Low cost CCTV observation systems for small- to-medium-scale end user requirements are now a reality thanks to Philips Communication, Security and Imaging’s (CSI) addition of digital recording to its well-established REO colour observation systems.
The new system – which will have obvious benefits for retail outlets and hotel chains – handles up to eight cameras in combining a standard REO system with the DVR1 single-channel digital recorder. This offers a low cost entry to full digital CCTV recording complete with networking and remote viewing (if required by the end user for a particular application).
Philips’ combination set-up provides the end user with real time, time lapse and alarm/event digital recording (with motion detection) at ten images per second. For many applications there’s no need for any tape or other back-up, or any operator intervention – the DVR1 is its own archive.
Networking has been made easy. The DVR1 is simply connected to a networked PC or via the Internet, allowing remote viewing and networking of live or recorded video.
This is an attractive proposition for multiple retail operators, for example, who might want to centralise their CCTV security management and remotely view activity at their regional outlets.
Philips offers a range of DVR1 digital recorder models with hard disk storage capacities from 40 through to 160 Gb. Using a typical time lapse recording mode of 10 ips, this provides the end user with anything up to a week’s recording on hard disk with instant retrieval and viewing as standard.
End users can select standard recording speeds from 1 ips to 25 ips (with automatic switching to faster speeds for high quality images whenever an event or alarm occurs).
Keeping the vandals at bay
Sanyo has launched a range of vandal-resistant domes complete with integral cameras.
Designed for applications in banks, schools, prisons, hospitals, retail environments and public buildings, the cameras vary from standard resolution monochrome to high resolution colour models boasting varifocal lenses.
Models in the VDC range include the VDC-C1572FP (surface-mounted colour dome) and the VDC-C2572FP (flush-mounted colour dome).
Integrated security… in a box
Pacom Witness has been added to Bell Group’s Pacom Systems electronic security suite – an intelligent, networkable unit that can control and manage CCTV, access control and alarm requirements. Of most interest to the end user, perhaps, is the fact that Witness is equipped with on-board distributed intelligence – enabling it to make decisions or trigger events in either a stand-alone or fully-networked environment.
Witness has no special network requirements. It can operate over an existing corporate network, and can transport both video and audio. With support for eight cameras (the system is expandable to 16), the Witness set-up enables end users to configure camera-specific transmission and storage parameters. Local recording is possible thanks to an on-board hard drive.
The product also boasts integrated intrusion and access control capabilities, providing access solutions for up to 16 doors and supporting up to 1,000 cardholders. A number of card technologies are supported – including proximity and smart cards.
Witness is able to connect intelligently with up to 16 keypads, and provide intelligent arming and disarming abilities for anything up to eight different zones.
Mini monitors courtesy of JVC
With a screen size of just 10″, JVC’s latest ‘mini monitor’ is an ideal solution for end users who need to save space in their Control Room or site office. The TM-A101G offers 300 TV lines of horizontal resolution, and is fully-adjustable via its on-screen menu. Simple front panel controls make for easy use in all types and sizes of Control Room.
Additional features include selectable aspect ratio, simplified controls in tandem with global compatibility, dual video/audio input and built-in loudspeaker function.
CCTV on the Web
Video communications specialist Motion Media has developed a portable video-over-IP (Internet Protocol) surveillance and monitoring solution – allowing end users to view their premises remotely from a PC or laptop at another site, from home or from any location where the PC may be connected to an IP network.
Two solutions are available: the Eyesite 140 – an IP-ready video transmission unit – and Eyesite for Windows (a PC-based software viewer). These work together to provide an integrated solution for remote surveillance.
In operation, the Eyesite 140 is placed at the surveillance site and up to six cameras connected to it. The software viewer is installed on the PC or laptop and linked via the IP network. Once online, the monitoring officer can then view live images, listen to real time audio and control the camera view positions as desired.
The Eyesite 140 allows the transmission of video, audio and alarm signals over IP via LAN and WAN, DSL and cable modem broadband networks.
It’s in the CAN… thanks to Borer
Borer Data Systems has unveiled the CAN Reader – a system that the Wokingham-based outfit has dubbed the blueprint for a new generation of access control hardware.
Current generations of door access control systems are based, of course, on a card reader head with a Wiegand or magnetic stripe interface connected to a separate control panel and power supply. Borer’s CAN technology enables a proximity card access reader/controller which is faster, smaller and far more flexible than such systems.
In practice, a number of different devices – door access readers, attendance terminals and alarm monitors, etc – can be connected on one CAN network configured in a star or daisy chain topology. Unlike conventional solutions, any one device on a network can talk to any other device (thus a device monitoring a fire panel, for example, can force all doors to open without the intervention of a controlling PC when a fire alarm is reported).
With data transmission rates of up to 1 Mbit/s, the Borer CAN network is anything up to 100 times faster than traditional solutions. For example, a card access transaction is processed in four thousandths of a second (in contrast to the industry norm of a quarter of a second).
Borer has also been keen to improve security with the system. When a user presents a card to the CAN reader there follows a two-way ‘mutual authentication’ procedure that validates both card and card reader. No exchange of data will take place – and the card will not divulge its information – until both card and reader are completely authenticated.
Stash the cash
The outsourcing of cash transportation has been made easier thanks to the launch of the Omal Counter Cache Pouch from Volumatic, the cash management and retail security specialist.
Mounted at the point of sale, the Pouch offers a secure method of transporting notes, cheques, vouchers and credit card slips from the checkout to the point of reconciliation.
Items are transferred from the till drawer to the metal unit, and temporarily stored in the pouch. This ensures that cash lifts may be carried out at the most convenient time, when staff are at reduced risk of attack and when customer queues are at their smallest.
Batch sizes of between one and 20 items can be received in one go, up to a maximum storage capacity of 350 currency-sized pieces of paper. Accepting all currency denominations, the pouch has been specifically designed to enhance the processes linked to outsourcing cash transportation and counting.
Digital Sprite… Take 2
Now designed in a robust silver and chrome unit, DMs’ Digital Sprite 2 combines video multiplexing, digital recording and dome control
CCTV specialist Dedicated Micros has introduced Digital Sprite 2 – offering the security professional a cost-effective combination of video multiplexing, network video transmission, digital recording and dome control in one, self-contained and easy-to-use package.
The latest model introduces a Remote Network Support facility, allowing the operator to make system adjustments over the network without the need for a site visit. In reality, the operator connects to the Digital Sprite 2 in a password-protected administration mode that allows access to the menus as they appear on the unit themselves.
System adjustments – such as record dates, day/night schedules and activity grid amendments – may then be made remotely.
Up to two internal hard disks and the ability to archive to external RAID units can provide up to eight months of continuous digital recording. All recordings have a digital signature applied to them, and are accessible to the user at the touch of a button – or via powerful GOTO and event preview facilities.
An advanced activity search function allows the user to scan a particular area of the image for movement. Digital Sprite 2 will identify and play back the sequence of video that contains activity, and the operator can skip backwards and forwards to selected points with ease.
The ergonomically-designed keyboard allows for the control of up to 16 units (equating to 256 cameras). Direct telemetry control is now a reality, while the keyboards are backwards-compatible with existing Digital Sprite installations.
