x, but does not work at a higher magnification.”

A bubble's material determines where it can be used. “A town center is different from a petrochemical site; it could be polycarbonate, lexan or stainless steel,” Pigram said. “Whether it's curved, plastic or glass makes a big difference for the optical quality.”

The bubble must be easy to install as well. Some vendors include a cord or insurance line attaching the bubble to the back box, so it does not accidentally get dropped and break.

[NextPage]Speed Dome Differentiators
Speed domes do not have the field-of-view limits of fixed domes, as most can pan up to 400 degrees per second. However, being fast is not always a plus. “If you put a dome in a location, set it to patrol and it moves too fast, you cannot capture details,” Yang said.

Considerations include preset accuracy, response to controls,masking and zoom ratios, Pigram said.

The biggest challenges for moving domes are the camera module and power supply. Waterproofing must be noted, as moisture may seep into the power supply and cause failure, or fog up the bubble with droplets, Chang said. Indoor domes may overheat and fail with processors, image sensors and pan-tilt driver units in close proximity, so the dome's construction material should be noted.

Speed domes must have reliable operation, Smith said. Some speed domes enable automatic tracking, which is helpful if an operator is not present. However, possible false alarms make auto-tracking domes suited for less busy scenes.

Motor Motion
The weakest point in speed and PTZ domes is the pan-tilt driver for accurate positioning, particularly for network domes. “We try to match IP domes to analog speed dome accuracy,” Atsushi said. “A few years ago, no one could achieve it, but now it is nearly the same.”

Other key criteria for speed domes are the maximum and minimum speeds, along with the number of steps, Crosby said. The acceleration and deceleration curves will affect how quickly the dome moves to maximum speed, slows to minimum speed and when it sets its position. Speed domes should be equipped with a reliable slip ring.

Some countries require privacy masks to be set over homes or sensitive areas. “Privacy zones are also an important consideration, especially for public-space installations where residential units are in close proximity to the areas being monitored,” Smith said.

PTZ Differentiators
PTZ cameras allow for features such as IR illumination. One advantage of the PTZ is the flat glass, Pigram said. “You don't get the distortion and internal reflection that you get from a curved surface.” The flat glass also improves clarity, as wipers can be added.

However, PTZ is not ideal for high-resolution imaging. “The trouble with anything high-resolution is it exaggerates and amplifies the problems you have,” Pigram said. “You have to make that choice if you want a dome or move to a bullet-style camera. If it's a very challenging application at night or you need to see real resolution, you need to take the lens and bubble into consideration.”

Speed domes and PTZ cameras are auto-focus cameras, Atsushi said. Advances in consumer recorders have been adapted to auto-focus lenses for surveillance cameras, keeping images clear despite the changing point of view.

[NextPage]Soft Powers
In-house design can reduce cost for the PTZ camera block, which is usually the most expensive component. “Our own R&D allows us to control cost, and feature development is not limited by thirdparty vendors,” said Garrett Li, Marketing Manager for DynaColor.

Beyond components,good software affects dome image quality as well. Manufacturers A and B may use the same DSP and an identical image sensor, but still get different results. “I can show you two cameras using the same hardware but running different software, and the images can look like they're from two completely different cameras,” Corrall said. “Without quality software inside the camera, the quality of the components used doesn't really matter.”

Image stabilization is required to correct the vibration while the PTZ is moving, Corrall added. “A user-friendly interface helps installers save time while setting presets.”

Balancing Act
Selecting the best dome is not rocket science, but the fastest processor, most sensitive image sensor and best dome drive will add up to major sticker shock. As most applications do not require comprehensive functionality, actual usage considerations will determine what dome can deliver at an acceptable price point. Product quality and reliability remain essential for value no matter what the price is, but different components will result in different costs.

Dome selection boils down to site and budget considerations. Some of the same issues also apply to IP domes, which have gained market share. In our next article, we examine performance concerns for network-enabled domes.

Quality Domes Hold No Viewing Limits Ⅰ

Editor / Provider: a&s International | Updated: 3/25/2011 | Article type: Tech Corner

What makes a dome good? A&S examines performance and installation issues to illustrate how fixed, speed and PTZ domes make the cut in an increasingly IP-enabled world.

Dome cameras are characterized by their distinctive bubbles, offering installers an extra option for demanding sites. They can be adapted for different applications, depending on user requirements and monitoring purposes.

Fixed domes are much like box cameras, except for a rounded form factor for easy installation and aesthetics. Mostly deployed for indoor surveillance, installers can adjust fixed domes for lens position, viewing angle and focus. Once the dome is installed, operators can only view a set area.

Speed and PTZ domes overcome the viewing limitations of fixed domes. They can monitor specific scenes or targets by size, position or both. Other uses for speed and PTZ domes include patrolling specific routes at a set time, or integration with intrusion detection for alarm verification.

PTZ cameras are not always housed in bubbles, offering more lens options and camera functions. However, they are usually larger, heavier and pricier than speed domes. As speed domes are housed in a single unit, they have a smaller form factor, more mounting options and greater pricing flexibility.

Ease of Installation
Regardless of dome type, the cameras must be easy to install. As most domes are suspended from ceilings or poles, they require installers to climb ladders, or utilize basket cranes or cherry pickers. This altitude limits the time and amount of tools installers can use placing the dome, which can be quite heavy, said Rich Huang , PM at EverFocus Electronics.

Installation is a two-step process for most domes. “Construction and industrial design affect performance,” said Alf Chang, Senior Consultant for A&S magazines and a former integrator. First, the housing is placed,and then the camera is fitted into the back box and enclosure.

The mount, or where the camera attaches to the back box, has a crucial effect on performance, Chang said. Metal mounts tend to be too rigid and cause too much interference. Plastic mounts can be too soft and loose, which may result in the camera dropping out of the mount and landing in the bubble. Understanding what materials a dome is made of can reduce maintenance calls.

Reliability is another benchmark of a good dome. “We look at good value for money, whether it's for the top-end, medium or budget applications,” said Andrew Pigram, Technical Director at Norbain. “But you can't sell rubbish to anyone.”

[NextPage]Fixed Dome Differentiators
Fixed dome selection looks at image quality, resolution, progressive or interlaced, and sensitivity, Pigram said. “Linked to those is whether you have a sophisticated DSP with noise reduction, which is related to performance.”

A dome's back-box construction will affect heat dissipation. “Too many ICs will overheat the camera and shorten its lifespan,” Chang said. Inferior materials will also cause interference, such as a bad lens connector, which should be inspected before purchase.

One way to infer how hot a dome might get is by looking at power usage. “Low power consumption is important to save power, but also for thermal operation,” said Jeff Corrall, Product Line Manager for Edge Devices, March Networks. “If you heat up a camera, it could malfunction. Or it may function properly, but its overall life cycle is reduced if the components are outside temperature specifications.”

A more prosaic benchmark is the dome's ability to lock position, said Ian Crosby, Product Marketing Manager for CCTV, Bosch Security Systems. The better the dome stays put, the better it will prevent shock and vibration effects.

Processors
A dome's processor determines its functionality. As chips have gotten faster and smaller, more features are now built into dome cameras, such as slow shutter, wide dynamic, Sens-up or digital noise reduction. “Some features are better on the edge, but they will depend on your computing power,” Huang said. “You need to select a faster or bigger CPU for analytics.”

A dome line may be divided into high-end and budget models by DSP. “Security is a relatively low-volume business, but requires many types of cameras,” Huang said.

Axis designs its own ASIC chip and this gives the company an edge in the market, said Erik Fr?nnlid, Director of Product Management, Axis Communications. Its processor features software for image correction, such as a corridor format that optimizes scenes that are more vertical than horizontal, such as hallways or tunnels. Modular designs and use of the latest technologies, as well as good forecasting and planning, allow Axis to source components in large quantities, which keeps prices manageable, Fr?nnlid added.

Samsung Techwin also has its own semiconductor foundry, using the same DSP chipset for its dome range. “We have ranges of both analog and network domes, including megapixel versions, arriving very soon,” said James Smith, European Marketing Manager.

[NextPage]Image Sensors
Another deciding factor in dome selection is the image sensor. Whether the sensor comes with an image processor will affect image quality, along with the sensor 's format, Chang said.

Resolution and frame rate are considerations in sensor selection. “Low-light performance is also important,” Corrall said. Global shutter on CMOS chips has better image results compared to rolling shutter.

However, CCD sensors still outperform CMOS ones in most low-light conditions. “For image sensors for fixed domes, good low-light performance requires CCDs,” Huang said. “But as CMOS improves, that will change.”

To differentiate, some vendors develop their own image sensors, while making themselves less vulnerable to sourcing fluctuations from component suppliers. “We provide image sensors for both CCD and CMOS,” said Iida Atsushi, PM of Security Solutions, Business and Professional Products for APAC, Sony Electronics. Pan-tilt mechanisms are also made in-house, saving sourcing time; on the other hand, they add to development cost.

The line between CCD and CMOS is almost always drawn at resolution, with analog and network domes delivering different results. “An analog image is interlaced, so if an analog dome is connected to an encoder, you only see about 400 TVLs,” said Caroline Kuan, Marketing Specialist at DynaColor.“IP domes are at least 600 TVLs, which make a difference in image quality.”

True network cameras use progressive scan, Fr?nnlid added.

Milestone Video Management Gathers Worldwide Beach and Costal Spectacles

Editor / Provider: Milestone Systems | Updated: 3/24/2011 | Article type: Commercial Markets

Milestone Systems' open platform IP VMS is being used by Coastalwatch, an innovative analytics and media content company that services international surf life saving and coastal management needs by delivering live and recorded video and information on beaches and coastlines around the globe via its CoastalCOMS division.

As a main component of the CoastalCOMS monitoring platform, the Queensland, Australia-based company is using Milestone software to provide live video surveillance and analytics solutions to marine safety and coastal management officials in several cities in Australia and the U.S. CoastalCOMS' analytics software and multinational network of hosted coastal cameras are also used for the collection of real-time data, such as wave height and wave period analysis, vessel monitoring and counting, people counting on beaches, as well as tracking changes in the shoreline and general beach state.

With access to more than a hundred Coastalwatch-owned cameras on the ground in Australia and many more private or municipally owned cameras in the U.S and abroad, CoastalCOMS uses Milestone software to centrally view and control cameras globally, layering in the ability to extract data for environmental monitoring, public education, tourism and recreational usage.

Different combinations of the imagery and information are used by such customers as the City and County of Honolulu Hawaii's Ocean Safety Division, where CoastalCOMS assists surf lifesavers with hosted surveillance platforms capable of wave height analysis and people counting. The City of Galveston, Texas, also chose CoastalCOMS for surveillance of remote beaches because it increased the ability to measure the amount of shoreline change as a result of hurricanes.

"Milestone software allows us to create 'networks' of coastal cameras on the fly, patterning and sourcing video from both new and existing beach cameras according to each customer's needs. We then process the video in real time for different groups based on their reporting needs and workflows," said Tim Chandler, President and CEO of CoastalCOMS. "Integrated into our solution using the Milestone SDK, the platform makes it possible for us to provision access to the video and cameras so only the right people can view the video and information at the right times."

Video streams from a CoastalCOMS camera network being used by Surf Life Saving Queensland are also available to the public on Coastalwatch.com, which provides live video images, wave height and swell information, daily surf reports and other news to the international surfing community. When authorities need to take manual control of the cameras during a lifesaving incident, integration with CoastalCOMS solution allows the live images and HD video on the media site to be cut off and replaced with other media content so as not to broadcast the command and control activities of life savers and marine safety to the public.

Coastalwatch uses mostly Sony cameras in their network and the networks they install for clients.

"We can attest to how great the Sony optics and imaging are, as well as to the importance of their PTZ cameras' ‘return-to-preset' accuracies and overall encoding abilities for what we do. We are now scheduling cameras and reading video for processing directly from the Milestone database via integration with our CoastalCOMS cloud platform. With the API, CoastalCOMS-enabled cameras can automatically reposition themselves based on alerts from external sensors or data feeds, such as a status change in an emergency management system, a weather service warning or alert, or a measured change that happens in front of the camera - we don't even have to press a button," Chandler explains. "This provides our customers with unprecedented abilities to gather information and images to better understand conditions and coordinate responses in changing beach environments around the world."

Surf Life Saving Denmark last year installed a HD CoastalCOMS camera at Hvide Sande Beach in West Denmark as a pilot project. The HD camera is in use to support life-saving efforts by providing decision support at this busy German tourist destination. Video from the system is managed via CoastalCOMS' hosted Milestone cloud presence in the U.K. and can be serviced jointly by both US and Australian offices. Since most of the infrastructure normally deployed on location is instead deployed in the cloud, the only resource they need in Denmark for this solution is a local resource for simple break fixes on the field hardware. The added abilities of CoastalCOMS' wave and environmental data processing for the lifeguards will be useful for both public safety and tourism.

Oncam Cameras Spotlight on London's Residential Towers

Editor / Provider: Oncam Global | Updated: 3/18/2011 | Article type: Residential & Consumer

Oncam Global has designed a customized security solution for The Landmark, one of London's latest luxury residential addresses.

Boasting floor-to-ceiling panoramic views of the London skyline, this property, developed by Chalegrove Properties, consists of four towers joined by a landscaped central public piazza with convenient retailers and cafes, creating an upscale and vibrant community.

Critical to designing the security system for The Landmark was “first, understanding our key concerns and goals, as identified by security staff,” said Karim Azem, GM, Chalegrove. “Those key concerns are to protect residents, personnel and guests by stopping unauthorized visitors from gaining entry to residential areas in the luxury towers and to prevent vehicles in the car park and retail shops from vandalism and theft.”

“For example, while cameras continue live surveillance, retrospective video from all cameras can be viewed to track suspicious events; so, even thieves working in pairs or groups in different areas of the property are captured by Oncam's networked cameras, regardless of the concierge staff's focus at that time,” said Paul Stout, MD of InCam Digital Surveillance.

“Each Oncam network camera and third-party fixed and PTZ camera is situated to provide maximum coverage outside the buildings and in the central piazza, and within the luxury towers, with camera locations in the lobby areas, entrances, residents' gymnasium, underground parking area and the bicycle storage rooms,” Stout said.

Chalegrove's Azem noted that The Landmark's two concierge centers are manned 24 hours a day with staff trained by Oncam to manage all manner of situations that may arise, from typical security or liability events such as theft or destruction of property, to more serious breaches such as behavior that is harmful to residents.

HIKVISION Makes An Exhibition of Itself at World Expo

Editor / Provider: Submitted By Hikvision Digital Technology | Updated: 3/10/2011 | Article type: China Corner

Thousands of HD fixed and PTZ cameras from Hikvision have been installed in Shanghai Pudong District, China, the setting for World Expo 2010. The six-month-long event revived the tradition of world fairs and expositions of the kind staged in Chicago (1893) and St Louis (1904), a year in which the extravaganza also played host to the Olympic Games.

Hikvision's equipment was charged with securing this world showcase by the Huangpu River in which exhibiting countries promoted national identity in their pavilions. The theme of the US pavilion was “Rising to the Challenge”, with American innovation and community-building being represented in a multi-dimensional presentation. The UK pavilion, named the ‘Seed Cathedral', was constructed from 60,000 seven-metre-long aluminium rods. An exhibit that attracted particular interest was the Saudi Arabian pavilion which featured a hanging boat shaped like a half moon, complete with live date palms on the top deck.

Expo 2010 Shanghai China was a $4bn festival set to receive 100 million visitors by October. Visitors came from 190 countries to an exhibition site of 3.2 square miles, this being twice the size of the country of Monaco (equivalent to 1,000 soccer pitches) and featuring buildings shaped like rabbits alongside violin-playing robots. The exhibition even featured Copenhagen's ‘Little Mermaid' who travelled from Denmark for the event.

The Expo prompted a city-wide infrastructure makeover of $45bn, and in keeping with the scale of the enterprise, the exhibition site benefited from the world's largest scale high-definition city surveillance project with 12,000 monitoring points covering the infrastructure of the Pudong district of Shanghai. Thousands of HD fixed and PTZ cameras from Hikvision have been used on the project.

HD Video in Real-time
The project is the world's largest provision of high-definition video, with footage being provided to police at a central monitoring facility. A specification of the client was that cameras should give users the ability to track and zoom in on individuals or vehicles so that facial details and license plates could be observed, requirements that made major demands on product performance and system design.

The IP cameras from Hikvision adopted for the Expo feature a 1/1.8 inch SONY progressive scan CCD. Hikvision's H.264 video compression codec has been used and redundancy is provided by SD/SDHC local card storage.

Pushing the Boundaries
In the past, it had not been possible to view specific details of people or vehicles clearly from footage provided by the legacy analogue cameras being used in the Pudong area. People or objects involved in emergencies or significant incidents have proved difficult to identify, so handicapping police officers who need to conduct criminal investigations and logistical analysis.

Hikvision, with its track record in video technology development, supplied HD cameras that met the project requirements, delivering HD video with resolution of up to 1600x1200 pixels in real time. With the addition of Hikvision's image signal processing technology, the video quality has exceeded all expectations.

System Design
To achieve wide area monitoring, the original system often employed many analogue cameras across a single zone. For instance, at a crossroads there may have been a requirement for three or four cameras to monitor traffic flow across multiple lanes. By contrast, a single HD camera has covered a whole intersection with better image detail. Economies in installation and simplification of management processes have been significant.

The project offered authorities a flexible monitoring solution by combining PTZ cameras with fixed units. In critical environments with complex optical demands such as entrances, public squares and crossroads where there is significant scope for accidents, the PTZ cameras have been preferred and have allowed management to track and zoom in on targets to acquire facial and license plate data. By contrast, the fixed cameras provided video of simple traffic flow and the everyday movement of pedestrians for retrospective playback and retrieval.

HD Video Transmission
Confronted on the ground with the client's demands for image clarity, Hikvision used an HD-SDI interface in preference to the regular CVBS approach, combined with optic fibre for minimal delay. Police at the central monitoring station have thus received HD video in real-time, and can exercise PTZ control from the back end with nominal time lag, the delay being less than 250 milliseconds.

Other user benefits included remote camera configuration and upgrades to image signal processing algorithms from within the central monitoring station such that there was no need for onsite adjustment. This was of value to the client since there was little disruption to the core operation of the trade fair which had immense commercial and political importance.

Time synchronisation in all the network devices has been another highlight of the Expo project, allowing police to retrieve appropriate video clips. The control centre featured a time server to which devices can be connected directly for synchronization, while front-end products can be integrated via Network Time Protocol (NTP).

System Integration
With the aim of simplifying management tasks, a centralized surveillance framework was implemented at the Shanghai project to manage all the sub systems. Using open architecture, this integrated all the analogue, fixed HD and PTZ HD surveillance products into one software platform which linked the control centre and local police stations throughout the Pudong area of Shanghai.

The CCTV project proved demonstrably successful in meeting the client's high surveillance requirements, optimizing security for core infrastructure components such as main roads, bus stations, rail transit and public spaces throughout the exhibition area.

Centralized and Distributed Storage
Another challenge was data storage. Since multiple HD cameras create enormous quantities of video data, using powerful storage technology has been paramount. IP and FC storage area networks (SAN) have been used to achieve centralised network data archiving.

The application also used an NVR server in police stations for temporary caching in the event of connectivity faults between police bases and the control centre. Once the communication link is restored, video footage retained in the NVR can be uploaded retrospectively to the IP SAN automatically.

Mr Yangzhong Hu, President of Hikvision, said: “The theme of Expo 2010 Shanghai China is ‘Better city, better life.' It is therefore fitting that the organisers have opted for a security product manufacturer that strives constantly for improvement.”

He continued: “The experience we drew on during this project, combined with R & D capability and an innovative approach, allowed us to respond to a demanding brief. The installation demonstrated the lengths Hikvision will go to in order to consolidate its leading position in the surveillance market, providing sophisticated products that address customers' real needs at massive infrastructure sites of this kind.”