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CCTV surveillance tracking and camera layout displays

Tracking people with a CCTV system across a site is an essential task for most operations. While this can involve use of a PTZ or high speed dome camera, inevitably it is going to require switching to other cameras.

One of the things I emphasise in my CCTV training is to have the knowledge of the areas where cameras are situated, as well as knowledge of the cameras and camera numbers on the system. A major reason there is a failure to successfully track people has always been that operators have not known their systems sufficiently. Even with high numbers of cameras, armed with a keypad and joystick, skilled and knowledgeable operators have been able to follow, observe, and closely watch suspects smoothly and consistently.

New video management systems and technology interfaces have brought an increasing display of cameras, camera names, display formats, controls for camera movement, and other information on screen. Increasing numbers of cameras have always been an issue, but now that these are being listed on screen, it is becoming even more of a problem.

Grouping cameras according to areas is a partial solution, as long as there are not excessive numbers of cameras within these groups. Large numbers of cameras result in lists of camera names down the side of the screen which sometimes have to be scrolled through and viewed in order to find the right camera. In addition, in some cases technical installations name cameras with obscure reference numbers, with the result that all cameras start with a set of numbers that may have no meaning to operators at all.

The result is that any meaningful camera information at the end of the description has to be obtained by extending the camera list section of the screen over the camera viewing area. In other situations, the names cameras have been given may have no meaning relative to the area where they are based. Further, to move PTZ type cameras, the mouse needs to be used to click on the controls on screen, along with the potential need for different camera selection.

As a result, the tracking of suspects in real time across an area is made extremely difficult, no matter how good the camera operator. With these increasingly sophisticated systems, we are effectively compromising pursuit capabilities of highly capable operators.

Customising according to risk

The ability to configure camera layouts on screen is a beneficial step forward, and there are a range of ways that you can change how many cameras are displayed on the monitor, the size of some of the camera views, and in some cases where they are displayed. I’ve emphasised before in my articles that having the ability to configure camera layouts according to the risk profiles of different areas and different times is an important way to channel operators into viewing the most important cameras for any one time.

Also, the size of the camera view on screen with layouts is also important, as increasing the number of cameras displayed may reduce the ability to actually see targeted behaviours on camera views. However, with many systems it is impossible for an operator or supervisor to save specific configurations that they have carefully built up and then return to them later.

The option to flexibly build and configure camera layouts should be one of the foremost considerations of any video management system. The preparation of layouts by the technicians during installation is not an acceptable solution – too often the technicians do not understand the surveillance needs or risks, and once a layout is done anybody should be able to modify and save a changed version under a different name.

Users should have the capacity to configure, personalise, change, and save the most appropriate layouts at any time. This includes automatic display of a camera layout around an area where an alarm is triggered. Custom configuration should come with some accountability though – control room managers and supervisors should ideally be driving this process according to a risk profile, and any changes the operators make should be justified according to surveillance needs. Having incidents occur on cameras that are off the configured layout could raise questions and have implications for management and operators.

Flexibility in review

The use of flexible layouts is not just restricted to live viewing though. When doing a review, the ability to configure a layout that will provide simultaneous viewing of cameras in a particular area at the same time will make tracking tasks much easier. Literally, you can view people moving from one section to another with all the cameras displayed on screen showing coverage of a major area.

The ability to enlarge a view, and then reduce it back to layout to follow another camera view in the same layout is done seamlessly, and use of PTZ controls under these conditions is simplified. For reviewing incident events, tracking suspects, or checking the nature of involvement of people across a wide area, this capacity is a major advantage.

Situations where new technology limits action and flexibility are not new. However, given the flexibility of electronic systems and software capabilities, there are certain features that one should expect from the systems supplied to you. The example of tracking somebody is just one example that is illustrated here.

A sizable number of operators would still prefer a joystick for camera control. If your system is compromising some capabilities or you think there is a possibility for additional feature sets, push your supplier for these kinds of capabilities.

Dr Craig Donald is a human factors specialist in security and CCTV. He is a director of Leaderware which provides instruments for the selection of CCTV operators, X-ray screeners and other security personnel in major operations around the world. He also runs CCTV Surveillance Skills and Body Language, and Advanced Surveillance Body Language courses for CCTV operators, supervisors and managers internationally, and consults on CCTV management. He can be contacted on +27 (0)11 787 7811 or [email protected]

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