Heralding a new generation?
The VideoJet 1000 video server combines tried and tested professional alarm features with M-PEG-2 broadcast quality pictures “for the first time”. Its introduction at IFSEC by VCS Video Comm-unication Systems was said to herald a new generation of video systems for IP networks.
M-PEG-2, the digital video com-pression process originally deve-loped for broadcasting, produces sharp pictures with “superb” detail. It therefore brings to security the practical benefit of better recognition of people, objects or even car number plates from a long way away. And using the VideoJet 1000’s low delay mode, quality is achieved with real time transmission.
A VideoJet 1000 can function as a transmitter or as a receiver when linked to a monitor, but its video signal can also be displayed on a PC using a software decoder or even a web browser. It can use a variable or constant bit rate for transmission depending on the application, and it is compatible with both PAL and NTSC video sources.
Its multicast feature facilitates efficient observation and analysis by allowing several clients to call up pictures at the same time.
Exabyte storage technology
From PI vision comes 2nd Eyes Enterprise, a fully scalable, networked digital video recording solution designed specifically for large scale applications. It combines the company’s V-Series digital recorders alongside Access Stations and a tape management system.
The V-Series digital recorder is at the heart of the Enterprise, capable of accessing up to 4096 cameras. The V-Series offers a wide range of recording modes, from full-speed 25fps (30 NTSC) to time-lapse, triggered or snapshot recording. It records and replays at a very high resolution (768 pixels per line/640 NTSC), giving quality images that are equal in resolution to a new SVHS analogue recorder.
New system architecture enables 2nd Eyes Enterprise to support the latest in Exabyte storage technology (Mammoth2, with up to 12Tbyte in a single unit). For added flexibility and data integrity RAID (Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks) can also be utilised. Single RAID systems offer up to 525 Gbyte of storage.
New Year’s resolution!
Vigilant Technology will launch a high-resolution version of the Vigilant digital recording solution this month (January). Director Carlton D’Souza commented: “This feature is a real break-through in the continuous development of our digital recording solution. This pioneering combin-ation of high frame rate recording and high resolution will set new performance standards in the digital recording arena.
“Not only will customers be able to benefit from all cameras recording at 12.5 or 25 frames per second on each and every camera, but they will also be able to have S-VHS quality recordings on cameras of their choice.”
Even though Vigilant now provides high resolution and high frame rate recording, the storage requirements are comparable with ‘snapshot’-based systems which record only one frame per second.
Plug-and-play solution (1)
Vista has launched a hard disk digital recorder which provides a cost-effective plug-and-play solution for sophisticated video monitoring applications. Combining a digital video multiplexer and digital video recorder in one unit, the Columbus Lite records high resolution video images directly to its built-in hard disk, delivering greater speed of access, quality and reliability than conventional tape-based systems.
The network-ready Columbus Lite features built-in 10BaseT and 100BaseT LAN and WAN connectivity, allowing operators to control the various viewing and recording options remotely via on-screen menu commands. Users can define what, when and how long to record images from different cameras and interrogate the system at any point to retrieve specific sequences or frames.
Recorded images can be reviewed directly from the Columbus Lite or from a PC running Vista’s Wave-Reader software, supplied free with each machine. WaveReader allows users to view live or recorded images directly from the Columbus Lite while simultaneously recording images to disk.
Images can be searched by date, text, camera, and event and recorded directly to CR-RW, downloaded to the user’s local hard disk, or sent as email attachments in JPEG and BMP format.
Plug-and-play solution (2)
Philips CSI also offers a complete ‘plug-and-play’ digital multiplexing and recording solution which combines its latest System4 integrated multiplexer/switcher with the extensive range of AutoDome cameras.
The system’s ease of installation and versatility is said to make it ideal for any application ranging from less than nine cameras to several hundred cameras in shops, public buildings, industrial and commercial sites.
The plug-and-play solution allows any mix of Philips AutoDome cameras and Intuikey keyboards.
For even greater capability, users can add Philips’ new System4 Server for advanced digital recording, Ethernet networking plus powerful video search capabilities linked to motion detection. It also adds highly sophisticated automatic scheduling for each camera for every day up to a year, giving advanced and comprehensive video management.
Enhanced version
Visimetrics has launched Octar 2000, version 2.0, an enhancement of its digital video recorder with new features including remote download over dial-up, such as ISDN.
This enables video recordings to be replayed on any Windows PC (running the Octar replay software) – an added benefit for multi-site users as it enables them to recover recordings of incidents without having to visit the site.
Another new feature of Octar 2000 is the enhanced CD recording process, enabling users to make CD copies of the recordings that can be given to the police as evidence.
