The infrared illumination forms an integral part of a significant CCTV installation on a site covering several hundred acres. The installation – designed and installed by Gardner Security – comprises various manufacturers’ day/night colour-monochrome CCTV cameras and two Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras covering the site’s entry and exit points.
All cameras are supported by Derwent’s infrared illumination to enable effective night-time surveillance.
Talking about the project, Gardner Security’s managing director Darren Sheppard explained to SMT Online: “The client was very specific about the quality of image they required and the levels of recognition they wanted to achieve. That’s why the cameras and illuminators selected for this installation are of the highest quality, to ensure high definition images in low or even no light conditions.”
Growing trend of metal theft
The need for a new security system was driven by a number of factors, most notably the desire to combat a growing trend of metal thefts across the region. Being such a large and dispersed site, the utility also suffers from fly-tipping, incurring significant costs for the disposal of other people’s rubbish.
According to a spokesperson for the utility, Gardner Security won the tender due to ‘its clear and appropriate response’. Gardiner consulted with distributor Norbain at length before proposing a solution that comprises 44 cameras, positioned at strategic points across the site and two ANPR cameras covering the facility’s front and rear automated gates.
The cameras are supported by Derwent’s halogen bulb-based UF500 infrared illuminators. Sheppard continued: “The UF500 illuminators are easy to install and flexible, with a range of beam patterns and wavelengths which gives us plenty of options. There’s also a choice of single or twin-lamp operation power supply which helps with the installation.”
Inexpensive running and maintenance costs
The night-time image quality achieved has apparently set the benchmark, while the camera and illumination combination is now being requested by the customer for all new installations.
“From a client’s point of view they are also very inexpensive to run and maintain,” suggested Sheppard. “The lamps consume very little power and, if someone throws a stone at them, the glass is inexpensive to replace. With an LED unit, you’d have to replace the whole unit.”
Sheppard went on to state: “Where we’ve used high specification cameras, the infrared can at times prevent the cameras from switching to mono. In these situations, we simply changed the filters on the illuminators from the 730 nM to 830 nM filters. This flexibility is essential when quality of image and system performance is the over-riding factor.”
How the illumination works in practice
When someone enters the facility at night they trigger detectors that alert the cameras to their presence. The infrared light, which is virtually undetectable to the human eye, illuminates the scene for the cameras and reveals the situation in high definition monochrome images.
“Where multiple detectors are used, the cameras automatically track an individual around the whole site,” added Sheppard. “The system sends video images of an intruder to a 24-hour monitoring centre where the activity is observed and the appropriate action can be taken.”
In addition, the 24/7 surveillance capability of the system is also expected to significantly reduce the cost of security guarding.
There’s no doubt that the utility’s management is pleased with the performance of the system installed, to the extent that Gardner Security is now a preferred contractor which, a spokesman says, “is a testament in itself to the quality of the project undertaken.”
