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Give your pixels a job description

Following on last month’s comment on gigapixel, Niall Beazley from Vision Catcher replied with the following (the e-mail has been shortened):

“I smiled when I saw your editorial comment on the growing interest in pixel densities and what can be done. Truly amazing technologies, however, not all technologies are the same and it is very important that the client understands what he really wants. As per previous articles, Rob Anderson’s comments on ‘give a camera a job description’ is the first question that needs to be asked.

“As a matter of fact, the use of gigapixel wide area surveillance and gigapixel photography is fine if there is complete continuity of coverage of the area being viewed.

“The vote for the use of a gigapixel offering is purely relevant to the requirement and the frame rate employed. Normally any object or person needing identification within the field of view (FOV) cannot move quickly enough to get through the FOV within the frame rate even if it is at two or three seconds per frame, and is therefore captured and probably identified. It should be noted that the larger megapixel cameras offered within the security environment provide frame rates as follows; current 10 MP offer up to 6 fps and the 16 MP up to 3 fps. The illustrious new entry to the market, Arecont’s 20 MP surround view panoramic 180 or 360 camera provides the highest frame rate for its class at over 11 fps. The key to this relevancy of requirement, is that in a cash counting scenario a frame rate of anything less than real time, 25-30 fps, will be insufficient and therefore a gigapixel offering a complete waste of time.

“I suspect that some of the images shown on the various websites are taken using scanning techniques or with multiple cameras to stitch together an overview image that is compelling and impressive. In the first scenario, if the camera is moved to a new field of view and the images stitched together then by virtue of the camera moving information must be lost as per PTZ footage. The second scenario would provide full coverage and continuous live/recorded footage, however the cost of implementation might well be prohibitive to the whole concept.

“What is clear is that there are some amazing technologies available. Understanding how to apply these technologies and what the end result might be are as important as giving the camera its job description and setting it up to do the job it is required for. This will result in a happy client and recorded footage admissible in a court of law and therefore capable of telling the real story.”

Social media

Did you know Hi-Tech Security Solutions now has its own Facebook page? You can find us at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Hi-Tech-Security-Solutions/246894392008979 - why it is so complicated is another matter. Or you can just search for us. Feel free to keep up with the latest happenings and post your own views. And in case you did not know, we are also on Twitter (@HiTechSecurity_).

Andrew Seldon

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