Vandal-resistant
The MagnaView is the latest vandal-resistant (and weather-resistant) camera from Silent Witness. It can withstand a blow from a 10 lbs sledgehammer.
Increased options include: vari-focal option on all camera types, wider view, smoother installation and increased flexibility.
Scaleable privacy zones
The Orbiter Gold and Lite Microspheres from VCL are built around “premier quality”, high resolution colour cameras, colour/mono change-over cameras and X-wave colour/mono change-over cameras.
Advanced CCD technology with better than 50 dB signal-to-noise ratio, means low light operation is possible. For colour this is 1 lux and for mono it is 0.01 lux.
For still lower light levels, “Frame Integration”increases the exposure time of each Microsphere image, enables usable colour images to be produced at 0.4 lux and mono images at 0.01 lux or better.
The Orbiter Gold and Lite range also offer advanced, scaleable Privacy Zone functionality. A preset view is used to define the area to be blanked, which then scales to remain the same size on the view as the operator pans past the blanked area or zooms in and out from it.
The Gold has 28 privacy zones, so more than one can be joined together to make more complex shapes. The Lite has one.
Sector identification: The Orbiter Gold divides the full 360-degree coverage into 16 sectors, each with identification text. The width of the sectors is programmable and each ident has ten characters. This allows views to be clearly labelled so the operator knows exactly what the Microsphere is targeting.
And it is no longer necessary to specify “in coax” or “twisted pair” telemetry. All Orbiter Gold and Lite Microspheres can be controlled by either in the same unit.
This is simple for ordering and reduces your stock.
More attractive styling
Molynx Videmech has introduced a number of improvements to the Surcha Minidome range, following its acquisition by the Bewator Group. The Minidome had already provided indoor and outdoor surveillance in numerous high street stores and commercial premises throughout the UK.
Optical encoder technology gives improved preset accuracy, reliability and a longer life than conventional potentiometers, says the manufacturer, so the Surcha Minidome comes with a full one-year warranty, even when used for continuous tours.
It also features improved, more attractive styling, more discreet casing, and in-built Visilynx/600 control protocol with the added option of telemetry control over the coax. Ease of installation was a key feature of the redesign and a new integral plug, play connector and bracket assembly was intended to please installers.
Business development manager Simon Shawley commented: “We have been able to make the price competitive while improving both the performance and the aesthetics of an already excellent product.
“The Minidome is available in both external and internal versions, with the external dome featuring a colour/mono switchable module, to give good low light capability.”
Powerfully flexible
The colour low-light version of Pelco’s Spectra II dome offers a smooth and responsive pan/tilt positioning mechanism, powerfully flexible receiver electronics and a high performance low light camera and distortion-free optics package. It delivers usable pictures down to 0.05 lux, while retaining the qualities that have made Spectra the world’s best-selling dome, according to the manufacturer.
The easy-to-install unit features silent 360 degree rotation, high speed/variable speed capabilities, auto focus, auto iris and auto flip as well as patterns, presets and alarm capabilities.
Variety of configurations
Aritech’s CyberDomes, available in a variety of configurations, incorporate an integral high performance colour, mono or integrated day/night camera and optics package, full pan and tilt positioning, plus receiver electronics. Features include:
Triangular design
From the Sony range come four easy-to-fit colour and black-and-white mini fixed domes, available in standard and ruggedised versions. The line-up is said to offer exceptional picture quality at affordable cost, allowing museums, businesses, retail and leisure centres – as well as at risk areas – to maintain discreet observation.
With an elegantly styled triangular design, the SSC-MD33VCE (mono) and the SSC-CD33VP (colour) allow quick and simple fitting for installers.
All models feature an auto iris vari-focal lens which can be freely rotated and adjusted for optimum coverage.
Two ruggedised versions (SSC-MD53VCE and SSC-CD53VP) deliver extra protection against unwanted tampering in hostile environments or outdoors.
These models provide tougher performance due to a heavy duty aluminium die-cast casing with anti-theft screws and a rainproof 3mm cover.
Both rugged models can withstand up to one tonne of external force.
What do you expect?
The TK-C553 Mini Dome from JVC is a compact, discreet model, designed for ceiling fixing. Inside the housing is a 2x digital zoom with a 2.5 to 6mm variable lens.
The camera is mounted on a simple bracket that allows it to tilt through 130 degrees. The camera body can be rotated through around 30 degrees and the plate on which the tilt bracket is mounted allows it to pan through 90 degrees.
Our Bench Testers looked at it in our May 2000 edition and concluded: “The TK-C553 makes another small but significant step forward for mini dome cameras.
“The digital PTZ function is going to make it a lot of friends but even putting that to one side, it still ranks as a versatile and highly flexible design, well suited to a wide range of applications and delivering the kind of performance we have come to expect from JVC.”
The toughest?
From Philips CSI comes the Phortress range of ruggedised MiniDome and VariDome cameras designed to withstand extremely harsh conditions including vandalism in difficult indoor or outdoor environments.
Philips claims the Phortress range are the toughest dome cameras on the market and are ideal for use in public areas, car parks, town centres, sports stadia, prisons, educational establishments, unmanned premises, nightclubs and other vandal prone areas.
The hardened Phortress range provides a choice of mono or colour cameras complete with either fixed or varifocal zoom lenses mounted in rugged cast aluminium housings, featuring the strength of ten-gauge steel and capable of withstanding the equivalent of 120 lbs of force.
Complete with a tough polycarbonate dome, these units are rated to full IP65 environmental standards and are fully sealed for reliable outdoor use.
They are also specified for operation over the temperature range of – 40 to + 50 deg C.
The range offers a choice of camera/lens configurations. For example, the Phortress MiniDome offers a .25 inch standard resolution camera for mono or colour operation with integrated 3 or 6mm fixed lenses.
The VariDome includes a 480-line high-resolution colour camera with an integrated 2.6 – 5.6mm varifocal DC iris lens with zoom facilities.
All versions accept both AC and DC voltages. If AC is used, the user can take advantage of the unit’s built in line-locking and phase adjustment capabilities.
