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Five takeouts from IFSEC UK

Hi-Tech Security Solutions was once again present at IFSEC UK. As can be expected from an exhibition and conference hosting nearly 25 000 guests, there were many interesting exhibits and educational seminars. We obviously cannot cover them all, but below we have mentioned five interesting snippets of information from among the many interesting stands.

In the coming months we will be covering a few new products you will be seeing more of in the future, in more depth.

To start with, a company celebrating its 30th year of operations spoke to us about a new product it just launched. Opgal Optronic Industries introduced its long-range EyeSec Zoom 225 as the latest addition to its advanced line of thermal security cameras. With this launch, Opgal offers an uncooled thermal camera with the continuous zoom performance and reliability of a cooled camera.

EyeSec Zoom 225

The EyeSec Zoom 225 is equipped with a continuous zoom lens ranging from 25 to 225 mm and provides a human detection range of over 5 km. Its high-sensitivity, uncooled 640 x 480 resolution detector with a 17 m pitch provides a detailed and clear picture, offering a superior visual assessment tool for a range of perimeter and homeland security applications, such as airports, correction facilities, transportation and many others. Secured inside a ruggedised enclosure, the camera can withstand harsh weather and environmental conditions.

The EyeSec Zoom 225 is best suited to video analytics and is recognised for its image quality and strong signal-to-noise ratio (SNR).

DVTel unveils Meridian NVR

DVTel announced the release of its Meridian network video recorder (NVR), a plug-and-play networked recording appliance that, according to the company, practically self-installs. Meridian provides resellers and users with ease of installation and management, and allows for cost reductions in megapixel video deployments.

Available in 4 and 16-port models, Meridian NVRs combine the functions of a network video recorder, including high-powered Ethernet switch, automatic set-up features and video management software, all in a single appliance. It automatically delivers power via PoE and IP addresses, configures cameras for motion detection and starts recording without user intervention. Standalone units are aimed at surveillance environments of up to 24 cameras. Multiple Meridian units can be set up within a network to build a larger system to meet growing security requirements.

Meridian offers digital zoom, camera tours, PTZ control and intelligent video searches to quickly retrieve captured video through thumbnail and event searches. The Meridian NVR offers up to 6 GB of internal storage that can be extended through an external eSATA connection. The plug-and-play system provides flexible management connections through a fibre or copper Gigabit uplink. Meridian is compatible with DVTel’s Quasar IP camera line and supports third-party cameras from Axis Communications.

Surveillance storage

Iomega may not be well known for its surveillance solutions in South Africa, but it showed off its security solutions at this year’s show. Based on EMC storage technology, the new suite of server class and standard class NAS drives from Iomega come complete with b uilt-in support for network cameras by Axis, Mobotix, Bosch, Panasonic and others.

StorCenter

IP security cameras can capture and store video directly to an Iomega StorCenter NAS unit without the need of a dedicated PC, allowing users fast playback of video surveillance footage and live-view camera support.

The NAS units also include the embedded Axis Video Hosting Service (AVHS) for local to hosted cloud-based management of video cameras and storage of surveillance content. Users also have the option to use the downloadable MindTree SecureMind video service management software. A one camera licence of MindTree SecureMind is included free of charge; additional licences are available for purchase.

The MindTree SecureMind Surveillance Manager software is aimed at small to mid-level camera count installations. The combined Iomega+MindTree solution is targeted to standalone surveillance applications from SOHO small camera count installations up to 48 cameras (channels) in small to medium business (SMB) and distributed enterprise environments.

Pixim introduces Nightwolf

Pixim was promoting its Nightwolf imaging solution specifically designed for IR-assisted CCTV and IP cameras. Nightwolf eliminates hotspots common to IR cameras with near-field reflective objects in the scene and correctly exposes highlights as well as darker background details simultaneously.

Pixim Seawolf

A typical IR-assisted CCD camera attempts to solve the hotspot problem by either closing down a mechanical iris or dimming the infrared LED lights. While either of these compromises can help avoid hotspot saturation, the resulting side effect is that the camera loses critical shadow detail greatly reducing the utility of the captured video. With digital imaging technology, Pixim Nightwolf is able to capture both foreground and background details even in cases where very strong IR lighting is deployed. In fact, Nightwolf capability is so effective that use of expensive mechanical DC iris lenses or adjustable infrared LEDs is no longer necessary.

In addition to optimised night-mode operation, Nightwolf offers daytime colour performance identical to Pixim’s Seawolf imager covering all lighting conditions night and day, including challenging, mixed lighting scenes. Pixim’s Nightwolf delivers accurate, high-resolution colour images at 690 HTVL effective. With a dynamic range of 120 dB max, Nightwolf captures all of the critical details in a scene including highlights, shadows, and mixed lighting without compromising image quality or colour accuracy.

Throwing light on the subject

VARIO is a family of infrared and white-light low voltage illuminators, combining the latest advances in optics, remote control, electronic feedback and green technology into an all-round package. Its optical system uses interchangeable lensing allowing users to adjust the angle of illumination on site to a precise and pre-defined angle. A standard VARIO kit includes interchangeable lenses to deliver angles of 10, 35 and 60 degrees out of the box.

Vario interchangeable lensing

VARIO is controlled by a handheld remote. A single remote can deliver access to advanced features including an LED status indictor to report the operational status of the illuminator. The illuminators achieve longer illumination distances and allow cameras to produce better images than traditional LED illuminators thanks to elliptical beam patterns with hot-spot reduction technology (HRT). The HRT system delivers a highly diffused, elliptical beam shape to deliver more light where it is needed, generating both longer distances by minimising light wastage and reducing overexposure of foreground objects.

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