Monthly Archives: October 2010

CCTV engineer. What is your future?

Posted on by

CCTV engineers are you listening?

CCTV engineers,  luddites! Harsh perhaps, but in our experience it is the CCTV engineers within the security industry who least like change. Over the years they have seen little change to how their basic job works. Yes regulation means they have had to embrace a few tweaks to the standards and to be fair most engineers are happy to take these on board, but new technology presents a different problem. Up until the last few years the only serious technology introduced into their job spec has been the DVR. Most engineers did come to terms quite quickly with the new menus and the general installation of the now common DVR. Rarely however did this require the use of a laptop to set up and any networking tended to be done by a commissioning engineer who swept up after them. Now however things are about to change in a big way and those who don’t make the effort to embrace new ideas will be left behind.

IP video systems.

IP video systems are here and this requires a whole new approach by CCTV engineers who to all intensive purposes will see many parts of their job disappear over the next 5 years. Basic IT skills are an essential and probably much more than just the basics will need to be instilled into the CCTV engineers job specs  to enable them to install and understand IP video in the new era.

IP CCTV Training courses.

To be fair to IP camera manufacturers, they are very keen to get training to everyone they can. Rarely does a day go by without an email landing into the inbox advertising a free training course for engineers to help them brush up on the skills they need . However in this climate of recession CCTV installers have cut back on all training and even if this training is free they still have to consider the cost implications of taking their engineers off the road for the duration of the course. So are CCTV engineers going to be left to hang out to dry and simply be replaced by IT network technicians? Well we will have to wait and see but a wake up call has been sent out …..is anyone listening?

Megapixel IP camera, set up instructions!

Posted on by

We like megapixel IP cameras….. High quality images, excellent replay pictures, post-zoom functions

But have you tried setting them up!!???

These clever PIXC manufacturers invest thousands, probably millions, developing amazing technology, but we wonder if they ever ACTUALLY install them…..sure, we bet they test them extensively, but actually setting them up?

Take a 1080P mini dome with varifocal lens…..adjust the lens to the widest field of view….obviously it needs to be focused…… Ensure your fingers are no larger than a matchstick in order to reach the tiniest locking screw known to man located under the tightest plastic ring surrounding the camera module…….slowly turn (whilst stripping layer 1 of your fingers skin) until focus is achieved….no, back a bit, forward, no just missed it, back, yep that’s it, no wait, you breathed, a bit more yep, quick, lock it (cue small finger requirement again)

You see, we are amazed that, with all the amazing minds that sit around the table designing the most beautiful of megapixel IP cameras, that no-one had thought to have some form of electronic adjustment, even perhaps an auto or software adjustment……or just plain old decent access points !!!

Come on Manufacturers, give the installer the tools to install quickly and painlessly and this IP lark will soon catch on!!

ACTi IP Video systems

Posted on by

ACTi, based in Taiwan are really starting to get noticed now in the world of IP cameras.The company was created only 7 years ago but has been able to produce an extensive range of products that fit into many applications required to design an IP surveillance system.
Today we concentrate on their megapixel IP camera that incorporates some great features at a very respectable price.
The TCM-4201 is an H.264 megapixel IP PoE cube camera.The Pixc has a built in power LED , an on-board microphone and a PIR sensor to trip alarms. PoE means that it can easily fit into existing networks but can be powered locally if required.
The ACTi megapixel IP camera boasts automatic gain control, auto exposure and to enhance security IP address filtering. Simultaneous dual streams give plenty of flexibility when it comes to recording options.
The TCM-4201 is just part of the box camera range and plenty of other options exist depending on the application. Also look out for the ACM-4201 and the TCM-4001.
Video encoders to allow analogue cameras to be integrated into an IP video system made by ACTi also look like a good purchase. The ACD-2000Q has 25/30fps with selectable MPEG-4 compressions, full screen or quad image display, a digital input and output, VMD per channel and two way audio. Take a look at the ACTi website for more detail but UK distributors such as EZCCTV and Mayflex can also help you get some more detail on these innovative manufacturers.

Vigilant CCTV systems the New kids on the block

Posted on by

We have been keeping an eye recently on an up and coming, home grown, good old UK based DVR and Hybrid/IP manufacturer…… Vigilant Systems, based in Somerset……

Unlike so many of the far eastern in-flux of DVR and NVR solutions, Vigilant Systems offer something quite unique!

Sure, their ‘engine’ is based on a Far Eastern software development – but we understand they have had considerable input to the ongoing development of the software, in a relationship they have had for a considerable period of time…..

But, their USP is that they assemble all the hardware here in the UK……that means the quality and reliability of the components are completely within their control….. they have their own assembly line and in-house Technical Support engineers and this UK time zone and UK language approach to the NVR/DVR market is refreshing……how many DVR suppliers can boast that they ACTUALLY make the units here, in the UK ??

Products ranging from small 4 & 8 channel right up to huge, scalable systems are available, backed by great software and very clever add-ons (keyboards, monitor walls, analytics, EPOS and analytics)…….. they’ve even worked hard to get their CCTV software into Central Stations of note to offer a complete Remote Managed solution too.

With HD and Megapixel cameras and a range of IP Encoders, Vigilant are another company that can offer a complete ‘system solution’

We think we will see more of Vigilant Systems in the near future…….

TCO of an IP Surveillance system. The burning question!

Posted on by

Analogue CCTV v IP camera solutions

An acquaintance  of mine is responsible for building very large hotels from the ground up to the handing over the finished building. Nice work if you can get it! Being a very astute kind of fellow he phoned me up for some advice regarding the security aspect of his newest project. The question he asked was one that is being put to many specifiers at the moment and is one that we believe is the burning question about IP surveillance systems today. That is the TCO or total cost of ownership of IP video systems v analogue CCTV.

Why do IP cameras cost more?

What was confusing my friend and quite rightly, was this. Why was his ME contractor charging him £500 per camera for a 68 way IP camera system? He saw this as costly and the first thing he did, as many would, is check this out on the Internet. He quite simply could not justify this cost when he saw that he could buy what seemed like a perfectly adequate analogue CCTV camera for not much more than £100. So armed with some prices he rang me to know what I thought and find out if he was about to get ripped off.

NVT

Firstly we explored how far the hotel build had advanced and how the cabling had been structured. It seemed that from day one the designers of the networking infrastructure were always intending to go down the IP camera route. I explained that if we wanted to use analogue cameras there was a little more we needed to cost in before we could make a fair comparison. Firstly there was a possibility that we may be able to use the CAT5 cable and by using an NVT solution we could encode and decode the analogue video at each camera and termination point. This however involved a cost and quite a bit more labour to make each end off. I also explained that cable distances were important to decide whether he would need active or passive transmitters and receivers. In addition I asked him if the analogue cameras he had sourced also came with lenses because other wise we need to add £50 per camera straight away, the answer to this was no.

PoE is so much quicker!

I then explained that each camera would need a power supply as the  IP cameras would be PoE, so perhaps another £30 for each PSU once installed needed to be added. In addition for each power supply we would need a fused spur, that would also need to be certificated, so add another £100 per camera. We were not finished yet as each camera would take longer to install and set up, perhaps another £25 or so per unit.

Is it still cheaper?

My friend could see that now costs were beginning to add up but still the analogue CCTV system still seemed a cheaper solution …just.

DVR  v NVR

I then asked him about what recording solution was going to be put in place. Although he was not exactly sure of the make , what he seemed to describe was Milestone software or something similar together with a server to record all his images, I asked if this needed to be accessed remotely and it seemed it did.

High quality DVR.

I then explained that to get a similar picture quality together with the 28 days recording he was asking for would mean he was going to need some high end spec DVRs and what was worse he was going to need 5 of them. I suggested that he check out the cost of these but said in reality this could potentially add at least another couple of thousand pounds to his cost of going analogue.

Clear crisp images

We then went onto picture quality and features that Megapixel IP cameras would be able to provide over an analogue CCTV solution. PoE , auto-focus and better flexibility with recorded images all added to the benefits of the IP option.

The decision.

In summary he was left to make some difficult decisions but in the end I believe that it was the future proofing that an IP surveillance system could give him,  just about made his mind up!