INDUSTRY NEWS

Technology Innovations That Made a Difference

by Robert L. DiLonardo

DiLonardo is a well-known authority on the electronic article surveillance business, the cost justification of security products and services, and retail accounting. He is the principal of Retail Consulting Partners, LLC (retailconsultingllc.com), a firm that provides strategic and tactical guidance in retail security equipment procurement. DiLonardo can be reached at 727-709-6961 or by email at rdilonar@tampabay.rr.com.

Video literally means “I see” in Latin. The ability to capture, record, and distribute what we see is now ubiquitous. Anyone with a cell phone can conduct surveillance and instantly slap the clip up on YouTube…whether the subject likes it or not.

In our business the camera dome enclosures, the technology inside them, and the systems controlling their operation are the ever-present reminder that unfettered visibility to assets, customers, and potential thieves is crucial to our success.

We take for granted the power of video surveillance, but the early components were neither sophisticated, nor easy to integrate into a useful tool. The fictional “mass surveillance computer system” portrayed on the current CBS crime drama Person of Interest has been conceived from closed-circuit television system components continually evolving since the late 1960s. “CCTV” is an anachronism, not a useful acronym. The seasoned veterans among this readership are fond of musing about the interesting things they have witnessed over their careers. The evolution of camera-based surveillance systems provides an interesting walk down memory lane.

The first day of my career in retail—circa 1974—started with a walk past the security guard at the employee entrance. As I waited in line while he checked IDs, I had my very first encounter with the 9-inch-square CCTV monitor capturing an image from the fixed camera sitting over his shoulder, pointing at the door. The picture was unintelligible from the “burn-in” after months of non-stop focus on a single, unmovable point. The boxy, large camera was in plain sight and braced into the wall, but it could be refocused or repositioned up and down or by hand.

Early Video Patents

Following are some of the most meaningful evolutionary developments in the space.

Camera Housings. The patent for the first rotating housing for an anti-shoplifting surveillance camera was issued in October 1970. Shaped like a hanging lantern, with real and fake camera lenses protruding from all sides, the device could be “toggled” to rotate clockwise and counter-clockwise up to 355 degrees to a stop. The patent abstract describes “units without television cameras which are operated for psychological

Over the course of the past forty years, cameras have evolved from vacuum tube non-solid-state electronics to a portion of a PC board in a smart phone. Instead of climbing a ladder to adjust the camera’s field of view, it’s all done remotely, wirelessly, and effortlessly. Rather than staring at reams of videotape, mass storage and instantaneous exception retrieval is commonplace. The complementary software applications and mobile alert capabilities are too numerous to list.

effect,…a programmed stopping unit…to give the impression of manual [operation].”

Next came the development of the first hemisphere-shaped dome that could be dropped below ceiling level. Patented by a Swiss inventor in June 1973, the idea was to provide a way to observe a larger area. The key innovation, however, turned out to be the inclusion of “metalized” reflective material on the surface of the dome “so as to form a convex mirror,…to conceal the camera from the view of [an] observer” while allowing enough light in order to effectively operate.

Remotely Controlling Pan-Tilt-Zoom (PTZ). Up until 1976, system users were forced to make manual adjustments to