HDcctv over coax. The alliance improves the standard

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The HDcctv alliance are striving to give the installers of HDcctv over coax one standard to ensure interoperability between all HD over coax products. This will benefit all suppliers and installers in the long run. Products that work together no matter where they are purchased give everyone confidence. The HDcctv alliance is moving the standard forward and want as much feedback from HDcctv compliant equipment manufacturers and installers to contribute to help with the next stage.
Below we have a request from Todd Rockoff for some feedback please help him improve the HDcctv standard in the areas you feel they are most needed.
“The HDcctv market began to take off last year, aided by HDcctv 1.0, which gave our industry a way to guarantee electrical performance and multi-vendor interoperability.
HDcctv 2.0, XR, and CX are being finalized now. These enhancements will provide for basic up-the-cable communication, 200m transmission over RG-59 coax, and transmission over Cat5e/Cat6 cabling.
At its next meeting in early July, the HDcctv Alliance Board of Directors will determine the set of capabilities to be addressed by the technical committee in the next version of the HDcctv standard..
Which are the most important capabilities to include next?  The Board will take into account your opinion, with the intention of making decisions that best reflect the needs of our Members.
Please complete the survey at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/ZDJJ7KC by 28 June. There are only 5 questions, and it should take you only a few minutes to complete.
Thanking you in advance for your help –todd”

Why use Clarius IR illuminators?

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IR illuminators allow around-the-clock surveillance.

Infrared lighting has always been an important part of CCTV surveillance but in the past it has been cumbersome, expensive and unreliable. With the development of  advanced led technology, IR lighting is now an affordable and essential part of CCTV design. The popularity of  Clarius IR illuminators has grown recently as well because of fears over light pollution.

The Clarius white light illuminator is also available as well and if you ask most end users, and their preference would probably be for the Clarius white light. The benefit of white light illuminators of course is that this allows the capture of colour images at all times. It also allows lighting to offer secondary benefits, such as enhancing general security and safety where as infrared illumination uses light frequencies that cannot be viewed by the human eye.

IR illunination though is growing fast but why? Benchmark tell us with this review. they say”

“The reality is that rules governing light pollution are often misunderstood, as is system design that remains sympathetic to ‘dark sky’ thinking. Regulations can change from area to area, and a more intelligent approach to lighting design can add costs and time to installations that might be price sensitive. The simple solution is infrared illumination, and rightly or wrongly it has become a favoured approach for security applications.

In general, if installers and integrators stick to established manufacturers that specialise in the surveillance sector, they shouldn’t end up with a poor quality illuminator. The most important issues are light quality – does the illuminator achieve the stated range without a drop in light intensity – and light consistency – does the level of illumination remain consistent across the viewed scene?

Of course, other issues do come into the debate, and these involve additional functionality such as power control or intelligent intensity, ease of installation, switching options and price! Finally, there are a raft of claims and counter claims made about illumination products, and whilst the science behind lighting is admittedly fairly complex, the reality is that most installers and integrators will buy these products for one reason only – to achieve genuine around-the-clock surveillance!

Avigilon and Redcloud a perfect solution?

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Avigilon continue to take the security industry by storm and surprisingly or maybe not to some,  they have decided to buy into an integrated access control solution. By buying Redcloud they have shown their hand and the desire to step up their potential as a supplier of all security solutions not just IP CCTV. So who are Redcloud?  What do they do and why were Avigilon attracted to buy them?

here is what Avigilon had to say:

“We are excited to announce that Avigilon has acquired RedCloud Security, Inc., an innovative provider of access control technology. This acquisition gives us a new product line that naturally complements our existing range of end-to-end high-definition surveillance solutions and will provide our global partner network with another tool for expanding revenue opportunities in the growing security market.

This acquisition is a natural fit for Avigilon due to parallel philosophies in providing innovative solutions for end-users and partners. “RedCloud has redefined physical access control with their unique approach to converging IT and physical security,” said Alexander Fernandes, president and CEO of Avigilon. RedCloud is a revolutionary access control solution that was built from the ground up by IT and security veterans to deliver a new industry standard in performance and ease of use, while integrating seamlessly with identity management and video surveillance for maximum scalability.

So who are RedCloud ?

RedCloud’s executive team is led by IT and security veterans from Lenel and Honeywell Access Systems, who have more than a combined 50 years of experience in the physical security industry. After years of experience developing industry-leading access control software and custom software development for numerous tier-1 airports in the US, President and CTO, Terry Neely, founded RedCloud to address the lack of innovation from traditional physical access control systems (PACS) vendors by designing an access control solution that delivered unsurpassed system reliability, performance and scalability.

The RedCloud Convergence Platform™ (US Patent no. 8,122,497) enables organizations to unify their physical and logical access control for 360-degree visibility into the security of their facilities, people and assets. By correlating authentication, authorization and security event information across PACS and traditional IT applications, RedCloud provides organizations with the necessary contextual authorization, operational intelligence and convergence to effectively automate and improve overall security – at a significantly reduced cost.

Today, RedCloud delivers a powerful, web-based, physical and virtual appliance platform that leverages an open architecture, integrates identity management and video surveillance and achieves the highest level of scalability with the lowest cost of ownership, making RedCloud the logical choice in access control.”

It seems the synergy with Avigilon is just about perfect but can the two products integrate seamlessly over the coming months and what advantages can they give their installers.

We wait with anticipation but Avigilon have yet to put foot wrong so we would be very surprised if they have made the wrong move here.

Samsung HD SDI DVR

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We look at the Samsung HD SDI offering here at HD SDI DVR is it a product that Samsung have released to make up the numbers or are they really looking to take a grip of the HD SDI market place?

Samsung have started to advertise and promote their new product line that moves them into the new HD SDI CCTVmarket place. Previously Samsung have been advocating IP and the benefits that this can deliver in the form of HD. By actively promoting HD SDI technology  built into Samsung’s new HD-SDI cameras and DVR, we can see just how much this is now in the minds of all CCTV professionals.The Samsung HD SDI CCTV solution allows the transmission of uncompressed and non-packetized Full HD (1080P) video over analogue cabling and as a result suits deployment here in the UK because so much coax currently exists here.

Samsung HD SDI CCTV

The main benefits of HD-SDI technology is that there is zero loss of image data and zero latency when viewing images. Samsung have released two new HD SDI cameras into the market place. These are the SCB-6000 fixed camera and  SCD-6080 internal dome. HD as we know ideally suits many applications especially where HDcctv images are required. Many businesses including airports, ports, banks and casinos will gain a great deal more detail from usingHD. This is especially true in situations where it is not always simple or cost effective, to send HD images over an IP network.

So now Samsung has the cameras to produce HD images over coax they have also introduced a four-channel HD SDIDVR. The new SRD-480D DVR offers real-time 1080p across selected channels. When using the DVR on the 720P resolution, real time can be achieved across all channels. Both the new cameras and the Samsung  HD SDI DVR is fully compatible with Samsung’s licence-free Net-i Viewer software. This allows users to view analogue, IP and HD-SDI technologies on one common platform. Installers can now offer their customer base all the benefits of HD megapixel cameras without having to have any specialist knowledge of IP based systems.

The SCB-6000 fixed camera and SCD-6080 internal dome have included as standard Super Noise Reduction (SSNRIII) technology. In addition both are true day/night HD SDI cameras transmitting full HD images up to 100 meters over coax in real-time. With images recorded at 25 frames per second the end user experience is one of seamless movement and high quality HD. Both models are now delivering over five times the image resolution that standard definition analogue cameras are able to achieve.

The maximum transmission distance between the SCB-6000 or the SCD-6080 and the HD SDI DVR is 100 metres, however this can be increased to 200 metres when low-loss L-6CHD coaxial cable is installed. To increase transmission distances even further Samsung intend to  introduce the SPH-120R Repeater very shortly.

 thanks to integrated CCTV for that article

 

HD CCTV to the rescue

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As both HD IP and HDcctv over coax become ever more popular we look at how the industry has changed and how the major benefits of CCTV are now enhanced by HD images

CCTV is just about everywhere now and is universally accepted by the public as something that is part of  our everyday lives. However what are the benefits and what is the real truth behind CCTV systems that have been installed over the last 20 years?

Benefits as follows:

1) CCTV is always on. Day and night the systems record every movement  that takes place in view of the camera.

2) CCTV acts as a valuable visual  deterrent. No one is knowingly going to commit a crime when they know they are being watched and recorded.

3) CCTV cameras can be fitted both internally and externally this is certainly not the case with all physical deterrents.

4) CCTV can be used to determine authorised access to site, controlling movement and keeping out those who perhaps should not be in a certain area at a certain time.

5) CCTV can be used to determine when a deliberate attempt to compromise a secure boundary is taking place . Particularly useful for high security situations such as the MOD sites and airports.

6) CCTV reduces loses due to theft. Crucial in the retail industry.

7) CCTV reduces company loses from fraudulent transactions or injury claims.

8 )  CCTV can be used to enforce health and safety requirements on site , it may even to be able to claim that it saves lives.

9) CCTV enables retrospective analysis of crimes and actions, the resulting evidence can be used to enforce a conviction or in the case of companies, a dismissal.

10) CCTV gives  the public a feeling of well being that that would not be achievable without the help of the knowledge that people are watching to keep you safe.

11) CCTV is cheaper and more reliable that manned guarding and human intervention . Cost is always a primary decision when it comes to security.

CCTV images of riotsCan we get a conviction from this kind of quality image? 

To be fair we could go on, but the above bullet points prove that for all the negative publicity that CCTV sometimes gets, there is certainly value in the concept.

The concept?…yes this is where we actually to get to root of the problem with CCTV. Everyone loves the concept but over the last 20 years people have been less than satisfied with the results that have been achieved by installing CCTVon the streets or into their businesses. Why you may ask? Well the answer is simple “ANALOGUE CCTV”.

Analogue CCTV  has been about the most mis-sold product of the last 20 years in our opinion. The reason is quite simple….. “definition”. Lets be fair, analogue CCTV is quite capable of providing the correct definition if specified correctly , however cost has proved a limiting factor in the sale of CCTV systems across the UK and invariably CCTV has been massively undersold as a result. There are simply not enough cameras or recording memory to get satisfactory results. Everyone wants a wide angle picture, all customers want to see every part of of their site  but they also expect to be able to see car reg plates and faces as well . This is not possible or at least it is not possible without the correct investment. You must buy the right lens and ensure you get the correct angle of view as well but you must have enough cameras looking into the area of interest. You must also take lighting into consideration to really achieve what the end user expects. Sadly over the years salesmen have wrongly under specified in order to keep costs competative and win contracts. This way of selling has caused disillusionment amongst business owners and the public alike.

Now though the CCTV industry has the means to redeem itself. HD CCTV is the answer. This can be provided either through an HD SDI format or over IP. Now images that we all agree are a huge improvement on the past are achievable. The CCTV industry has something to hang its hat on !

thanks to integrated CCTV for that insight

 

HD SDI CCTV, HD CCTV DVR, HD SDI DVR