WiseNet Lite: What has Samsung Jettisoned to Slash the Price?

Samsung Techwin has launched a range of cameras aimed at the entry-level end of the market and the company’s product manager gave IFSEC Global an insight into the thought process driving the move.

Tim Biddulph also explains how the WiseNet Lite range retains the image and build quality of the original WiseNet series at a much lower price point.

IFSEC Global: How are plans for IFSEC International 2015 going?

Tim Biddulph: We have settled on a ‘Securing your Future’ theme for our stand.

IG: What’s the thinking behind that?

TB: Well it embraces the key message that we wish to communicate to IFSEC visitors, i.e. our commitment to provide innovative and competitively priced solutions which can help installers generate new business, whilst offering users significant added value from their investment in a video surveillance system.

Our new value-engineered WiseNet Lite security camera series is an excellent example of this, as is our new PoE NVR range, both of which will be on show at IFSEC.

Last year at IFSEC we launched our Open Platform WiseNet III technology which has proved to be extremely popular throughout Europe. However, IP network based video surveillance solutions needs to be affordable for customers who have entry levels requirements, as well as provide sophisticated solutions for the high end market where customers might wish to use the cameras for much more than just security purposes.

Users may wish to migrate from analogue, but many still only need what could be called value engineered solutions. We are therefore responding to this demand with the launch of WiseNet Lite and our new PoE NVRs.

These products will compete on price with entry level products offered by our competitors. They may have been ‘value engineered’ but users can be assured that they offer the same quality as our high end WiseNet III high-end solutions, albeit with fewer features.

WiseNet Lite offers bullet cameras, vandal domes and internal domes with the option of Full HD or HD resolutions.

With PoE Plus incorporated into the new NVRs, all of the camera channels can be powered through Ethernet and they can also power speed domes. They therefore offer a very flexible ‘plug and play’ recording solution.

IG: So what features have you removed?

TB: Compared to the WiseNetIII camera series, WiseNet Lite does not offer the opportunity to run on-board video analytics applications. Nevertheless it does incorporate some good basic analytics, as well as motion detection.

We have also included a Hallway View feature which allows you to physically rotate the camera to give you a vertically-orientated image for the monitoring of narrow vertical areas such as corridors, tunnels and aisles. It enables the camera to capture images with a 9:16 x 3:4 aspect ratio that works effectively in tall and narrow spaces, with the added bonus of minimizing bandwidth and video storage requirements.

All WiseNet Lite cameras also feature SD card slots which are increasingly popular among users.

How does it compare with other entry level products in your opinion?

TB: Some of the features we’ve included in the WiseNet Lite range, like Hallway View and Lens Distortion Correction, which compensates for the image distortion that can occur with wide angle lenses, are usually only found in high-end cameras.

There’s certainly no compromise on image quality. Many of the models in the WiseNet Lite series incorporate true Day/Night functional cameras that utilise an IR cut-filter to ensure high quality images can be captured in low light conditions.

There are also microphones built-in on some of the WiseNet Lite models and all of the external cameras work down to -30 on normal PoE, which is impressive.

A lot of low end products don’t have multi-streaming capability that many of our VMS partners, such as Milestone and Genetec, really need. So, we have equipped the WiseNet Lite models with the ability to  triple stream images and at different resolutions if required.

Some manufacturers tend to have a great headline price, but then you find that the product is actually plastic, or it’s not quite what you expected. The WiseNet Lite Bullet camera and vandal resistant domes are built around the same physicals as are our top-end WiseNet III cameras.

In fact they look and feel a lot like our high-end WiseNet III cameras. As I have previously said, we have just removed some features to make it possible for the WiseNet Lite models to collectively meet the budget limitations of any video surveillance project.

IG: What are your plans for promoting the products at IFSEC?

TB: Basically, our stand will have three separate demonstration areas. One of these areas will allow us to show off our new products and there will also be an ‘Innovations’ area where we will be able to show how our products can best be used in specific vertical market sectors. There will also be an area where we will be promoting the benefits of our STEP (Samsung Techwin Eco Partnership) programme.

IG: What kind of people are you expecting to meet, or wanting to meet? In terms of segments of the industry?

TB: WiseNet Lite and the Poe NVRs are targeted at the general mass security market and so we are therefore very much looking forward to demonstrating these solutions to the numerous installers who visit IFSEC.

Find out the latest news and product launches from Samsung Techwin on the IFSEC Global Directory