Sen apr2014

April 2014 Issue 353

Emerging technologies

l Ivanhoe Hotel goes digital l Suretek acquires NT Software l Inner Range’s new Webtegriti l American Dynamics AD 625 PTZ l Honeywell Galaxy flexes muscles l Panasonic’s strong new 6 Series l Axis 1001 Network Door Controller l NYC – Sony, Firetide, Milestone

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editorial EDITORIAL roNnI Ci cSs && NEnetwo ks Ssec EC UuRIriTYty EeLlEeCTctRO TWO RrKS

Emerging technologies SALES MACHINE

W G

Making matters worse, in Australia just now there seems to be a selection process driven by For many years project managers now, electronic or electrical security contractors who systems have win tenders using been beyond lowball quotes anything the IT and then carve industry can margin from their support outside contractor’s hip of dedicated pockets. networks.

eIVEN live in the a competitive No sooner has increasingworld. symbiosis between cutting edge technology been developed electronic security solutions and consumer than shoe-horned into a matchbox of and it’s industrial technologies, it’s always whiteinstructive plastic, itsto price shorn to the bone.

The chipset think about what’s emerging and to of today’s cutting edgeinvideo surveillance camera consider the ways which it might impact us. is the chipset of tomorrow’s retail or domestic I can never think about this long cloud before solution, leased on to an user at no cost, likeIP grounding theend sandbank ofvisible IT solutions, sometechnology, giveaway 4-zone panel. connection. At the cloud. alarm It’s a duplex And when I say tomorrow, I mean it literally.

Right same time IP technologies liberate our systems, nowthey the humblest $200 fixed mini domes andof constrain us through the limitations compact cameras bandwidth, are rumbling around powered cost by compression, storage, unrealistic the most powerful HD processing engines.

Can it go on and the painful proprietary aspirations of global indefinitely?

I think not. And news month, we’re players, each wanting toin own thethis future. seeing It thewas advent of simple, unitised IP-based access reading up on 5G comms this week control, to integrate with IP video thatdesigned got me thinking about thecurrent next generation solutions without any ofdevelopments. the usual fussingWhat about.struck of technological This development points to commoditisation me was the lean towards IP and the peculiarly across all market Alarms, Aaccess control,of holistic naturesegments. of expectations. multiplicity video surveillance,technologies software management solutions, incompatible are grist for the internet the lot. of things. Then there’s wearable electronics, Is organic the lowerelectronics, end the only part of the market that’s brain-computer interfaces, pricescreenless conscious?displays No fear. and It’s slash and burn at the top overarching it all, cloud, end, the too.most And epic talking about thethe issue recently I got to RMR model world has ever seen. wondering whether the malaise that has long afflicted Some of these things demand an enormous the alarms will infect majortechnologies. systems, as well. leap insegment the synthesis of diverse And Whatthere’ is that sickness?

It’s a systemic of sales s something paradoxical incollapse this expectation, ability, withthat all the ailments. do not make for given fullyattendant open technologies In strong the domestic and small commercial alarms business models. When you consider that market where techs spend 90 per cent of their time the push for SDx – which is a bit like an ONVIF for covered spiderwebs and pigeon poo, youclosed can cloudinsoftware – is an exercise in completely understand a reluctance to see prance board open-ness – it’s hard to suchabout hugeinconcepts rooms up-selling fawning customers to enterprise materialising as useful solutions. solutions with nogiven more than whiff of Dunhillof Apres Further, thetheconservatism the Rasage and the flash of a Rolex. electronic security industry, I can’t see us rushing But when it comes to bigger systems, into speculative open tech.

While an theinability idea of to sell based on features is harder to rationalise and the internet of things is interesting, the security much more dangerous for the industry as a whole, implications are scarifying. It’s more likely to be the especially when timethings. is added the things equation. internet of some Butto what willThe they logical be?progression of a collapse in margin over time is the inability to invest and development When you think in onresearch a smaller scale, it’s obvious that’sthere so vital to future sales. are strategic technologies that are beginning

AP RIL 2 01 42 issue 3 5 E3 3 49 NOVEMBER 01 3 ISSU

By

By John John Adams Adams technical dormancy resulting from margin toThe have a visible impact on our industry.

For crash is most obvious when viewing a start there’s management of systems ‘modern’ using alarm systems whose upgrade was undertaken mobile devices.

Manylast security manufacturers are inemploying the 1970s, that wild decade Fairchild such solutions to drivewhen systems, yet Optoelectronics’ 5-cent blastedcompetitors alarm panel these technologies alsoLEDs free pop-up keypads to technological previously only from outside the industryheights to contrive sleek new seen StaraTrek. techon from miniscule cost base. Scary solutions In myall-in-one view, the sales culture that underpins margin like self-reporting alarm/CCTV/ seems to have given way to a different method automation things with every sort of sensorof winning business imaginable boltedthat’s on. based on relationships that are And too often a one-way Part of the problem of course, mobilestreet. devices drive in the cloud is intense competition, but an inability to win jobs and are governed by open apps developed, based not on presentation of the benefits of system performance just by manufacturers and their partners, but by iscustomers. a key factor.This means turbo-charged application The impact of sales skills, no sales skills, development in poor tandem with theorturbo-charged flows through the industry, from bottom to top. security issues you get with variably secure remote Integrators and installers selling on price, exist on access points and Trojan code. virtually no hardware margin, making their profit Staying with cloud, there’s also a deliberate from thefrom installation itself.

Distributors–sell the product move some big organisations government ranges of more manufacturers, servicing less. departments in particular - to take theireach entire Manufacturers scrimp on component quality IT function to cloud. This is a really big deal and – start dressing up less as more.

Firmware tweaks take especially given many IT department functions the of decent lenses.

A mindset grows in which areplace outsourced to other countries. quantity, not quality is the primary smart motivator.

To get Alongside cloud are enabling devices. volumes, manufacturers go direct, or start searching Phones, tablets, wearable displays like Google for newaverticals, cannibalising their existingwith sales Glass, new generation of smart watches and isolating projection existing customers, lose brand non-screen displays. who All this will loyalty andwith purchase solely on price. integrate next-gen security technology. And Making matters worse, in Australia just it’s now there as meaningful computerisation shrinks, likely seems to be a selection process driven by project we will see electronic security solutions increase managers in power. or electrical contractors who win tenders using quotes and thenofcarve from Thelowball ongoing development thesemargin emerging their contractor’s hip pockets. technologies is going to play a big part in our future.

But impact the key driving commoditisation This willelement be psychological, too. Business is isgoing lack to ofget sales ability.

A failure to teach that more competitive.

Consider thatstaff as big particular skill of the sales animal, built on an intense cloud providers like Google and Amazon improve and belief in the capability of solutions, theirjustified products, offering more functionality and combined with an industry self respect that faster services, everyone else is going to bedemands forced buyers true value to tomeet electronic security to driveapply their technologies or exceed the technology. ]]] broader market’s accelerating expectation of what high performance is meant to be. zzz

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18 40: Galaxy flexes muscles

18: Back to the future Zurcorp has installed Axis cameras and Pelco Digital Sentry NVRs; as well as a Concept 4000 access control system and a PA system; for the Ivanhoe Hotel on the Corso at Manly on Sydney’s northern beaches.

28: Suretek Acquires NT Software Suretrak Global Pty Ltd (Suretek) has acquired NT Software, including ADSW and its suite of alarm monitoring products, for an undisclosed sum.

32: Inner Range’s new Webtegriti It’s not released yet but I got a sneak preview of Inner Range’s latest development, Webtegriti, a browser-based access control system that simplifies installation and management of small electronic security solutions.

34: The American Revolution Q Security Systems is pushing hard on its American Dynamics camera lineup, one of the largest ranges of analogue and IP cameras on the market. SEN editor John Adams chats with QSS’ Rob Rosa.

apr 14

Honeywell has enhanced its powerful Galaxy Flex intruder and access control panel with video verification, a ‘night set’ mode and smartphone app allowing authorised users universal access to panel functions.

46: The next wave As the electronic security industry turns to the latest consumer technology to change the way users interact with security systems, it should come as little surprise that a growing wave of niche-hungry start ups is looking at security electronics.

50: AD Illustra 625 American Dynamics’ Illustra 625 from QSS features 1080p resolution, 20x optical zoom, 512-degree per second pan speed, 0.4 lux low light performance in colour and real time auto continuous focus.

54: New York Marathon New York City Road Runners have chosen to secure the world’s largest marathon with Sony IP cameras integrated by EIA Inc, carried on a wireless mesh using Firetide and supported by Milestone video management software.

58: Panasonic 6 Series Panasonic’s latest release in the hotly contested 1080p IP camera market, the iPro Smart HD 6 Series, is a strong contender that combines

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76 54

72

+regulars

strong image quality across a range of tough applications with plenty of back-end smarts.

10: news

68: NIC knacks

Latest business, product and technical news from Australia and around the world.

Network interface cards are ground zero for installers building IP-based security solutions.

These devices allow security components to be identified and to navigate its comms way around complex network topologies.

46: monitoring As the alarm monitoring industry turns to the latest consumer technology to change the way users interact with security systems, it should come as little surprise that a wave of niche-hungry start ups is looking at security electronics.

72: Axis 1001 NDC Axis Communications’ 1001 Network Door Controller is a deceptively simple unit that carries access control onto networks. Ease of installation, browser-based setup and management and scalability are strong points.

April 2014 Issue 353

EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES

PP 100001158

l Ivanhoe Hotel Goes Digital l Suretek Acquires NT Software l Inner Range’s new Webtegriti l American Dynamics AD 625 PTZ l Honeywell Galaxy flexes muscles l Panasonic’s strong new 6 Series l Axis 1001 Network Door Controller l NYC – Sony, Firetide, Milestone

Publisher Bridge Publishing Aust. Pty Ltd ABN 11 083 704 858 PO Box 237 Darlinghurst NSW 1300 tel 61 2 9280 4425 fax 61 2 9280 4428 email info@bridge publishing.com.au

76: editor’s choice What’s new from our manufacturers.

80: helpdesk

80

Editor John Adams Advertising Manager Monique Keatinge Customer Service Annette Mathews tel 61 2 9280 4425 annette@bridge publishing.com.au Design Tania Simanowsky e: taniasdesign@ optusnet.com.au

Our team of electronic security experts answers your tough technical questions.

Subscriptions 11 issues per annum One year (11 issues)

WEBSITE www.securityelectronics andnetworks.com.au

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No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form in whole or part without prior written permission of Bridge Publishing.

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City of Sydney Expands CCTV p.12 Britain and Germany Team Up On 5G p.14 Allegion Appoints BGWT Australian Distributor p.14 Senstar expanding its presence p.16

news in brief april 2014

Lan 1 Partners With Raytec

co m p i l ed b y j o h n ada m s

Basil Delimitros

Stacey Lien (manager of international sales department), William Ku (vice president & director of international sales division), Kobi Ben-Shabat of OPS, Steve Ma (executive vice president & director of Vivotek Europe), Nigel Bond of OPS and Ray Lee (regional manager – APAC).

Vivotek Signs Australian Distribution Agreement With OPS

■

VIVOTEK has signed an Australian distribution agreement with Open Platform Systems. Through cooperation with OPS, which is headquartered in Melbourne and has 4 branch offices in Sydney, Brisbane, Perth and Auckland, Vivotek says it intends to not only build a more complete and stronger business network in Australia, but also extend its business to diversified local vertical markets, enabling Vivotek’s sales, service and technical support to be more comprehensive and direct.

“It’s always our great honor to work with a world leading security brand like Vivotek,” says Kobi

Ben-Shabat, managing director of Australia’s Open Platform Systems.

“As the best distributor in the security industry, it is believed that we are to bring more value to Vivotek’s business operation in Australia and New Zealand, and to create more benefits to our integration partners.”

It’s been a busy week for Open Platform Systems, a distributor of open platform physical security, IT security, application delivery and network communications solutions. Last week the company won the President Awards at the Genetec APAC conference in Taipei.

QSS Wins NUUO Asia Pacific Partner Award n QSS COO Rob Rosa said he was proud to accept the NUUO Asia Pacific Partner Award and looked forward to growing NUUO’s presence in the Australian market further still.

“NUUO is an excellent product, it’s simple, it’s capable, and it fits

10 se&n

perfectly into the QSS product stable,” he said.

NUUO’s Vicky Wu thanked the QSS team for its hard effort on market promotion in the previous year and said NUUO was excited about the companies’ plans for growth in 2014.

Stanley El Komala QSS national product manager(l), Rob Rosa QSS COO and and Cardy Huang, president NUUO

IP security specialist Lan 1 is partnering with Raytec, the world’s leading manufacturer of LED lighting. Raytec is the newest addition to the Lan 1 portfolio and is its sole lighting partner in Australia.

Raytec has over 40 years’ experience in designing and specifying lighting for major high security and critical infra-structure projects globally, and all Raytec products are UK designed and manufactured. Now with a new sales office in Melbourne, Australia, following significant growth and success in the region, Raytec says it is delighted to partner with Lan 1 to work together to identify new opportunities and areas for growth.

“Lan 1 has been addressing the IP CCTV channel for well over a decade, during which time they have developed a solid IP CCTV Channel Partner base. With a national presence, in-house training program, endto-end system design services, and full range of complementary products, we know Lan 1 is the right partner for Raytec across Australia and the Pacific Islands,” said Amy Quinn, business development manager ANZ, Raytec.

“Raytec is a great addition to Lan 1’s IP CCTV portfolio” said Basil Delimitros, IP CCTV business manager. “Not only are the Raytec products interoperable with our cameras including Axis, Mobotix and Panasonic, they are tightly coupled with Milestone Systems’ VMS platform, enabling management and control over lighting and other network technologies in your security system from one central platform.”

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Hikvision’s rang e of 1, 2, 3 & 5 MP cameras ar priced to suit ev e er y application, even pricesensitive domes tic or small reta il projects.

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Cost-ef fective IP HD cameras are low quality and come with limited warrant y.

Hik vision’s bu ild quality is un paralleled and equipment co all mes with a 3year warranty.

// NEWS // news / /

I ND U STRY D EVE LO PME NTS // BUSINESS P ROFILES // INDUSTRY DEVELOP MENTS // BUSIN ESS P ROF I L ES // SECURITY 201 2 industry developments // business profiles //

news S H OW RE P O RT

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april 2014

DVTel Quasar HD Another standout product at the show was with IR Videofied’s XTIP710, a hybrid alarm system with video verification that now reports alarm events and status using GPRS and IP. We’ve like Videofied’s products for a while now and think they offer you installers a great up-sell or panel replacement Keith Hankinson Rejoins Pacom option. Using reliable spread spectrum wireless l PANASONIC has announced the acquisition of Cameramanager.com, a leading provider of Video devices, the company has a real track record of Surveillance as-a-Service (VSaaS) in Europe. visible success.

The acquisition of the cloud-based video solutions company reinforces Panasonic’s existing security ONE massive Texas school district recently due to the number of employees that tend to Sending alarm events alongbusiness with video as itfootage looks to extend its cloud-based solutions to the business and consumer markets. As part of upgraded its video surveillance system in an move from campus to campus in such a large is pretty much Rolls Royce the performance and acquisition, the team will join Panasonic Europe. school system.

Russell says prior to the Video effort toCameramanager.com keep up with advancements in Web Videofied has 450-odd arrests under its beltmanagement thanks It’s an interesting move in the verticalAustin plane from one of theInsight world’s leading manufacturers of video implementation his VMS administrator platforms.

Independent cameras, though exactly how Panasonic’s CCTV solution willofbe presented to its ability to identify burglars.surveillance When you consider spent a considerable amount time with userto the School District – the America’s 38th largestcloud-based is notschool yet clear.

Keith most alarm systems are blindmarket and cannot assist of users a system – has replaced its existing maintenance. “With this number Hankinson services acquisition an importantsystem strategic towards our smart connected reliable Web client and is more economical than videoismanagement withstep Video Insight enhancing operators by doing more than“This reporting multiple KEITH Hankinson has offering in the European and CIS market”, said Laurent Abadie, chairman and CEO, Panasonic Europe. clients on software. Encompassing 230-square miles, installing (and uninstalling) thick VMS adjacent alarm events, Videofied’s capabilities There was plenty more to seethe at the and in re-joined teamshow at each PC, which also overburdens our already Austin ISD has 86,000 students, 11,000 stick out even more.

Pacific Communications, and subsequent issues we’ll be reviewing many taxed VMS administrators,” he says. employees, 124 campuses and more than 3,000 this Rydalmere. Hankinson ofThe the switch stand-out solutions.

As for the editor’s to Video Insight has in pick for video surveillance cameras. returns toresulted Pacific an improved video management with “We were unhappy with the platform that we SE&N’s Best Product at Communications, Securitysystem 2012 –for I chose the manyincluding: years experience Austinsolution ISD in many Little had invested in and we needed a more practical Snap fromrespects, Network Video Surveillance in theincreased CCTV industry.

His to no trainingbyforPacific employees; video solution – something that was easy to use,” says distributed Communications. key strengths include For its efficient storage; Austin ISD Police Department Representative camera image quality; more product selection ability to automatically wrangle theand power of system performance; variety inStanley cameraeVideo Wayne Russell. “We needed something that faster l STANLEY Security Europe has announced the launch of the system design. thousands of existing cameras in challenging real and LDAP Stanley integration.

The Cloud 3,000-plus didn’t require an incredible amount of countries CPU choice Hankinson will beprovides a Cloud solution to 14 across Europe. eVideo l MONITRONICS, which is owned by Ascent Media, will have world environments, it has to be my pick for SE&N’s replacing Todd Lazare camera system is monitored by the AISD police processor power that could also serve as a fullysecure, reliable and high performance, video security and monitoring system more than 600 installers and one million monitored lines Web client.” who is joining team in and Show. dispatch 24-hours a day,recording seven days a the week, functioning over the cloud, without theBest hassle cost of local equipment at DAS Granville after to when it completes a $US487 million acquisition ofAfter superpaying particular attention during peak times an exhaustiveinstall bid process, Russell found Up there with it is the Bosch Solution and maintain. the completion of his144 alarm regional U.S. security company Security Networks. to camera feeds intechnology the panel bussuccessful drop off and pickfeatures up the solution in VideoThe Insight. period with and access control with neat like Stanley eVideo Cloud solution is built on from Axis The deal, which is expected to close Aug. 16, includes $487.5 areas, cafeterias during (AVHS) breakfast and lunch “Video Insight wasCommunications, the only software solution Pacific Communications. using Axis Video Hosting System server software pre-built garage door control and a succession of million of cash, and 253,333 newly issued shares of Ascent that worked seamlessly with our existing time, playgrounds and in hallways during class and IP video surveillance cameras. readers and expanders.

The Solution 144 is just Series A common stock with an agreed value of $20 million, cameras and it offered a very dependable Web changes. Administrators monitor cameras at Stanley eVideo Cloud can be usedafor securityThought surveillance as well as beginning We’vetospent a bit of The timepurchase lookingprice, at Videofied that solution. from according the statement. which each– school campus, but they through report incident to client,”isRussel says.

City of Sydney Expands CCTV supporting a customer’s business operations.

The solutionwith offersBosch a simple, alarm footage.

Imageisstreams are Security currently end, I think will resonate subject toevent agreement at closing, based upon AISD policeitwho have the sole authority to installers A fully functional Web client application was tothe cost effective video recording solutions that can be viewed from anywhere black and white for of low light performance and clip and to export very important to Austin ISD,levels says Russell, delivering RMR $8.8 million.

Networks looking givevideo. their customers more capability in nNetworks THE City of Sydney will busiest late-night precincts.” is complete, a Security total of 98 investment from all and enhanced recording there and is anwe’re internet connection; from a PC to a tablet or smartphone. fast-track expansion Between April 2004 and cameras will operate across hadoptioned 2012the revenues of of $78.5 million and adjusted EBITDA2 of government capabilities. for low bandwidth but they’re still of large domestic and small commercial applications.

ACCESS control solutions provider ASSA eVideo Cloud is a subscription-based video surveillance solution utilising its CCTV network, with 10 they are.

September 2012 the the City of Sydney. committed to taking action The City’s network of comms $46.5 million. excellent what Twin SIMs City and an NBN-proof network hastofor purchased of Mayor Greensteel IP cameras, allowing customers newABLOY cameras be installedassets installed 37 new CCTV Lord Clover Moore whereverAxis we can.

CCTV cameras operates Now the word is product under development port built into a medium-sized alarm panel with Industries Ltd., a metal commercial door and extend closely their video cameras surveillance in late-night hot spots – a 74 per cent said the camera expansion “We haveto consulted across Kings Cross, will incorporate in video with NSWthrough frame maker.

16 doors of ofbiometric, prox and keypad access across Kings Cross, Surry the latest increase on the size the was partadvances of the City’s ongoing Police, local lower cost hosted cloud Woolloomooloo, Surry The Greensteel products now be better marketed compression givingwilleven identification residentsarchitecture Hills and the city centre. network. efforts to make Sydney’s and businesses control? Yes, without compromising on please. Hills, Glebe and the city and manufactured under Baron andsafer Fleming Following Council In addition to the mentions centre. streets after dark. to determine thequality. most ability day and night. video Special go toThese the cameras Axis 5544 for brands, ASSA ABLOY Vice President endorsement, City will of the new “We want the City to be locations are monitored 24 hours a The solutionforuses theinstallation latestconceptual in data As fartheas I’mExecutive concerned all alarm systems appropriate awesomeness, the Axis 1604 WDR for engage Ausgrid to begin cameras, the City is also in an open, inclusive place these cameras.

Thanasis Molokotos says. day, seven days a week, encryption to provide a secure solution should work the way Videofied’s does and I can’t its total obliteration of backlight, the Takex PXBwork installing the fibre the process of upgrading where people feel safe and “This expansion of our from the Security and “This acquisition will enhance our ability that doesn ’t require firewall ports and towhich out why 100ATC takes affordable optic cables needed to more alarm the recording system welcome at all hours,” thehave CCTV network has the Emergencyperimeter Operations security towork provide non-residential door manufacturers opening openatoreal view videomanagement off site. eVideo connect new cameras, equipment Lord Mayor said. to make Centre at Town Hall. Video not the seized on this customers,” combination of technologies potential be to a new level, FSH FEW3800 for being greenest, solutions to our Canadian he says.

Cloud is powered by Stanley Assure CCTV which can zoom, tilt and be used to operate “Sydney’s late-night difference by assisting footage is provided to NSW Established in 1932, Greensteel Industries for their own solutions.

Giving the same great and C.R.itsKennedy’s Dallmeier Panomera, which giving full support to network customers rotated a fullin 360 degrees,Canada.precincts face a range thatand will allow police in preventing, Police upon request in order operates Winnipeg, catch performance with the combination of GPRS looked the furthest and saw the mostest.

Finally, to the control room at Town for the use of highof complex challenges detectingaand investigating cost effective monthly payment, to assist with investigations It’s anonboard interestingIPlateral move from ASSA connectivity in its latest XTIP710 crimes inincluding the digital mostcameras improved product range honours are Hall.and Once the expansion that require long-term some of our or legal proceedings. installation,definition service, ABLOY, which is a significant player in the solution is just icing on what was already a very shared by Vivotek and Merit LiLin. Nice work, folks. hardware and hosting.

Australia domestic locking and commercial tempting Videofied zzz access control markets. cake.

PANASONIC ACQUIRES CLOUD-BASED VIDEO SURVEILLANCE COMPANY 3000-camera school system deploys web-based solution

MONITRONICS CREATES STANLEY ADDS EVIDEO TO AMERICA’S BIGGEST TOOLBOX Special mentions go to the Axis 5544 for conceptual awesomeness, the Axis 1604 WDR MONITORING COMPANY for its total obliteration of backlight, the Takex PXB-100ATC which takes affordable perimeter security to a new level...

assa abloy buys Greensteel industries

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Competence in Video Security w w w. g e u t e b r u c k . c o m . a u | P h o n e 1 3 0 0 8 5 5 2 9 1 14 se&n 34 se&n 16 se&n 12 se&n SEM212_6news.indd 14

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news april 2014

Britain and Germany Team Up On 5G

Trevor Westhead, regional sales manager, southern region, Axis Communications (l), Daniel Lee, managing director, Lan 1, Basil Delimitros, business manager, IP CCTV, Lan 1, Ian McKinnon, business development manager, IP CCTV, Lan 1, Fredrik Nilsson, regional director, North America, Axis Communications, Wai King Wong, country manager, South Pacific Region, Axis Communications, Nick Vines, distribution sales manager ANZ, Axis Communications

Lan 1 Named Axis Communications Distributor of the Year n IP distributor and specialist Lan 1 has been named the Axis Communications Distributor of the Year for the Oceania region at Axis’ Annual Partner Summit held in the Phillip Island earlier this month.

The award recognises overall excellence of Axis Distributors throughout Australia and New Zealand, with local Axis representatives responsible for nominating partners that have excelled in their field – nominations are then reviewed by a group of senior Axis executives to determine the winners. This marks the 6th year (2nd

consecutive) that Lan 1 has been recognised with these honours.

“We are extremely proud to once again be named Axis’ Distributor of the Year however we could not have achieved it without the direct support of Axis and our trusted Channel Partners,” said Basil Delimitros, Lan 1’s IP CCTV business manager.

“Our objective is to accelerate the success of our Axis channel partners - something that cannot be achieved by simply taking orders for cameras,” Delimitros explained.

“Instead, we offer a very

comprehensive IP CCTV Ecosystem that includes not only the cameras but the entire end-to-end system requirements including VMS software, servers and storage, wired and wireless networking infrastructure, secure remote access appliances, and associated professional services we offer everything a channel partner needs for a successful implementation.

“This award is a testimony to Lan 1’s excellence in business execution and proven ability to innovate, enable and accelerate business for our channel partners.”

Our objective is to accelerate the success of our Axis channel partners something that cannot be achieved by simply taking orders for cameras

Allegion Appoints BGWT Australian Distributor n ALLEGION (formally Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies) has appointed fast-growing Australian electronic security distributor BGW Technologies, as its latest distribution partner.

“Allegion has been looking for a partner that would exclusively support our offering in the Australian Market and BGW Technologies is that

14 se&n

company, said Allegion’s regional sales manager electronic security systems, James Cardwell.

“We are extremely excited about the opportunity this offers the market when you consider the reach BGW Technologies, (along with its sister companies CNW and Sherriff) has with its national footprint.”

Joshua Simmons, BGWT’s

general manager, agreed.

“Allegion is a great fit for BGW Technologies,” Simmons said. “The product suite of electric strikes, electronic mortice locks, magnetic locks, card readers and biometric devices, further enable us to supply complete solutions, from the world’s leading manufacturers to our customers.”

Joshua Simmons

Britain and Germany will team up to work on developing the next super-fast mobile network, 5G, Prime Minister David Cameron told CeBIT in Hannover last month.

“This is a prize that researchers all over the world are going for,” he said, unveiling the new collaboration between Germany’s Dresden University and Britain’s King’s College University in London and the University of Surrey.

“This has enormous potential to change our lives,” Cameron said.

“We are on the brink of a new industrial revolution and I want us, the UK and Germany, to lead it,” he said, announcing 73 million pounds (88 million euros, $US122 million) in funding to boost research on the Internet of Things.

5G is a distinctly nebulous thing right now. It consists of a series of technical white papers that cover everything from MIMO and DAWN to VFDM, and from millimetre waves to group co-operative relays and augmented reality.

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Innovative Solutions

news CO M M E N T

april 2014

Industry will have to come together and develop Expanding star a new security technician qualification that n SENSTAR is expanding systems engineering, acknowledges current demand and where its presence in the system design and it’s heading.

Australian outdoor integration, unified and physical security market industrial networking, with the hire of a new telecommunications, Oceania salesperspectives: manager and in managed several companies workservices with their based in New South industries.

He hasin specific suppliers to train their technicians Wales. Jonathan Johnson experience ranging from product installations; startups others to recruit from the is a seasoned security established IT industry and train them onmainstays. security This system professional with over industry 15 years of experience diverse background hardware and insoftware; some take will existing bothtechnicians technical support and them provide Senstar clients and send to external IT trainers sales roles. with true solutions, for education in TCP/IP systems.

“We are confident that our leveraging the appropriate the training options for technicians clientsOf willcourse, benefit greatly technologies. on size. Smaller companies are usually fromdepends Jonathan’s technical expertise and hesuppliers will reliant onthat their to train their technicians, be awhile great addition to our larger security firms the capacity to Wehave are confident Australian team,” said that our clients train in-house.

Gord Loney, Senstar’s VP will benefit A larger such as ours, Kings of product sales. organisation greatly from Johnson brings to Security, has a project Jonathan’s management function Senstar a unique which gives us a feedback technical mechanism to allow our expertise and that skill set developed training department to develop he will the be aright greatpeople through his diverse addition tobe our for theincontracts we’ll executing experience embeddedand solutions Australian team in 6 months. electronics design, But most security firms are small

businesses and they cannot develop people in

Video Security products “The Perfect Combination”

advance of operational requirements because their Tycothan Selling Sth They work pipeline is not longer a month.

Korean Fire & become beholden to their hardware suppliers.

Security Business We will end up with serious capacity constraints For $US1.93b in the next 2 years if we allow the current situation Tyco Int’l plans to sell to IP as to continue. Security systems are all going its South Korean fire prices come down and availability of hardware and and security business software increases. Demand can only and to private equityincrease firm CarlyleifGroup we can’t progress as an The industry onlyfor the larger $US1.93 billion. companies have the capacity to train their people “ADT Korea is a highly stable and profitable to the required skill levels. with together attractive and Industry will have business to come market positioning, develop a new securitystrong technician qualification brand power and demand excellent cash that acknowledges current andflow where it’s profile,” says Sanghyun heading. If such a qualification is sufficiently well Lee, managing director designed and promoted,on it the notCarlyle only helps Asia industry team. but also lifts the profile ofBuyout the role and creates clear “We believe the Korean pathways for the employee. security services is underWho knows? Perhapsindustry the answer is a security and growing technician qualificationpenetrated, that includes the sort of awareness and needs gradings that exist in thefor ITsafety industry, which would will anchor significant growthto in improve the further incentivise security employees future.” their skills. The cliché is correct: people are our The deal is expected to most valuable asset. It’s close time in we invested in them.

Tyco’s fiscal third quarter, the Associated zzz

Press reports. *Peter Roche is the managing director of integrator, Kings Security

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32 se&n 16 se&n

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cas e st u dy

ivanhoe hotel

Back to the future Zurcorp has installed Axis cameras and Pelco Digital Sentry NVRs; as well as a Concept 4000 access control system and a PA system; for the Ivanhoe Hotel on the Corso at Manly on Sydney’s northern beaches.

18 se&n

M

ANLY’S Ivanhoe Hotel was the first case study SEN covered in our first issue way back in October 1998. That makes it an interesting bellwether for the changes the market has undergone over the past 16 years. In 1998, the original system was a cutting edge allanalogue electronic security solution. It comprised a computerised Pacom 2030 matrix switcher and Pelco fixed and PTZ cameras, with timelapse recording handling storage.

The CCTV system included multiple Pelco control keypads and viewing screens at remote locations across the site, allowing duty managers maximum support for their security operations.

Meanwhile, the original access control system was an Inner Range Concept 3000 with HID prox

by john adam s

The old Ivanhoe was dark downstairs and you climbed the stairs into deeper darkness on upper levels.

No more.

the Ivanhoe wanted from its video surveillance solution was a general overview in sufficient quality to allow identification of people involved in incidents relating to security or safety. Coverage includes entrances, bars, recreation areas and points of sale throughout.

The site and the system

readers and an extensive alarm system employing PIRs, dual technology sensors and reed switches.

One of the first serious electronic security systems in the hotel industry, Ivanhoe’s solution operated with great reliability over many years, with a couple of analogue upgrades extending and enhancing system capability.

That original solution went in during the process of building and fitting out the Ivanhoe and these works complicated that installation. Reflecting the install in 1998, this digital upgrade was undertaken during a process of renovation, with the Ivanhoe closed and extended into the buildings on either side of the original structure. The renovation was extensive. It’s now possible to get lost in the Ivanhoe.

From the point of view of the end user, what

The Ivanhoe Hotel’s renovation and expansion has changed the nature of what was a modest-sized establishment. My impression post-renovation is of spaces breaking into spaces. Given most the bars are in the central core of the building, there’s a flow of space around this core. There’s a pool room, many beer gardens and courtyards on multiple levels, additional bar areas on different floors, a separate gaming room, an off-street burger and pizza place and a bottle shop.

As we walk around I get a sense of being in the sort of large community club that is typified by multiple areas each with different moods or themes, the whole designed to appeal to a complete cross section of the community. There are areas to have a meal, areas for grownups to sit and chat at tables, there are booths, nooks and leafy beer gardens where younger folk hang out after a day at the beach.

The hotel is more upmarket than it used to be – there’s a relaxed beachy vibe. To my eye, the hotel is lighter, there’s between 40-80 lux in most areas during the day. The old Ivanhoe was dark downstairs and you climbed the stairs into deeper darkness on upper levels. No more. It’s all natural light, powder blues and whites, cane furniture, a marine ply Manly Junior sailing dinghy takes pride of place above a bright stairwell.

se&n 19

cas e st u dy

ivanhoe hotel

Hardware and software The new surveillance system is built around 2 Pelco Digital Sentry NVRs supporting more than 59 new Axis cameras and nearly 20 Bosch analogue cameras – both domes and full body. Analogue-todigital Pelco ENC5416 analogue-to-digital encoders support analogue cameras at D1, up to full-frame rate recording and these handle the integration of the Bosch cameras into the Digital Sentry NVRs. Doing the grunt work on the IP side is the Axis M3005-V network camera, a 2MP 1080p dome unit that’s vandal and dust-resistant, and designed for quick and flexible installation. This camera has a 3-axis camera angle adjustment so images can be easily levelled. Axis PoE M3005-V offers a horizontal viewing angle of 80-degrees.

This camera supports Axis’ Corridor Format for vertically oriented video streams of areas such as corridors, hallways or aisles. There’s a micro-SDHC memory card slot for edge storage and video streams can be encoded in H.264 and Motion JPEG. There are also intelligent capabilities such as enhanced video motion detection and detection of camera tampering

At the time we were working on the system, the hotel was closed. This meant we were not working outside opening hours but we did have to contend with the renovation itself.

20 se&n

attempts like blocking or spray-painting.

Each of Pelco’s Digital Sentry NVRs can support up to 128 cameras including up to 64 analogue cameras. Each unit has 280 Mbps bandwidth for video recording, streaming, and video export and up to 18TB internal storage, optionally configured for RAID-5. The Digital Sentry NVR comes preloaded with DS NVs Network Video Management Software and includes 8 IP licenses for Pelco or third-party cameras and network encoders.

DS NVs is an ONVIF-compliant software-only video management solution that features camera groups and tear-off screens, multiple touring features, multiple alarm features, automatic software update of DS ControlPoint client, quick review of up to 90 minutes of IP audio and video, thumbnail, timeline, and scrub bar for quick video search and intuitive HTML/PDF reports.

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cas e st u dy

ivanhoe hotel

Duane Lankow

Parts of ceilings came out, we were trying to ensure coverage as designs evolved, we had to coordinate colours.

It was an interesting install The installation Duane and Greg Lankow’s Zurcorp integrated the solution at the Ivanhoe Hotel.

“Our team handled surveillance, access control, alarms, lift control and an upgrade to the paging system,” say Duane Lankow. “At the time we were working on the system, the hotel was closed. This meant we were not working outside opening hours but we did have to contend with the renovation itself.”

To some extent, the Zurcorp team was involved in this renovation process as well.

“A key aspect of the installation was removal of old gear, removal of cameras, pulling coaxial and power cables out of ceilings, pulling old RG-59 cable bundles out of the riser,” explains Lankow. “This was time-consuming and heavy work. For this reason and due to the scope of the site, there was a lot of work involved on this job. Parts of ceilings came out, we were trying to ensure coverage as designs evolved, we had to coordinate colours. It was an interesting install.”

Back in 1998 Zurcorp (then Eurovac), contracted technical support from Hans Van de Ven on the Ivanhoe Hotel installation. But this time the system was supplied fully commissioned by Pacific Communications. Something that is clear when comparing this digital upgrade to the original installation at the Ivanhoe Hotel is that the role of distributors has changed over the past 16 years. In 2014, the best suppliers are not shifting boxes, but integrating complete solutions. It’s a big deal and it changed the nature of the integration in terms of back-end fiddle.

“We went out to Pacific Communications and did a shootout between 5-6 different cameras,” Lankow

22 se&n

explains. “Pacific Communications’ got the cameras out on the bench in the Pacific Communications commissioning room at Rydalmere – 59 Axis cameras and 18 of the Bosch analogue cameras – and got them all integrated with the 2 Pelco Digital Sentry units with a pair of 9 2TB drives per unit (18TB).

“The Pacom team commissioned the entire system then delivered it to us. We just terminated the cables and it was essentially plug and play. Price was a major consideration in our product selection but performance in a range of conditions was important, too. We were pretty happy with the Axis camera during the process and decided to use it.

“When we ordered the system a couple of years ago, HD cameras at this price level just came with a fixed lens and you zoomed in digitally and really, that was it. There wasn’t the IR, auto iris, day/night, optical zoom, additional low light capability, WDR that you get with the latest HD cameras today. Now there’s more choice, more features, more everything and less expense.

“With the Axis cameras we found that because of the 80-degree angle of the camera views we were able to drop 3-4 per cent of cameras from the design,” says Lankow. “New cameras perform better in terms of coverage than old cameras do.”

As part of the shootout process with Pacific Communications, Zurcorp also looked at a pair of Pelco Digital Sentry units. The attraction of the Digital Sentry at the time was strong storage levels, an intuitive user interface with simple downloads, plenty of inputs and hybrid capability.

“Something we liked about Digital Sentry was

cas e st u dy

that when you download the footage, the system downloads a player, which is ideal for police who may be unfamiliar with this sort of technology.

It’s very easy. The player has all the facilities to FF, rewind, zoom, freeze, so it’s a capable system from the point of view of getting this footage into the hands of police in a way they can use it.

“Storage at the Ivanhoe is for 30 days at 15 frames per second in 1080p HD – we wanted 40 days storage just to build in a bit of a buffer but it was decided 30 days was the best balance of performance and cost for the time being.”

According to Lankow, the IP side of the CCTV system runs on a 1GB dedicated Cat-6 subnet.

“It’s a closed network and everything comes back to the racks in the CCTV room,” he explains.

“IP cameras come into a PoE switch then onto the network, while analogue cameras come back on coax-to-digital encoders and both IP cameras and analogues go into Digital Sentry. We run a single dedicated network link to the management workstation running DS NVs.” Obviously on a site this large there are cable runs longer than 100 metres – lots of the runs are longer than this. But thanks to the Cat-6, Lankow says there’s no requirement for amplification. Nor is there any integration between the access and alarms and the CCTV. Alarms and access control are taken care of by a new Concept 4000 running on Insight software on a workstation in the office.

Walking the site Taking a walk around the site is instructive. It’s early mid-afternoon on a weekday so things are quiet at the Ivanhoe when we visit. I keep an eye out for cameras and find the Axis M3005-V is very discrete. It’s not a bulky camera by any means.

24 se&n

ivanhoe hotel

The installation is Zurcorp tidy. There’s none of the surface mount cables or tangles you sometimes see.

In front of house, the installation is very neatly done.

Overall, CCTV coverage is extensive. There’s good vision across bar areas, points of sale, entries, stairways, beer gardens and internal and external spaces. Something that’s interesting is that the strong performance of the cameras and their solid viewing angle really does mean fewer cameras are required.

Despite their compact size, the field of view and resolution mean that with sufficient lighting, fewer cameras can cover much larger areas. We are in a 6m x 8m pool room and a single camera is covering the entire space with no blind spots.

In a downstairs bar and the gaming area we run into the Bosch analogue cameras. According to Lankow, analogue was retained down here because these particular cameras were recently installed and their performance is extremely good.

“The cameras had been upgraded in these areas within the last couple of years as part of the analogue solution,” he explains. “They are the latest analogue cameras and their performance is good. There’s no point removing cameras that are working well, so we’ve integrated them into the new system at D1, 30 frames per second.”

We walk outside onto the Corso.

“The entrance ways where we’ve retained some of the old cameras - see them there and there on the awnings - we’ve also covered with Axis HD cameras,” Lankow says. “These domes can physically zoom in to improve the field of view and depth of field, which made commissioning easier.”

As we head back into the hotel, I mention the strong light levels. Light seems pretty good in here,

Overall, CCTV coverage is extensive.

There’s good vision across bar areas, points of sale, entries, stairways, beer gardens and internal and external spaces.

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cas e st u dy

especially the further out from the core of the building you go, I point out.

“But think of night time,” Lankow replies. “It’s much more challenging then. It’s dim in here at night, there are dark corners and lots of spot lights and light fixtures creating mood lighting. It’s also a very busy place in the evenings – it really goes off in some of the courtyard areas. A big crowd in some of these remote spaces really highlights how important a quality camera system is. Low light performance is obviously a key thing in a dark and challenging environment like this one.”

According to Lankow, for a hotel like the Ivanhoe, CCTV is vital to its operation. For police responding to incidents, hotel CCTV is a vital investigation tool.

If there are problems with a system, police can hold management responsible if they are not resolved – or a hotel might lose its liquor license if the system is not functioning properly.

As the final part of our walk-through, we trek up to the CCTV room on the top floor. There are a number of 19-inch racks in here that used to hold the Pacom 2030 matrix switcher, as well as the recorders and associated hardware. What’s striking to me standing in the compact space for the first time since 1998, is how little there is in these racks in 2014. They’re almost empty.

“There was an old Pacom 2030 in here that we removed,” Lankow points to a gaping hole in a rack. “There are the Digital Sentry units, those are the encoders and there is the network switch. The paging system is over here.”

I peer down at a circular hole in the concrete floor under the rack.

“We drilled that new core hole to carry the camera cables – all this black jacketed Cat-6 travels into the CCTV room through that core.”

Adjacent to the racks carrying the CCTV hardware are wall-mounted panels containing the Inner Range Concept 4000 access control modules.

As I go over to have a peek, Lankow explains that the original Concept 3000 was upgraded to a 4000 managed by Insight software so as to offer additional functionality and superior management of the system. It’s always a joy to see nice access control panels installed well.

“There were some challenges up here,” Lankow says. “Initially it was quite difficult because building

Switches

26 se&n

ivanhoe hotel

Concept access control

crews were renovating the top level – they kept all the original roofing and added infrastructure, including lighting. As you can see, we have a number of cameras up here – but the process of this renovation was going on while we were working on the rest of the system and that restricted access at times.”

Conclusion There are a number of things that stand out when comparing this new digital solution to the original analogue system. The fact it was commissioned by supplier Pacific Communications before installation is a big thing. The process of integrating all the components in the old system after the hardware was installed was time consuming back in ’98.

The new system’s footprint in the CCTV room is tiny. No racks of timelapse recorders. No cupboards full of tapes. It’s tighter in all respects. The lack of a physical matrix switch is a big thing, too. The matrix switch, reliable though it was, was a major piece of hardware. That all those duties can be handled by software is a major deal.

The small size of the cameras is also noticeable as you move around the hotel. Modern cameras are much less intrusive. You can do more with fewer cameras thanks to the wider camera views offered by higher resolution images. But some things have not changed.

“You need a system that comprises cameras that work well in low light supported by a video management system that is easy for managers to operate and get information out of,” Lankow tells me.

“While many things have changed with the latest video surveillance systems, in a hotel application those core capabilities are as vital as ever.” zzz

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n ews re p o rt

Suretrak Global

Suretek Acquires NT Software Suretrak Global Pty Ltd (Suretek) has acquired NT Software, including ADSW and its suite of alarm monitoring products, for an undisclosed sum.

S

URETEK’S CEO Glenn Smith says the company will maintain and continue to develop the ADSW product with the assistance of Neil Turner, who will join Suretek and be the primary contact for ADSW monitoring centres.

“Not only will Neil have access to our existing resources, but we will be adding an extra staff member, with a vast skill-set across IT and telecommunications, dedicated to assisting Neil, and all ADSW monitoring centres,” says Smith.

Suretek’s CAMS and NT Software’s ADSW are the leading alarm monitoring software vendors in Australia and New Zealand. CAMS has 153 Australian licences and a total of 324 sites globally.

ADSW has 75 Australian licences and 103 sites globally. The acquisition means Suretek is now responsible for 228 of the estimated 270 control rooms and monitoring centres across Australia, and with a global base of 427 facilities.

Smith says Suretek has been quietly gearing up its CAMS users for the next generation of monitoring technology, and now will do the same for ADSW users.

“In the background, we will focus on the development of ADSW, starting with the huge task of re-programming it into DotNet, so that ADSW will operate on all future Windows platforms,” Smith says.

“At the same time, we will further integrate the RemoteGUARD Video monitoring module into ADSW by adding the extra functionality currently in CAMS, into ADSW. It is our belief that remote video monitoring is the future of monitoring, and we hope that this is of benefit to ADSW users, as it has been for many CAMS users.”

Smith says Suretek will not make changes for their own sake.

“I also want to acknowledge that change, if not done correctly, can be negative. Monitoring centres are busy environments, and when you make changes, in particular drastic changes, you can easily alienate the many hundreds of operators that sit behind busy terminals each and every day,” Smith explains. “I will adopt the same policy with ADSW that we have with CAMS, in that nothing will change, it will evolve with your input and direction.

“We have asked Neil Turner for a development to-do list for ADSW, including any features that were to be implemented, and what ADSW clients want done most,” says Smith. “CAMS has been built on the feedback from its users, and I would like to apply the same philosophy to ADSW. Initially, we have set up a dedicated email address, adsw@ suretek.com.au, and I encourage all ADSW users to send me their feedback, with suggestions on how we can improve ADSW to be more compatible with their business.

“Neil has been very clear that ADSW is his life’s work, and despite several offers from other companies, Neil chose Suretek, because he believes we are the only company with the commitment, passion, and resources to maintain ADSW and develop it for the future,” says Smith. “The great

With the purchase of NT Software, Suretek accepts the great responsibility of maintaining ADSW, and building upon its strong foundation.

Glenn Smith (l) and Neil Turner

28 se&n

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The software is the heart of the operation, but the infrastructure, communications, servers, workstations, networks, and even the facility itself, are critical components for a successful monitoring centre operation. news for all of us is that Neil will remain with us, and will continue on as the primary contact for all ADSW Monitoring Centres for as long as he chooses to do so. In essence, it will be business as usual.”

Smith says that Suretek is currently in the process of releasing Version 1 of an exciting new end user app for iPhone and Android devices.

“The app is white-labelled, so monitoring centres can brand it as their own with their own company logo and details,” Smith says. “We believe it will add a lot of value to the service offerings of our monitoring stations and help with general monitoring centre operations.

“Although the app has been developed for CAMS, we will soon begin its development for ADSW, and it’s definitely an app worth getting excited about. Version 2 will directly connect a monitoring centre’s customers to its operators and visa-versa, as well as allow the monitoring centre’s customers to directly connect with their security system.

“The savings on communication and operation costs to monitoring centres will be substantial, while at the same time taking the customer’s

30 se&n

Suretrak Global

experience to a whole new level.”

Smith says Suretek adopts a fair play policy when it comes to third party integration.

“I have to mention this as I want to dispel any potential negativity immediately,” he says. “As we all know, Suretek is more than a software company, and yes we do have competitors in a number of other areas, and I’m sure those competitors would also like to integrate their future products into alarm automation software. I want to assure our customers that no amount of competition will inhibit me from delivering the best service available.

“We will gladly work with other vendors to ensure the best possible solution is delivered to CAMS and ADSW users, and at all times provide them with the freedom of choice. We are all about empowering our customers, and will do everything in our power to do so. We are happy to work under a fair play policy with any competitor.”

Smith also points out that through the Suretek data centre every ADSW monitoring station now has its own co-location facility.

“Running a successful monitoring centre is a lot more than just having the right software,” Smith explains. “The software is the heart of the operation, but the infrastructure, communications, servers, workstations, networks, and even the facility itself, are critical components. Suretek will be offering Grade A1 Co-location and disaster recovery services to all ADSW users, something that I know Neil is very excited about being able to provide.”

According to Smith, the acquisition could not come at a better time for ADSW Monitoring Centres.

“There are current discussions about changes to the grading standards to introduce a higher level for those with Co-Location facilities,” he explains.

“ADSW and CAMS users will soon have our CoLocation and Disaster Recovery facility available to them.

“At a date later this year (yet to be announced), we will invite all our monitoring centres AustraliaWide to the Suretek Facilities to view some of our current developments, meet and greet all our staff, and to see first-hand our intentions and exciting future plans for both CAMS and ADSW users.

“We already deal with many ADSW monitoring centres for a number of services outside of software, and many of them may know how passionate Suretek is about our industry, and the opportunity to add value and empower monitoring centres to achieve great things.”

“With the purchase of NT Software, Suretek accepts the great responsibility of maintaining ADSW, and building upon its strong foundation to deliver more features and services, which will allow each monitoring centre to operate more efficiently, as our technology evolves,” says Smith. zzz

N EW P RO D U Ct

Webtegriti

Inner Range’s new Webtegriti It’s not released yet but I got a sneak preview of Inner Range’s latest development, Webtegriti, a browser-based security and access control system that simplifies installation and management of small electronic security solutions.

A

T its core, Webtegriti is a controller in a compact poly housing incorporating browser-based software and everything else required for a small access control solution.

The solution will support doors, cameras and alarm inputs – features and scalability will be finalised by a focus group of installers in the next month or so.

The completed core comms for expansion is RS485 and support for other comms technologies is also in development.

Given some of the cloud-ward movements going on in the market it makes sense that Inner Range should cover this base. That it can do so with a solution like Webtegriti shows the value of owning a serious engineering capability.

For installers coming to access control for the first time, there’s no server and no software setup required. Webtegriti is easy to install and

requires no special training, additional software or licensing. There’s intuitive browser-based software that enables users to remotely monitor system activity and perform day-to-day operations and administrative tasks, such as adding and deleting users as well as for suitably privileged users to configure a new system. You just jump onto the browser and add users and devices through a userfriendly interface.

“Webtegriti is designed for installers who want a very simple solution. It has the software onboard, is accessed via a browser and housed in its own poly housing,” Inner Range CEO Vin Lopes tells me at the company’s Melbourne HQ. “The key things to take away are that with Webtegriti installers don’t have to buy software, don’t have to buy a UART and don’t have to buy a computer.”

Adam Lopes, who was instrumental in the development of Webtegrit and project leader Steve Mitchell, agree that the system is designed to help installers who may not be strong with complex software, but are perfectly happy driving tablets or smart phones.

“Some security technicians don’t like using software – they often say they preferred the old days when you could program the system through a keypad,” Adam says. “But the same people are capable of operating a smart phone or a tablet.

This solution caters to installers who want a small access control system that’s simple to install and that in 5 minutes they will be able to connect to via a tablet. The interface we have put together is really simple – for instance name, notes, entry delay, exit delay are all prominently displayed in an intuitive layout.”

Meanwhile, Vin says Webtegriti will be a capable solution despite its simplicity.

“Modern technology allows us to use inexpensive computer-grade processors – we don’t have to be stingy with memory – and we can now use all the tools in our development armoury. We can develop this system and its future iterations much faster than ever before.”

Remote management The key to Webtegriti is that installers and end users can access the system using any web enabled device. The Webtegriti application works on all mobile devices and computers, including Windows and Mac and with mobile devices Android and iOS. It’s a standard web page browser so there are no demons here.

We take a look at the current web browser interface for the system. Readers should note that this system is in the final stages of design, so that although none of these things are cast in stone, this is generally how the system will develop from this point forward.

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by john adam s

Webtegriti is designed for installers who want a very simple solution. It has the software onboard, is accessed via a browser. It’s housed in its own poly housing.

The overall impression is that Webtegriti is simplicity. There’s a log-in page – it’s designed to work on standard desktop or laptop computers, and automatically resizes to fit optimally onto tablets and smart phones. The interface has been designed from day 1 with touch in mind. On a touch screen the menu is at the top and you can scroll through each item.

The layout is basic in a good way, consisting of touch bars – first is General, then Basic Configuration, then Monitoring Options, Inputs, Outputs, Advanced Configuration, Auto-Arm. As you select a menu, additional options open up in a drop window. For instance, with monitoring you type in Area Number, Client Code, tick for report openings, report openings only after an alarm and report closings.

It’s quick. One click into a menu sees you undertaking setup. At the top right of the screen are touch buttons for Adding New (user, door, alarm input), Save and Delete. These allow very easy management of key functions of the system.

Users can also undertake actions like locking and unlocking of doors from a local workstation or a remote smart device.

So long as you have a network connection. It’s

the same landing page for installers and end users.

Once you’ve touched down, permissions can be setup to authorise different levels of access. You use a PIN entry if coming into the system from a smart phone or tablet.

The team is currently working on the interfaces – all the editing parts are completed to configure the system, status and optimise the end user experience. There are simple configuration menus - assigning inputs to an area – users to an area.

Very simple processes – menus and icons and management is very responsive. Once authorised, a user has a different interface to work with and different options but it’s quite seamless.

“We really only started developing the product last year,” Inner Range R&D manager Alf Katz explains. “It was over Christmas that we really broke ground on a prototype and though it’s now only March we are well on the way to having a solution completed. There will be a preview at Security 2014 and the market release will be Q4 this year.”

I don’t get to see the actual plastics for Webtegriti but the art looks very nice and if Inner Range’s other products are anything to go by, this very simple cloud-based Webtegriti system is sure to be a winner. zzz

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n ews re p o rt

Q Security Systems

The American Revolution Q Security Systems is pushing hard on its American Dynamics camera lineup, one of the largest ranges of analogue and IP cameras on the market. SEN editor John Adams chats with QSS’ Rob Rosa.

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HILE it’s not well known, American Dynamics, distributed locally by QSS, has a comprehensive range of CCTV cameras. But AD’s secrets are about to be revealed with a push planned for the Optima and Ultra ranges, as well as the company’s large family of box cameras, bullets, domes and mini domes.

According to QSS’ COO Rob Rosa, many of the AD camera specs are better than the usual suspects in speed domes and other cameras and yet the traction doesn’t appear to have been there.

“I’ve personally witnessed the picture quality of some of these cameras and was very impressed with the image quality, ease of setup through web user configuration browser and zoom capability in comparison to some of our competitions’ domes.

“The AD range of IP and analogue cameras is very competitively priced, has high specs and gives great images. It comes down to who holds the stock, who can offer you the best value for money and after sales support and while we tend to over use the word value-add, it is all these things that make for an overall good customer experience when making a choice to purchase.”

Something else that’s important is the fact the cameras have local technology support, right down to actual board work.

“AD cameras are backed by their manufacturer, Tyco Security Products, but the warranty and repair is handled here in Australia at QSS’ big repair facility in Laverton. That’s not a common capability for a local distributor,” Rosa says.

Along with cameras, QSS currently stocks VideoEdge encompassing the NVR range and a hybrid, as well as Intellex and ADTVR and staff are also trained in set up and design of these systems.

“We also sell the Kantech range of products – access control as well as CCTV equipment - one great product in particular being INTEVO which can do a maximum of 32 cameras along with builtin access control in one small box,” Rosa explains.

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Rob Rosa

The AD range of IP and analogue cameras is very competitively priced, has high specs and gives great images.

Given QSS carries a strong camera range in DVTel, as well as AD and your own QSS range, do you see this as an opportunity to grow?

“We feel that we have covered all our gaps with cameras and our DVR/NVR and VMS solutions and more importantly the strength of edge devices today are comparatively similar,” Rosa tells me.

“What I mean is that many cameras come out of similar manufacturing plants in Asia. We have just appointed a world class manufacturer to expand on our own range of new cameras called the QVS Alumia Series.

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There is a new confidence in the business and all the staff can see that we mean business and we are on the right track and our aim is to increase the profitability for our shareholders of QTG. “This range is about half the price of our branded cameras, minimum 3-year warranty (some have 4 years) and feature-rich with great images that you would normally pay double for.

Our other cameras in the DVTEL Quasar range are great for reducing the bit rate to half of any known brand name and also guarantee that you can identify the storage requirements needed at the time of quoting the project.

“DVTEL guarantees this and the picture quality is great,” Rosa says. “DVTEL also offers 4-year warranty once the product is EOL, meaning if the end of life is set as 2 years, you receive 4 years once this happens. In essence you have a camera with a 6-year warranty.

Would you say QSS has now resolved its camera line-up or might there be more additions

36 se&n

Q Security Systems

at some point in the future? I ask.

“We will continually evaluate together with our premium partners and identify what is working and what isn’t,” Rosa explains. “Sometimes relationships have a finite term and there is no point progressing with them.

“Currently we are very happy with our partners and we will always be looking at growing stronger with these existing partners to ensure that we deliver the growth expectations for both organisations. We have also just been appointed Flir distributors – Flir is a product we are very proud of being associated with.”

QSS has been active over the past quarter, taking on DVTel distribution, taking on American Dynamics, as well as some key new staff. How quickly do you think you’ll grow in 2014 terms of percentage of turnover, staff?

“We had a pleasing half year result at the end of Dec of 13.1 per cent sales revenue growth and a net profit before tax of $A534k,” says Rosa.

“We are growing and we aim to make QSS a profitable entity especially after the rough ride the old business had. There is a new confidence in the business and all the staff can see that we mean business and we are on the right track and our aim is to increase the profitability for our shareholders of QTG. “Our aim for the next half is similar numbers but a larger NPBT component to ensure that we continue to build on profitability for shareholders and also to re-invest in the QSS business for future expansion and growth.”

And how are your plans progressing on the major projects front – it’s early days but is there interest in the market for this side of the business?

“Absolutely,” says Rosa. “We have already been asked to take part in the design, configuration and pricing of 4 major sites and we are working diligently to undertake this. Early days for sure but we also have Jake Lennon in QLD who has now been promoted into Major Projects for QLD, FNQ and NT. We have just employed another BDM candidate in NSW for the project space who already has runs on the board with providing DVTEL and AD-style solutions.

How does the market feel to you early-2014? Is there a lift in QSS business overall?

“From QSS’s perspective we are going great guns,” says Rosa. “Our sales staff are quoting at a very aggressive rate. We feel the buoyancy in the market has returned and we feel excited and positive about 2014. The signs are there and even in the slower states, we are creating momentum by offering training courses on IP and other products so we have noticed that business has increased since coming back from the main break.” zzz

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Galaxy Flex

Galaxy flexes muscles Honeywell has enhanced its powerful Galaxy Flex intruder and access control panel with video verification, a ‘night set’ mode and smartphone app allowing authorised users universal access to panel functions.

H

ONEYWELL has upgraded its Galaxy Flex integrated intruder and access control solution with a night set mode, a new compact housing design and a Galaxy Range Mobile App for remote access. Galaxy Flex, with hybrid wired and wireless technology and video verification of alarm events, is a strong solution for homeowners and small to medium size businesses.

Galaxy Flex can be used by installers as a standard piece of equipment, regardless of whether it is being integrated into a commercial or residential building.

This flexibility provides benefits for installers, who are able to install the product quickly and easily without the need to learn how to operate a new system, and for users who can choose a solution that has both residential and commercial benefits.

Galaxy’s new night set mode allows homeowners to create a separate night-time security set-up, providing protection while they are asleep. This feature enables users to arm only the sensors needed to protect the house perimeter or isolated areas of the house. It also provides a silent mode, removing audible tones during arming and allowing users to set the alarm without disturbing others in the house.

This feature allows easier programming for user set-up, which saves installers time on the job.

The new firmware also provides a setup wizard, which simplifies the process of setting up simple alarm signalling to a monitoring station, with or without a back-up signalling path over telephone lines, broadband or wireless GSM/GPRS links. This provides benefits for installers allowing them to take full advantage of fast, reliable signalling solutions without the need for extensive training or prolonged set-up times.

Galaxy’s new compact housing design provides an ideal solution for systems that do not require several additional add-ons to the basic panel and where space is limited. The new

40 se&n

housing provides benefits to installers for quick and easy installation in both residential and commercial settings.

The prevalence of smartphones and tablets means that mobile applications are becoming an increasingly popular way of providing services to consumers. The enhanced Galaxy Flex solution capitalises on this ongoing trend by allowing users to access the system remotely – anytime, anywhere – through their own broadband connection by easy download of the Galaxy Flex Range Mobile App from any application store.

Accessing Galaxy Flex via its mobile app allows easy remote control of the system at the touch of a button. Features such as status reporting, set and unset, control of groups, outputs and detailed log information can all be accessed while mobile.

The Galaxy Flex Range Mobile App provides installers with additional benefits. Firstly, it reduces the cost to serve and supports customers by providing them with an easy way of accessing information and adjusting the service. Secondly, the availability of a smartphone application makes it more attractive for consumers who are increasingly looking for a security system that suits their lifestyle.

“The best technology embraces and incorporates changes in consumer behaviour,” says Martin Pacitti, Galaxy product manager EMEA, Honeywell Security Group.

“Our latest version of Galaxy Flex can be operated in ways that are familiar to people – using smartphones, tablets, apps – in addition to providing a robust and flexible security solution.”

Galaxy Flex supports alarm verification by image sequence, with its ISN3010B4 sensor recording around 100 images at 640 x 352 pixels, with up to 35 images per sequence with 10 image pre-alarm memory.

There are GSM/GPRS, Ethernet, PSTN comms options, multiple sensor and keypad options, including a touch keypad, and the system is programmable via quick set up wizards. There’s also flexible expansion with up to 100 wired or wireless zones, 98 users, 98 wireless key fobs, 8 groups, up to 4 door controllers (DCMs) controlling up to 8 doors while an access event log records up to 1000 events. zzz

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t e ch n o lo gy

lytro

Lytro – Sharp Camera Tech It’s not a CCTV camera but it’s hard not to look at Lytro’s plenoptic consumer cameras and Raytrix’s plenoptic industrial cameras and not see potential for use in video surveillance applications.

F

OR CCTV people, the best way to guarantee focus in a large, deep scene is extreme resolution. This allows digital zoom to be employed to dig into scenes later on. The cost is very large file sizes and there’s an inevitable trade off in storage space and bandwidth that often leads to applications that reek of compromise.

What if there was a more compact and less expensive solution? If Lytro is anything to go by, the technology certainly exists to do things differently.

Lytro Light Field is a plentoptic camera. It uses an array of hundreds of micro-lenses to gather a 4D light field – all the light rays reflected from a scene - which allows the camera’s software engine more data to chew on. The result is an image that can be refocused after it’s taken.

With a Lytro camera, a scene can be focused to the front to show a face and then focused to the rear to offer situational awareness all from the same image.

While the final image resolution is kept relatively low at 1.1MP – 1080p x 1080p – the overall image size is

relatively large at 11MP but that’s small considering the potential of the technology to offer face recognition or LPR in all depths of a scene.

Plenoptic technology is actually around 100 years old – it was developed by Gabriel Lippmann in 1908 and enhanced by Adelson and Wang, who in 1992, slashed correspondence in stereo matching by placing the microlens array at the focal plane of the main camera lens – at the front of the camera with the image sensor just aft.

There are negatives of the system relating to low resolution – an image has the resolution of the microlens that is in focus in a given part of the scene.

A focused plenoptic camera can resolve these issues, however, giving more spatial resolution and less angular resolution. Focus can also be a little slow – but it’s early days yet.

Obviously, the beauty of this technology is that would allow camera manufacturers, integrators and end users to side step the fundamental truth that an image’s best focal point is set at the point of exposure. The ability to go through the scene from front to back afterwards is extremely cool and in many video surveillance applications it would be profoundly useful.

Quite simply, as you shift the focal point on a Lytro camera, the image refocuses with complete clarity. Reviewers of Lytro have pointed out that the camera image quality is not up with the best. High contrast edges suffer from chromatic aberration and that most important of features, wide dynamic range, is comparatively low. Importantly though, images contain only small amounts of noise.

Lytro cameras are supported by Lytro management software and this includes something rather neat called Perspective Shift. It’s a function that allows an operator to move around and into a scene, moving seamlessly around a fully focused image, which gives its operators the sense of moving around a 3D object – it’s gaming stuff in real life.

Obviously, Lytro is proprietary and targeted at consumers but it’s technologies like this that give us hints of where clever CCTV camera manufacturers might go in the future. Something interesting is price.

The camera, which also has Wi-Fi connectivity for download and sharing, is about $US400, which is not much to ask for technology as clever as this is. zzz

Lytro Light Field uses an array of hundreds of micro-lenses to gather a 4D light field which allows the camera’s 1080p image to be refocused after a picture is taken.

42 se&n

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Chicago Transit Authority

CTA selects 360-degree cameras The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), America’s second largest public transportation system, has deployed 3600 Sentry360 panomorphic cameras across 900 rail cars in a rugged mobile environment.

T

HE Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) operates America’s second largest public transportation system, servicing the city of Chicago and 35 surrounding suburbs. On an average weekday, approximately 1.7 million rides are taken on the CTA. Back in 2010, Sentry360 panomorphic cameras were implemented under a CTA pilot program, funded by a Department of Homeland Security grant, to retrofit the existing rail car fleet with an on-board video surveillance system. As the cameras would be exposed to harsh environmental conditions, such as extreme heat/cold, humidity, and vibration, as well as unregulated electrical power sourced from the 600 VDC third rail, the pilot program focused on the effect of these dynamics relative to the video technology.

With over 800 potential rail cars to retrofit on a fullscale, the CTA needed a solution that was not only environmentally robust but also maximized the field of view with minimal cameras per car, supported by an open-standards IP architecture that allowed for integration with other systems.

Traditional video surveillance cameras have an inherent flaw - blind spots. If a camera was pointed left and an incident occurred on the right, the footage was useless. To achieve full coverage within a CTA rail car, up to 6 legacy fixed cameras would be required, resulting in 6 video streams for

44 se&n

recording. Conversely, the ceiling mounted, lowprofile, Sentry360 FullSight cameras have an omnidirectional vantage point, giving investigators a complete story of a potential incident even in the heavy traffic of the transit system.

During the extensive multi-year evaluation, Sentry360’s solution matched that coverage with no blind-spots, using only 2 Sentry360 FullSight 360-degree fisheye HD cameras per rail car. At the same, time the solution substantially reduced the bandwidth for recording and streaming to 2 video streams while retaining all virtual pan/tilt/zoom functionality for both live and post-recorded video.

The success of the pilot has now enabled CTA to retrofit the Sentry360 solution to the remainder of the fleet. The unintended efficiency of the design allowed the CTA to add 2 additional 360-degree cameras per car, one within the railcar to provide redundancy for the initial 2-camera solution and an outward facing camera to view the right-of-way as the train travels.

Elimination of fixed field-of-view cameras inherently created extra recording capacity within the video surveillance system to allow the additional cameras while staying under budget.

The final project included 3600 Sentry360 cameras on nearly 900 rail cars.

“This project sets a new standard in public transportation video surveillance,” says Thomas Carnevale, Sentry360’s CEO. The Sentry360 cameras are integrated into the CTA’s existing video management system platform, made by Teleste Corporation. Teleste was able to integrate Sentry360’s intellectual property into the CTA’s existing video management system allowing the correction of the fisheye view, and delivering the capability to pan-tilt-zoom in all directions both live and forensically, in recorded video.

“Our end users were increasingly frustrated having to view video across incompatible video systems. For years, we had searched for openstandards based and scalable IP video solutions suitable for mobile fleet use that were compatible with our current fixed video management system,” says Herb Nitz, CTA director of technology engineering.

“Our initial goal to find an IP camera that could operate in a challenging mobile environment led us to Sentry360. The benefits we realized from the immersive 360-degree technology of the Sentry360 cameras and the ease of integration far exceeded our expectations for any IP mobile camera solution.” zzz

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The next wave As the alarm monitoring industry turns to the latest consumer technology to change the way users interact with security systems, it should come as little surprise that a wave of niche-hungry start ups is looking at security electronics.

T

HERE are a couple of recent consumer product releases that attract attention for their simplicity and the fact they integrate so much in small packages. I think it would be a mistake to think of these as true security systems but it’s equally foolish to assume end users will not desire a similar level of features and flex from professional domestic security solutions

46 se&n

in the future.

Whether this tech is a real commitment to the market or a fishing attempt for the sort of monster buyout we saw with Nest is a moot point. This clever stuff is coming and it will appeal to young people – lifelong renters who have grown up with technology and who represent the next wave of customers.

There’s something about solutions like

this that remind me of the Ness Security Guard of times long past, which combined an entire system into a single housing.

Of course, these new housings are very small and combine a great deal more functionality.

The first solution is Piper from Blacksumac which incorporates Z-wave home automation capability, a panomorphic fisheye camera, multiple sensors and an IP-based cloud model with cellular comms coming.

Other core features include an ARM processor running Linux, Wi-Fi, 3-axes accelerometer, RGB LED, battery backup, and a 105dB siren. Onboard sensors include a PIR, a temperature sensor, humidity sensor and a sensor for ambient light. The PIR can be tweaked for sensitivity so as to allow for pets in the house.

The 180-degree panomorphic camera delivers 4 simultaneous views to an app on the screen of a smart device, selectable in a quad layout, or full-screen. The first view offers the entire scene and the other 3 are digital zooms into areas of the entire scene that are of interest or perceived risk.

Users set up rules for Home, Away and Vacation conditions and on this basis the system runs itself. It’s an if/then programming wizard so simplicity is the word. When the PIR detects movement, the unit records video to its onboard SD card and sends the owner and other contacts, an alert with footage. Recording is the usual process of overlay locally and footage can also stored in the cloud if you want that.

Users can also log into the system from smart devices or workstations when there’s an alert to check out what’s happening. Image quality is ok – the integrated camera is not the queen of backlight but given the entire unit costs only $230, that’s no great surprise.

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Other features include audio detection thanks to a microphone and there’s a speaker, which allows a user to remonstrate with an intruder – though more likely yell at kids home early from school. If your negotiation skills aren’t great you can elect to hit the siren to deter the children from the biscuit barrel.

The microphone is being used to apply some analytics, too. Things that it listens out for include smoke alarms and barking dogs. But in the future these could include gun shots, or the sound of breaking glass. More analytic capabilities are said to be in the works.

Thanks to Z-wave, users can expand their systems as they like, connecting lights, air conditioning, TV, ice sensors, flooding, door locks – whatever Z-wave sensors they like. And all these are accessible via the cloud-based app from a user’s smart device.

According to Blacksumac, pairing Z-Wave is really simple. You just add a sensor, press the button on the Z-Wave device and tell Piper what it is, like a front door sensor. The security rules are adjusted automatically. For a rental apartment or small home or office, Piper is a nice device.

Next is Zwobbx Smart home 2.0, which is under development by crowd funding. The Zwobbx module looks like a big PIR and is battery-powered with Wi-Fi comms and nips onto any existing network. From an installation point of view, you place a network of devices at key locations and they interact with all your systems via Wi-Fi. The unit can also connect to existing home systems through a dedicated gateway.

The development team insists it’s not meant to be an alarm system – it’s more about situational awareness. Rather than an alarm system or a new weather station or an energy metering tool, what Zwobbx says it is trying to do is combine “all useful home observation, automation and security features together and connect all of them to your phone, tablet or PC”. They also describe the system as an all-purpose home automation tool.

Coming from the IP side, the

48 se&n

The Zwobbx module looks like a big PIR and is battery-powered with Wi-Fi comms and nips onto any existing network. From an installation point of view, you place a network of devices at key locations and they interact with all your systems via Wi-Fi. developers say they can’t understand the principle of base stations – instead everything can be handled by Wi-Fi onto networks. Whether as a security professional you agree with this rather idealistic principle or not, the idea of IPbased alarm system does have merit.

The Zwobbx unit includes a PIR, a temperature sensor, an ambient light sensor, a weather station, air humidity sensor, radar sensor for additional motion detection, smart metering of energy consumption, child watch, air quality and smoke detection.

The Zwobbx module uses an ultra-low power, Wi-Fi chip but battery life is still a rather poor 6 months - there’s an AC

unit planned. An interesting feature is API for customized applications and the Zwobbx module can interact with REST-Services and provides support for Wi-Fi Direct, WPS, legacy Wi-Fi Client, SoftAP modes and HTTPS/SSL. Zwobbx can also communicate with common SmartHome systems like KNX, EnOcean, Zigbee and many more, so there’s plenty of security and automation functionality there.

In its early stages, developers are still tweaking the app but the system will communicate with smart devices and the app will be configured by the user.

As well as this sort of product, there’s something else to consider, too. An ABI Research report in the U.S. claims security installers will suffer a 50 per cent drop in their collective market share for smart home services by 2019 as competition increases and rivals leverage their own strengths with competing services. That is despite a predicted growth of 37 per cent the number of U.S. households adopting home automation services.

ABI Research examined the offers, assets, and competitive positioning of telcos, cable companies, retailers, and alarm monitoring players in the U.S. managed smart home service market.

As shown in the analysis, the early mover advantage of alarm monitoring cannot match some competitor’s core competencies which are better suited to selling smart home products and services.

In the face of all this, what’s important is that security installers and monitoring companies play to their strengths. This first generation of networked ‘security’ products is technically very poor and it’s not likely that really high quality will ever be part of the DIY or telco-based smart home equation. What will be part of the equation is bundling security solutions with data and comms services. To my mind, the way to counter this shift is going to be through real commercial partnerships with local telcos and the vigorous application of our far superior technology. zzz

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Illustra 625

Zoom, zoom, zoom American Dynamics’ Illustra 625 from QSS features 1080p resolution, 20x optical zoom, 512-degree per second pan speed, 0.4 lux low light performance in colour and real time auto continuous focus.

W

ITH a ½.8-inch Sony Exmor chip, giving strong WDR performance and a quality lens running the show, the AD Illustra 625 is a great performer. The camera is well built in aluminium and has a full suite of features, including Day/Night with slow shutter and low latency drives.

But what impressed me during this demo was the outright picture quality.

Let’s look at the specifications, first. With the Illustra 625 PTZ camera you can choose from indoor, outdoor and vandal domes. We are looking at the indoor unit in this review but the build quality is outstanding. It’s not a lightweight at 6.6kg but that build quality means a long life.

Illustra 625 is the fastest HD PTZ in the industry and features a combination of souped up DC servo motors and braking designs to deliver not only strong pan and tilt performance but accuracy that AD says surpasses the maximum speed and

return to position accuracy of all competitive PTZ cameras.

When using programmed presets and tours, the Illustra 625 fizzes into position at a head-spinning 512 degrees per second.

Strengths of the camera are accuracy and precision. Processing hardware and precision direct motor drives combine to give smooth control. With an accuracy of +/-0.25 degrees, the camera will continually return and deliver video of the scenes that are set. By using the freeze frame feature between presets, and tours, the camera minimises network bandwidth use and storage costs by automatically eliminating unusable video of a scene created when the camera moves between presets.

The camera uses ZAP (zoom adjusted program) technology that automatically controls the pan and tilt speed of the camera in proportion to the amount of zoom used. There’s H.264 compression that AD says uses a fraction of the bandwidth of competitors. This camera offers multiple digital streams in H.264 or MJPEG at 30ips and it supports ONVIF 2.2 profile S specification allowing integration with compatible recording solutions.

And the camera is future proof – the hardware platform can be updated with firmware including analytics and feature enhancements as they become available – including motion detection, advanced heath monitoring and edge recording.

From an installer’s perspective, easy installation is another attraction with a number of mounting options. The camera is compatible with Illustra 600 Series mounts and many existing IP speed dome outdoor mounts – this means installers can use mounts already in place. The 625 has a twist and lock ring. When installing the unit you insert the camera into the mount, twist and click.

According to Tyco Security Products regional sales manager ANZ, Darren Banks, American Dynamics is the industry’s best kept secret.

“The AD 625 is an excellent PTZ camera with strong features,” he says. “It’s 1080p, 2MP, has 20x optical zoom, 96 presets, a Sony Exmor chip and Full wide

50 se&n

by john adam s

517-degree per second pan speed on preset. There are internal, external and vandal resistant versions and price is in line with competitors.”

The boys set up the camera for me to view – first internal scenes in the big warehouse at QSS’ big Laverton facility. Light internally is very strong – I measure it between 650-900 lux under the lights.

Under the lens I measure it at 900 lux – both at 100 ISO. This is a bright application so it’s hard to get a sense of low light capability but it’s a great opportunity to see how well the camera’s WDR solution does with buckets of backlight.

First we look around inside. There’s good light in this space and the 625 laps it up – offering great Cars at 50m

It’s 1080p, 2MP, has 20x optical zoom, 96 presets, a Sony Exmor chip and 517-degree per second pan speed on preset. There are internal, external and vandal resistant versions and price is in line with competitors.

Leaves at 75m

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Excellent colours, strong contrast giving us every detail. Zoom performance is smooth and strong. colour rendition and strong contrast throughout the scene. Although it’s a big warehouse, as soon as we get the zoom into action it’s clear this camera isn’t even breaking a sweat. The only challenges to complete coverage are the towering warehouse racks. We entertain ourselves searching a spider web to see if its owner is home – this process shows the excellent focus of the camera.

Next, we swing the 625 around and peer out through the open roller door into the bright sunlight – outside my Sekonic reads 20,480 lux at 100 ISO – it’s painful glare to the naked eye. The external scenes look across the QSS carpark into an adjacent property and a conveniently located group of trees at a distance of around 75m.

The images really tell the story. We are getting excellent performance from the inside to the outside and peering deep into the scene. Number plates are effortless. It’s good imagery at 75m, too. The fine detail of the leaves is outstanding.

I’m impressed. We are viewing the scene on the integral camera browser. It’s doing really well – perhaps there’s a little bit of work discernable with leaf movement and passing traffic at full zoom but the integrity of the image is great.

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Illustra 625

Excellent colours, strong contrast giving us every detail. Zoom performance is smooth and strong.

It’s a fine camera. Having been around affordable fixed-lens all-rounders lately, I really re-appreciate the glory of quality optics with a camera like this AD 625 PTZ. We take a range of still shots to indicate WDR from the widest to a zoom – viewed on a monitor these images are excellent – printed images aren’t an accurate translation.

Watching the boys set the camera up gives an appreciation of the simplicity of its mounting design. A couple of minutes and the camera is on the bracket, powered up and ready to go. In the hands the AD 625 feels nicely made, with its aluminium housing and poly camera head. It’s an excellent unit with smoking preset speeds making it ideal for a range of applications. My lasting impression of this camera is image quality in trying conditions. zzz

Features of AD Illustra 625 include: l Low latency for camera tracking control l Fastest HD PTZ in the industry at 512 degrees per second l 2MP with dual streams at 1080p 30ips resolution l Freeze frame between presets to save bandwidth and storage l Real time continuous auto focus l Outstanding colour reproduction l 20x optical zoom – 662 horizontal pixels per degree l Day/night with slow shutter technology l Wide dynamic range l Auto and manual white balance modes.

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cas e st u dy

new york marathon

New York Marathon New York City Road Runners have chosen to secure the world’s largest marathon with Sony IP cameras integrated by EIA Inc, carried on a wireless mesh using Firetide and supported by Milestone video management software.

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O

RGANISER of the New York Marathon, the NY Road Runners, needed more situational awareness around the marathon route, particularly in and around leafy Central Park.

Counter-intuitively, they also needed a system that could be quickly and easily installed and dismantled.

The answer was Sony IP cameras connected to a rapidly deployed wireless network. This solution resulted in no permanent alterations to municipal infrastructure along the race route, yet allowed much greater situational awareness and emergency response control from the event’s emergency operations centre.

The New York City Marathon is the largest in the world. After the 2012 race was cancelled due to Superstorm Sandy, a record number of runners turned out for the return of the marathon in 2013.

More than 50,000 people finished the race, the most ever in any marathon. In addition to the runners, more than 2 million onlookers lined the 26.2-mile route as it wound through all 5 of New York City’s boroughs before concluding in Central Park.

The marathon is organized and managed by the New York Road Runners (NYRR), a local nonprofit running club that serves runners at all ability levels and organizes world-class running events.

With marathon security being a top concern in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombing, the NYRR wanted to implement additional safety measures for the 2013 race.

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primarily due to the openness of the course and the millions of people who converge on a small area.

A primary challenge in installing such a security system is the lack of infrastructure. Marathons often wind through areas that do not have adequate network infrastructure in place to support secure, high-resolution video transmission—and the New York City race was no exception.

To overcome this challenge, security integrator EIA, Inc. designed a surveillance system utilizing Sony IP cameras connected to a wireless mesh network from Firetide Inc. Adam Roth, vice president of EIA’s Technology division, said Sony’s IP cameras were selected for the New York City Marathon installation because of their full-HD

Securing events such as races is always challenging, primarily due to the openness of the course and the millions of people who converge on a defined area.

56 se&n

new york marathon

image quality, ease of installation, and ability to stream over a wireless mesh network.

The technologies from Firetide and Sony allowed EIA to temporarily install video surveillance around Central Park in a short amount of time. Just 36 hours before the race, EIA accessed utility poles designated by the NYPD’s Counterterrorism Bureau to set up the Sony IP cameras — and Firetide wireless mesh nodes and antennas — high above the park.

The mesh network connected the IP cameras to a reliable, temporary, private wireless video network, without creating any permanent alterations to New York City’s infrastructure. EIA integrated the various technologies using Milestone Systems’ open-platform video management software.

The surveillance system covered the streets surrounding Central Park, ran into and through the park, and terminated at the marathon’s operations center. The operations center was staffed by members of the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force, New York Police Department officers, and EIA executives.

Both the marathon management and law enforcement officials used multiple video displays from the Sony IP cameras to improve their views and situational awareness of race areas in and around Central Park. The system was also integrated into the marathon’s larger security footprint established by the NYPD, enabling any critical visual information to be shared on a broader scale. zzz

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panasonic 6 series

Panasonic 6 Series Panasonic’s latest release in the hotly contested 1080p IP camera market, the iPro Smart HD 6 Series, is a real contender that combines strong image quality across a range of tough applications with plenty of back-end smarts.

T

HERE’S no doubt that the cadence of new releases in this pivotal part of the CCTV camera market has picked up. A small group of highly committed manufacturers is competing to offer the best performance in key areas like low light, WDR, noise reduction, motion blur and bit rate management.

The task they face is a challenging one. If you want better low light performance you wick up gain. If you want less noise you pump up noise reduction. But when you elevate noise reduction, you lose contrast. If you focus your camera

58 se&n

engine’s attention on the moving parts of a scene you tend to flatten the static areas – the result is a loss of resolution, contrast and colour rendition.

Choke your bit rate and you lose resolution when sudden movement bursts across an idle scene. It’s a balancing act and not an easy one.

Digital camera development is harder than it was in the days when analogue manufacturers simply built new CCD sensors with additional horizontal resolution or re-designed AGC. With digital there are layers upon layers, as camera technology becomes more complex. There’s optics, sensing,

by john adam s

storage, compression, comms, processing – image enhancement and IVA, as well as mechanics to consider. Meanwhile, the hidden nature of digital processing makes specification comparisons impossible.

I get a look at the new 6 Series at Pacific Communications Rydalmere office with Panasonic’s Hiroshi Sekiguchi, manager IP security product MD, Marcus Vongpraseuth, product marketing manager security and intercom and Satoshi Kawakami, staff engineer, electrical engineering group. Sekiguchi and Kawakami have flown over from Japan to demo their new camera and I get a distinct feeling this unit is still in the process of evolution.

Sekiguchi doesn’t stop talking about improving the new product, which is nice to see. An obvious technophile, Sekiguchi is delightfully candid and he talks about the challenges of the development and the strengths of particular competitors in very revealing ways. It’s nice to know the Panasonic people look at the best cameras on the market with their eyes wide open, then seek to leap-frog them with enhancements and developments of their own. Sekiguchi concedes Panasonic has had some work to do to take its cameras back to the head of the pack but it’s clear he believes that with 6 Series, this is in the process of being achieved.

“Series 6 is the first camera platform I’ve been involved with from the start and I’m very happy and excited about it,” Sekiguchi tells me. “With this release we are really aiming to be the best camera manufacturer – we have spent the past couple of years going back to basics and trying to exceed the market’s expectations. We want to attain the superiority in cameras we had in the past.

“To achieve this goal we have focused on achieving the best images in any application whether it’s sunny, cloudy, day, night, extreme temperatures (55 plus 55 below). We want the best images in real time to support any security operations.”

We knew this already but Sekiguchi points out the fact that Panasonic doesn’t play around with specification sheets.

“We don’t like doing that – we play with actual performance,” he says. “For instance, with this camera we have 133dB Super Dynamic – one of the leading competitors is 130dB and another is 120dB – so we are back to the front line with this new Series 6,” he explains.

As he tells the story of 6 Series development, Sekiguchi makes a key revelation concerning Panasonic’s philosophy - while basic functions are important, raw camera innovation is important, too.

“One customer might need more low light performance, another more Super Dynamic, another more WDR, or IR support, or the ability to control third party pan tilt units for airport or railway

Panasonic 6 Series top left

applications,” he explains.

“We started thinking – is it realistic to get all those camera models out there in the market?

And we began to visualise a base camera that can evolve to meet a customer’s needs, a camera with customisable customer designs – like optional hardware components and additional software apps – that can change a powerful base camera to suit an application.”

Camera features

We have spent the past couple of years going back to basics and trying to exceed the market’s expectations.

We want to attain the superiority in cameras we had in the past.

So, what are the baseline features of the new Panasonic 6 Series? Today we are looking at the WV-SFN631L. For a start, it’s got a proprietary Panasonic 1/3-inch MOS sensor, it’s 1080p, the UniPhier LSI processor delivers 60ips, there’s 133dB of wide dynamic range. Low light performance is down to .04 lux in colour and .01 in black and white both at F1.3.

There’s also fog and sand compensation to handle dust storms and bushfires. And 6 Series also offers 30m IR for applications without light. There are 8 privacy zones, high speed auto back focus and motorised zoom and variable image quality on a specified area. Handling edge storage are 2 SD card slots.

Models in the 6 Series include the SFV631L (1080/60p) outdoor vandal-resistant camera, the SFV611L (720/60p) outdoor vandal-resistant camera, the SFR631L (1080/60p) indoor vandalresistant camera, the SFR611L (720/60p) indoor vandal-resistant camera, the SFN631L (1080/60p) indoor camera SFN611L (720/60p) indoor camera.

Before we get into a demo, Sekiguchi goes deeper into the key features of the new camera – starting with that Enhanced Super Dynamic WDR of 133dB. This is powerful WDR and you can see the difference in performance when you compare

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the Series 5 and Series 6 under conditions of strong backlight.

“Along with 133dB of Enhanced Super Dynamic WDR we have variable multi-exposure technologies – there are 4 if needed,” Sekiguchi explains. “It depends on the challenges of the scene. We will use 3 if that’s what’s needed or we will use 4. There’s also multi-process noise reduction (MNR).

Something else that’s interesting is Panasonic’s variable shutter speed technology.

“We don’t fix shutter speed,” Sekiguchi says.

“Normally there is a range of different shutter speeds based on best performance in bright or dark scenes and you select an option during commissioning.

But 6 Series shutter speed is variable to get the best image depending on prevailing conditions – the shutter speed automatically adjusts.”

Next comes the all important one – low light performance - and Panasonic has given the market a real double whammy here. Panasonic has always been strong in low light and while the new camera enhances that intrinsic capability it offers something more.

“Low light performance is a very important capability in any modern camera,” Sekiguchi explains. “We use multiple new technologies to achieve this strong performance – including advanced sensors and processing, and integrated IR.” Something else that’s a telling development is that all the Series 6 cameras now have 60 fps mode – this applies to both 1080p and 720p versions of 6 Series.

Compression has been expanded, too.

“We have 6 independent image streams – currently it’s only 2 – now it’s 4 H.264 streams and 2 JPEG image streams,” Sekiguchi explains. “There are restrictions in terms of combinations – you can’t have 4 H.264 streams at 1080p 60fps – but you can have multiple streams in high quality for a range of applications.”

Another strong feature is super chroma compensation (SCC), which assists the camera’s operation in low light mode. Typically, when a camera goes to low light mode, it will switch to black and white mode and remove the IR cut filter.

“A camera will be designed to remove its IR cut filter to get more resolution and better low light performance but then colour becomes a problem, so we have an algorithm that calculates to reproduce the real colour,” Sekiguchi explains.

We look at 3 images that show the way it works.

The left-hand image shows the original BW without cut filter. The middle image shows a colour image without any SCC compensation and the right-hand image shows that the new algorithm has processed the image to the correct colour. This capability is embedded in the Series 6 camera and gives much stronger colour capabilities in low light.

Next comes the integrated 30m smart IR. “A lot of IR cameras only focus in the middle – we have selected an average wide lens so you need

60 se&n

panasonic 6 series

Low light performance is a very important...

We use multiple new technologies to achieve this strong performance – included advanced sensors and processing, and integrated IR. average depth of lighting – it’s 30 metres, which is very strong for a wider angle lens,” Sekiguchi says.

“There’s also face recognition with this IR and when the camera detects a face has become saturated it will not reduce light but instead controls shutter speed and aperture so as to increase the gain of the camera to get a clear picture of the face.”

The 6 Series has highlight compensation for headlights and flashlights, squeezing down highlights to get best identification of faces, number plates and scene details. Another trick new capability you only see with the best cameras is fog and sand compensation, which here in Australia would help with dust storms and the smoke from bushfires.

According to Sekiguchi, Panasonic’s engineers put some thought into resolving customers’ issues with edge recording, too. The technology has been available for some time now but few clients actually use it in the way they could.

“Having 2 SD card slots gives a number of different capabilities,” Sekiguchi says. “The first is that it can double the recording capacity. The second is that it offers redundancy through storage mirroring. We heard from a lot of end users ‘but what if your SD card fails?’ The 6 Series offers dual recording to allay those fears.”

p ro d u ct rev i ew

Of course, onboard recording means the camera must be tamper-resistant and the card must be protected by strong encryption.

“We have a tamper-resistant enclosure and software encryption with a password,” Sekiguchi says. “What this means is that if anyone manages to take an SD card out of a camera they’ll never be able to retrieve data through any player or device as it can only be played on an embedded Panasonic OS.” When it comes to SD development, Panasonic went deep. In a very real way, Panasonic’s development expresses the ability of a big and diverse manufacturer to develop multiple technologies simultaneously and to leverage all its capabilities in a single product. As a manufacturer of SD cards, engineers were able to turn to their own people to iron out wrinkles experienced by others.

“In the SD card market price is falling and capacity is going up - but rewrite capability is also falling,” Sekiguchi explains. “This was another challenge and we talked and collaborated with our SD card division and they developed a new ‘industrial’ SD card with a special controller inside it that is exclusive to our cameras – price is higher but the rewrite capability is up to 1000 times greater than current SD cards.

“I wanted an SD card that could last 7 years – that’s typical camera MTBF,” says Sekiguchi. “Cameras do last longer but I wanted an SD card that would last for a standard camera lifetime while rewriting full time.

It’s more stable, more reliable, has longer life, greater capacity and cannot be bent thanks to heavy body structure. We are working with partners to push this message to the market – redundant edge storage is now a reality.”

Something else that’s new with 6 Series is smart depth of field. According to Sekiguchi, it offers the same effect as a P iris lens in terms of enhancing depth of field but instead of a P iris, Panasonic balances shutter and aperture to improve focus throughout the depth of field.

62 se&n

panasonic 6 series

You can’t gain something without losing something. It is a delicate balance, a compromise. We are continually working to improve performance.

“There’s also a motorised zoom lens now,” says Sekiguchi. “We bought out a bullet camera with a motorised zoom 2 years ago and we had a lot of feedback from installers who liked it. Now all Series 6 cameras have a 3x optical motorised zoom lens.”

Something else that’s been a driver of sales over the past couple of years has been increasing ease of installation. With the 6 Series, Panasonic has put more thought into this side of its solutions.

“We did not do better than competitors in the past but we think our new camera is superior to the market leaders in this key area,” Sekiguchi says.

“We have a simple installation with four 45-degree tamper screws and all our dome cameras have the same simple fixings.”

The new camera now has a vandal-resistant, tamper-resistant enclosure and its IP66-rating is in 3 dimensions so there can be water in the ceiling and the camera will not leak. The 6 Series is also capable of handling low height ceilings and can get a horizontal shot through the curved dome without distortion. And you can select a sunshade option.

The 6 Series features VMD inside the camera.

These motion detection capabilities include intruder, loitering, direction, scene change, leftover, removal and light loss. Something else in 6 Series that Panasonic has not offered before is uploadable applications.

“This is our first camera that can handle apps,” Sekiguchi explains. “We will launch Panasonic apps and we will open development to VMS partners, analytics partners, cloud service developments, prodigal apps for industrial applications. China has a lot of energy applications – they want to develop a Chinese prodigal app to service these sorts of industrial facilities.”

In modern cameras, bit rate management is another major issue.

“We have a lot of bit rate modes,” Sekiguchi explains. “It was for a long time Panasonic’s philosophy to build a camera that does not burst (exceed its bit rate) on movement. If you set one of our cameras in any mode – say at 4Mbps – a camera can never exceed that bit rate.

“But we found other makers were bursting their bitrates in particular applications. So we added a mode called advanced DVR that allows a camera to burst its bitrate up to 4x if there is really major movement in a scene – it allows the camera to catch up the image quality to the movement.

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panasonic 6 series

capacity. The camera will ensure it records at the maximum bit rate so as to maximise image quality and HDD space. So you never fall short (waste capacity that could have been used to enhance image quality) or go over (fail to achieve desired recording retention). It’s a unique feature – a calculation by accumulation.”

Something else that’s neat, the new camera can crop faces and send them at 128 x 128 pixels to a VMS supported by Panasonic’s Face Server, while still sending real time video streams for recording and viewing. This makes matching easier for VMS-based face recognition by reducing demand on a remote server.

“We have VMS makers working on this with us,” explains Sekiguchi. “The camera works in tandem with our face recognition server to do real time face matching and face searching of past recordings.

Panasonic Face Server will plug into an existing solution and work with 6 Series face cropping.

“When we do our cropping, the camera can handle 8 faces per 200ms (5 images per second), which is sufficient for any application. The camera selects the 3 best versions of a face and sends them to Face Server. It’s a new feature for 6 Series but cameras must collaborate with Face Server or another face recognition server.”

Workstation demo Next comes the workstation demo in the Pacific Communications’ control room. First we look at a demo of current Super Dynamic and new Enhanced Super Dynamic 6 Series. Comparing the 2, you can see the dark areas get better identification and are brighter with 6 Series. The ESD-power 6 Series is showing clouds in the sky but we don’t see that with the older technology.

Next we look at a low light scene with light levels around 0.1 lux. Low light scenes are tough for camera manufacturers. You wind up camera gain to perform better in low light and wick up NR to clean up the noise generated by gain, but in doing so you lose contrast and colour rendition.

There are 3 other cameras in the demo footage.

I ask which cameras they are and when Sekiguchi tells me, I realise they are the best CCTV cameras in the world. Panasonic’s new 6 Series is not disgraced in this company and in key areas it looks to me to be doing better than the competition.

According to Sekiguchi, at all times the engineering team has been working to exceed the

Something else that’s neat, the new camera can crop faces and send them at 128 x 128 pixels to a VMS supported by Panasonic’s Face Server, while still sending real time video streams for recording and viewing.

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Panasonic 6 Series top left

performance of the best cameras on the market when challenged by moving objects in low light and back light. As we’ve discussed, finding this balance is difficult.

Sekiguchi plays the footage and as we look at the camera views in this 0.1 lux scene it’s clear that static scenes are not too bad but as soon as there is movement the cameras start to show varying degrees of the ghosting which is a sign of too much noise reduction - NR. These images almost look smooth with the amount of processing going on.

One camera seems to lose resolution across static low light scenes when objects start moving and the processing favours areas of movement. This makes the image appear flat when compared to the Panasonic. Looking at this scene I can see what Sekiguchi was talking about.

Comparatively the 6 Series is holding a little noise but delivering superior contrast and very little or no visible ghosting of moving objects – including vehicles and people. The 6 Series camera is doing best in this scene, I think.

“We prefer to accept some noise in exchange for identification,” Sekiguchi tells me. Looking at these images it’s impossible not to agree. The trade-off makes for a superior overall image.

Now we look at 1 lux – a scene that includes detail, colour and movement. In my mind 1 lux is about as low as real world applications with typical depths of field should ever go without some illumination.

Things start getting swimmy under 1 lux and while

you might get an idea of what’s happening, in deeper scenes it’s going to be extremely challenging to get a return on your surveillance dollar.

As we look at the image streams it’s really interesting to compare these very strong cameras and see the different compromises their engineering teams were forced to make to try to offer the best possible performance. One camera is not really handling the demo situation all that well – it’s noticeably worse than the others. The next camera has much the least noise – a lovely smooth image.

But it’s also the least bright, with the poorest colour rendition – the reds are going to brown. And when there’s movement, we lose significant contrast and with it, clarity.

Still another camera has slightly more noise and better colour reproduction and contrast, you can see small details quite clearly. But again, the Panasonic is doing best to my eye. A little more noise but much better colour, contrast and ability to handle movement without the appearance of anything spooky. It’s noticeable that moving figures are not dragging a wake of noise behind them.

Now we look at a difficult sunset scene. It’s late afternoon going into evening – witching hour for IP cameras. The foreground is growing dark, headlights are on, but the rear of the scene is sun-bright. The scene tails off across the highway into buildings and away to hills in the background, then sky. It’s an extensive depth of field.

The cameras are at right angles to the major

traffic stream at a range of about 12-15 metres and there are pedestrians crossing much closer to their lenses – perhaps 5m away. The differences in this lighter scene are more subtle than those of previous demos we’ve looked at. Things that vary are visible resolution differences, the reflections on the sides of cars, the fine contrast that delivers a sense of depth of field, the blooming of oncoming headlights across the intersection.

Again in this scene, we can see what the different manufacturers are doing to get the best images. Noise reduction on a number of the cameras is clearly polishing out the little details, the reflections in paint work. When vehicles whizz by or pedestrians walk by at right angles, you are losing any ability to identify them or their clothing with the overuse of NR. You can see the resolution melting, the reflections dulling. There’s a difference in the depth of field – some of the cameras seem flatter, with less contrast, less detail. The amount of processing work with some cameras – perhaps because it softens contrast – makes views appear 2-dimensional.

These are the best 2, I say, pointing to the 6 Series and the camera that has been closest to it throughout the demo. But again, in this scene the Panasonic is doing better. It’s getting some number plates and some face recognition of pedestrians.

You’re not getting the same clarity with the others.

There’s better colour rendition, too. And again, the secret looks to be slightly higher gain – a bit more noise in the scene in exchange for superior overall image quality.

“Sunrise and sunset are only 30-minute windows – not that important people might say – but these are the most challenging times of the day,” explains Sekiguchi. “Panasonic cares that its cameras provide 24-hour coverage of scenes – including sunrise and sunset.

“Looking at this scene over time you can see that sunset is very tricky. As the sun sets and you view a group of cameras, one camera will look better, then the light levels will drop slightly and a different camera will look better. Or a previously good image might suddenly look terrible.”

I decide it might be easier in terms of comparison to focus on the 2 best cameras for a while, so Sekiguchi calls up those cameras and we compare them again, this time in a scene with about 8-10 lux.

We’re looking for the presence of ghosting in areas of movement. Both are handling this scene much more than adequately but once again, while one has less noise, it also has more ghosting on movement. Here, too, I would pick the Panasonic over the competitor.

In this case it seems to be handling flare from a shop window very nicely. We are able to peer inside the store.

“We raise gain so we get less ghosting but more noise and in the real world this balance works better,” Sekiguchi says. “The camera handles backlight so well.”

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Our final scene is a casino with a number of camera views including card games, roulette wheels and stacks of chips. It’s another challenging scene (all these scenes are tough), with low overall light combined with strong light blooming off cards on the table, quick movements, and the need for high contrast and excellent colour rendition.

In such scenes security teams need to identify people around the table, as well as chips, cards and movements on the table.

I think Panasonic is doing better than the opposition in this scene. The second camera again comes the closest in performance but its contrast is not as good. All the cameras are doing generally well here – there’s more available light than some of the other scenes. But one of the cameras has some colour issues and with another we can’t identify the players - they are simply disembodied hands on the baize.

Camera 2 is doing well with colour but there’s less richness and a loss of contrast around some items when compared with the 6 Series. Here, too, the Panasonic has a touch more noise. There are immutable laws relating to current technology which see amplification used to deliver superior performance in low light generating unwanted noise, while noise reduction flattens colour and eats away at contrast.

Local demo Now we turn to our local demo – comparing the current and new Panasonic cameras. It’s a day with plenty of glare – low medium cloud and a lot of sun behind. There’s around 2000 lux outside though it seems like there’s more. On this site the sun is coming from the left hand side of the main foyer window – that’s North. Inside the foyer, light levels range from 200–400 lux, which is quite high – reflecting the amount of plate glass in this space.

In this application there’s an existing camera in the foyer and the new 6 Series is sitting on a table aimed at the same view while we compare images in the control room. There’s a lot of glass so we have plenty of backlight. The new model is doing better with backlight. Face recognition at the entry is distinctly superior. The 6 Series also looks to me to show more detail – a deeper field – clearer definitions of leaves outside the windows.

It’s not an easy day – grey - and this tends to iron out colours reflecting off the scene. No blue sky, no unfiltered light just plenty of glare. The new camera is doing well in distance views up to 25m. Bear in mind, this is a dome camera with a very compact 3x optical lens. A box camera with a larger lens would do better at distance work but this camera is handling the scene very well.

Outside the window in the detail of leaves you can see a difference with 6 Series. There’s strong contrast throughout the scene. In this application the new camera is noticeably superior to the old – I think it’s handling movement in the scene better, too.

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panasonic 6 series

Marcus Vongpraseuth, Scott Myles, SEN’s editor, Hiroshi Sekiguchi and Satoshi Kawakami

Conclusion My initial impressions are that this is a strong release. It has good baseline capabilities – good low light, the strongest WDR numbers in the business, good optical performance with a 3x zoom, flexible streaming capabilities, IR for scenes with no light at all. And there’s a lot going on in the back ground, too.

Twin SD slots, face cropping, IVA – it all adds up. And according to Sekiguchi, there’s plenty to come.

“We are planning a polarised filter to see into vehicles and see through reflection from cards in a casino – at the back end we are thinking about RS485 and optical outputs, BNC for local monitors, an additional SD slot, Wi-Fi, even M2M cameras with SIM cards for outdoor applications deploying across 3G and 4G networks. There are a lot of things we are working on, a lot of things to look forward to.

“I’m very excited with Series 6. I feel that at last I have a platform I can start fighting with,” Sekiguchi enthuses. “During the process of development I really pressured our engineers - I want casinos, I want sunset, I want day time, I want WDR, I want night time performance in street surveillance applications with true depth of field.”

He laughs.

“But you can’t gain something without losing something. It is a delicate balance, a compromise. We are continually working to improve performance.

Firmware is always being upgraded. We are still working on our balance with gain and noise to make the scene superior.”

Later on I reflect that Sekiguchi’s deference doesn’t laud this new camera enough. Having had a good look at Panasonic’s 6 Series in the flesh, it seems a very good compromise to me. zzz

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n etwo rk i n g

NIC knacks Network interface cards are ground zero for installers building IP-based security solutions. These devices allow security solutions to be identified and to navigate its comms way around complex network topologies.

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ETWORK interface cards contain a machine’s unique identification number allowing other devices to contact them across a network. At the same time, NICs also allow machines to agree on a method and speed of transmission using firmware.

Because NICs are gateways to network operation we’re going to dwell on them here, looking at network card choice and considering configuration.

We also need to look closely at network connectivity devices because these pieces of hardware are what allow NICs to pass data packets between each other.

For security integrators and installers, the process of selecting and configuring NICs is one of the fundamental challenges. That’s because despite their apparent simplicity, there are a few complexities relating to getting NICs right. Selection

by john adam s

Different network devices – DVRs/NVRs or access control servers, etc – will use different bus types to communicate data between internal components.

data between internal components. Typical buses include PCI, EISA and ISA and each of these types needs a network card compatible with its internal bus.

Depending on the nature of the system most designers will fatten up network card performance by increasing the size of the incoming memory cache on the card itself. This is fine for standard machines used in general business environments but it’s not going to cut it with a big DVR/NVR. Onboard network card caches employ RAM buffering to store data. Any digital recorder with global frame rates around 400ips is going to swamp a RAM-based network card cache in minutes.

What’s required instead is dedicated network card memory inside the network-connected machine itself – DMA – or some other form of on-device memory that can be shared by both the network device and the network card at the same time.

Pretty obviously network device memory will be significantly larger than any RAM buffer can be.

The need for adequate cache size doesn’t just relate to the speed the network is able to deliver data to a particular address. If a given machine is running a software application when a data stream arrives, the processor will be too busy to muck around processing the incoming packets. Instead they’ll be cached on the network card/DMA until the processor has a moment to spare.

Some NICs use a different method to get big volume streams through busy machines. Designers will build processors into the network card itself designed to allow bus mastering – this is where the card undertakes its own processing, stripping packets and distributing their data.

Configuring NICs

will be based on the performance required, the type of network the card will be connected to and the nature of the network device the card is supporting. For example you can’t use a fibre optic network card to support devices on a Cat-5 cable plant.

And there’s no point using a card that can’t keep up with network speed. Using a 100MBps network card on a Gigabit Ethernet LAN would see data packets crashing into the back of each other as they wait to get through a labouring network port.

The result is going to be abysmal processing speed and inevitable data loss.

There are more subtle variations that will impact on the selection process, too. Different network devices – DVRs/NVRs or access control servers, etc – will use different bus types to communicate

Installers looking to link a device like a DVR/ NVR or a remote IP camera onto a network need to consider 4 fundamentals during configuration.

The first function that must be configured is the base memory address. Base memory addresses represent the location on the hard drive of the very first memory byte that will be allocated to a network card. Also important is the size of the memory space that the card can use in memory – the operating system assigns this volume of space beginning with the base address.

If 500,000 bytes are required by the network card then the technician might arguably make the base address 100 – this would make the final byte address 500,100. When setting up busy systems there’s always plenty of challenge when working out just how much space to allocate to the network card – how much you allocate will depend on how much space simultaneous applications require to carry out their operations at maximum performance.

In video surveillance environments, more is always best just as long as your client isn’t scrimping

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n etwo rk i n g

Some interrupts can be put to one side by the processor until it completes a task but others may have an imperative value and the processor will be required to respond to them immediately they’re received. with 250GB hard drives on their 16-input DVRs. Networked access control or automation systems are a completely different story. Their data packets are compact and unless you’re on a huge site they won’t have a major impact on network card memory cache.

Once you’ve established cache volume and set a base address then it’s time to move on to the base I/O port address. This address allows the connected machine’s operating system to establish the location of the network card on its internal bus.

Remember that once connected to the internal bus a network card is essentially connected directly to the motherboard in the same way as any internal component. The establishment of this connection means there’s a direct path between processor and hard drive etc allowing fast and direct data transfer.

Next, the installer will need to establish the transceiver type. This transceiver is the portion of the network card that actually does the sending and transmitting of data over a network. The transceiver also monitors transmissions so it can detect collisions, as well as maintaining electrical isolation between different machines.

There are both internal and external transceiver types – internal types are built into the controller circuitry and have a T-connection that gives access to the cable. External transceivers will have a transceiver cable that connects to the controlling network card.

The term transceiver is short for transmitterreceiver and it’s also described as a medium access unit when you’re talking about Fast/Gigabit Ethernet LANs. The final thing the installer will be required to do is establish an IRQ number – this number is allocated to the interrupt line that contacts the processor when data arrives for processing. A standard interrupt bus will have 16 interrupt lines carved into it and some will be more important than others.

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Some interrupts can be put to one side by the processor until it completes a task but others may have an imperative value and the processor will be required to respond to them immediately they’re received.

An interrupt is a pretty simple thing to understand.

Consider that a running computer may be displaying your email page. Minimise this and click on the Internet browser icon (or highlight the icon and press enter) and the processor will be “interrupted” from the task of displaying your email and will move on to the next job – accessing your browser.

When computer designers put systems together they’ll incorporate lookup tables that connect the interrupt signal received with a particular program loaded onto a machine’s hard drive. The CPU gets the interrupt signal from your mouse or enter key and matches it to a program in the lookup tables.

The processor then digs up the memory address of the requested program, accesses the address and launches the program. It’s that simple.

A particular interrupt is designated to each hardware component in a network device – the mouse, the keyboard, a scanner, a printer…and a network card. This means you need to get the IRQ number right because assigning a number already being used by another hardware device will cause the NIC to freeze when it gets signals from the CPU that should have been received by another device.

Installers should bear in mind that many IP-based solutions handle a lot of the work for them. You’re going to be loading IP addresses and configuring camera performance parameters in a wizard-like environment, not battling with fundamentals. A well designed IP-based electronic security solution is much easier to install than it used to be – but the fundamentals remain important to understand, particularly when you are striving for maximum performance. zzz Next month – basic router configuration.

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Axis 1 001 NDC

Axis 1001 NDC Axis Communications’ 1001 Network Door Controller is a deceptively simple unit that carries access control onto networks. Ease of installation, browserbased setup and management, and scalability are strong points.

W

E’VE talked about the new Axis Communications’ 1001 Network Door Controller in SEN before but this is the first time I’ve taken a look at it in the flesh. While the 1001 was released in the U.S. at the end of last year, it won’t be available locally until Q4 2014. According to Axis, the A1001 Network Door Controller is the first non-proprietary and open IP-based access controller on the market.

Fundamentally, the PoE Axis 1001 access control unit takes the network all the way to the edge – including providing power for locks. Given it’s an IP solution, the 1001 provides a lot of flexibility and endless scalability in a very simple form factor.

And because the hardware always stays the same, installers can familiarise themselves with it on smaller jobs and then branch out later.

It’s a deceptively simple solution. You install controllers, get them onto the network, set them up to auto synchronise with each other and you commission and manage them using browserbased software. This IP-at-the-door philosophy is brilliant for installers comfortable with IP or who are looking for a network-based access control solution that’s simple yet scalable.

Fredrik Nilsson

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Importantly, for smaller applications this is a very affordable solution. You’re not dragging all the wires from every door all the way to a cabinet in a far-off secure location through crowded risers and cable trays. You just take each controller to a local switch on the network side and on the door side, cable up locally as you ordinarily would. And you build the system one door at a time as needs demand or budgets allow.

As Axis explains it, the 1001 is the basis for 2 different solutions. First comes Axis Entry Manager (Axis A1001 with built in Event Manager software) for small to mid-sized businesses. For larger enterprise systems, Axis A1001’s open application programming interface enables partners including Aimetis, Genetec, IMRON, Milestone Systems, Next Level Security Systems and OnSSI to integrate access control and video surveillance.

I get a look through the 1001 with Fredrik Nilsson, regional director, North America, Wai King Wong, country manager ANZ and Michael Pazarcevic, key account manager. As we chat it takes me a while to get my head around the concept of the new system. How many doors is this 1001 solution?

I ask. It’s 1 entry, say the boys, one reader on each side of a door. But it expands.

There’s a 1001 controller cracked open on the desk top and I take a look to see if there’s anything familiar. The most obvious thing is a bunch of termination blocks – brown, orange, yellow grey, blue, black for power. There are I/O ports providing links to other systems and audio ports which allow support for speaker and audio making the system an intercom.

“All those blocks are colour coded,” says Nilsson.

“In typical solutions the termination blocks would all be green – but we wanted to design a system that was easy to install and that meant we wanted the installation to become intuitive.”

I point out a sturdy metal plate covering the PCB and whatever other magic tricks might be stashed inside. The control board itself is under that shield?

I ask.

“Yes, that’s right,” Nilsson tells me. “There are a number of reasons for that shield. The first is EMC radiation – the metal case forms a Faraday shield and protects the control components and circuits from interference. Another reason is so that the unit attains the necessary plenum rating for installation in ceilings. It also means the system functions longer in the event of fire and its components are protected from screwdriver slips.”

One of the nicest things about Axis 1001 is the simplicity of installation. It needs an Ethernet cable for power and data but that’s it on the network side.

On the door side there are the usual 4 or 6 wires for locks and door sensors. Nothing unfamiliar there.

As a network device, it’s supported by the UPS

by john adam s

A single Ethernet cable goes from controller to the nearest switch and is directed to a management workstation. And that’s really all there is to it.

and any Weigand or RS485 reader is compatible with the controller. Power from the controller is sufficient to support most electronic locks.

“When you think of the costs of labour, there’s a significant saving,” Nilsson says. “A single Ethernet cable goes from controller to the nearest switch and is directed to a management workstation. And that’s really all there is to it. To expand the system you just add more 1001 units and synchronise them manually or automatically.”

As mentioned earlier, there are 2 ways to set up this system. Larger solutions with a couple of thousand doors would comprise the 1001 remote door controllers, with one panel designated as master and a workstation running management

software. But things can be even simpler in smaller applications.

“For smaller installations you can have door controllers communicating with each other to replicate the database and you log into one controller as master, set the entire system up then close your laptop and walk away,” Nilsson says. “The controllers themselves are the system, you don’t need any other devices. If the connection between

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The controllers themselves are the system, you don’t need any other devices. If the connection between the controllers was to go down, they each have a full copy of the database. the controllers was to go down, they each have a full copy of the database.”

That’s another important aspect of these 1001 controllers. Cardholder data and system configurations are automatically stored and synchronized between controllers and the units can be managed from any computer in the system. In a fundamental way, controllers act as an enabler for an edge solution with one controller for each door. Smaller systems are fully scalable – you support as many doors as you have you don’t have to buy a 16 or 32-door controller.

Important, too the 1001 supports most existing reader protocols and reader types, as well as standard IT and security equipment such as door locks and door position sensors. There’s also an API designed for compliance with ONVIF Profile C, allowing interoperability between clients and devices of physical access control systems (PACS) and network-based video systems.

And something else that’s important is the effort Axis is putting into ensuring its product

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Axis 1 001 NDC

is as stable and reliable as it needs to be to meet market expectations.

“We are working hard to ensure the stability of the system – we have been using an Axis 1001 NDC solution in our office in the US for 2 years as part of this test process. You can lose a camera and a typical site will not be inconvenienced. But if you lose an access control door, that’s a real problem.

There will be people locked out, people calling security managers.”

Axis Entry Manager software For smaller applications, the ringmaster is Axis Entry Manager a browser-based interface. This intuitive dashboard has a drag-and-drop capability, so if you want to move a user from one group to another it’s very easy. Most other systems don’t work this way – you need to retype cardholder data or juggle a database.

“We told the engineers to come up with something new for a new product, something they liked and they did a very nice job,” explains Nilsson.

“When people look at the interface they like the feel and usability. As well as all the setup capability there’s an event log for management. It’s perfect for small and medium sized solutions.”

As Michael Pazarcevic takes the helm, Entry

Manager looks very simple to my eye – you run through a wizard style setup and tag the options you want to apply to a particular door. There are test options, there are search options allowing tracking of events. Something else I like is the diagram that indicates what all those terminal blocks are doing.

It seems an obvious thing but having it right there at your fingertips demystifies the process. Installers can also verify their setup by testing the state of each input from the browser – a nice feature to have during commissioning.

When it comes to access management, things are very simple. On the left are users, on the right are groups, underneath are the access schedules.

Between these panels is a space for relevant information you can add during setup or at any other time. You just associate the users with schedules and drag them over to a group with your mouse. Compared to the old manual way of doing this which torments staff tasked with the job, this is very easy.

Let’s just say you’ve installed the hardware, made the network connections and taken care of the bits and pieces of config to set up a 10-door access control system. What’s the process of setting the whole thing up after that? I ask.

“It’s very simple because there’s no central

server,” Pazarcevic explains. “Axis Entry Manager is a web-based firmware application that lives on the controller. “The setup page is very easy - there are test charts that can be viewed live. You can customise schedules then drag and drop.

“There are a number of different filters for locks and other devices. For end users there’s an event log and you can undertake search filtering based on time, date and user. There are import/exports logs allowing you to integrate existing users.

“These are the more detailed settings - date and time, inputs and outputs, request to exit buttons, its a very similar interface to our cameras. You can customise in real depth, alarms logs, whatever you would like to highlight in the filter,” Pazarcevic says. “The similarity to Axis Camera Companion software makes Axis Entry Manager familiar to partners who are used to working with our video solutions.

“And as you add additional units there’s auto synchronisation between the units,” he says.

“Once the new controller is powered up it will start communicating with existing controllers in the network and events as well as the database are distributed, so there’s full redundancy.”

When it comes to video integration, this will be the province of larger enterprise solutions and is going to be integrated through Axis VMS partners.

“Our research with partners suggests smaller applications are less interested in integrated video and access control,” Nilsson tells me. “Axis camera station supports up to 100 cameras and there will be integration with Version 4 of that.

“But with the 1001 NDC and Event Manager software for smaller applications, we are focusing on trying to make access control as simple as possible. Bringing in CCTV integration would mean an increase in complexity. Modest functionality, a lot of scalability – applications like schools – hospitals – this is what we are targeting.

“The feedback from the market has been good.

We had 5 partners go out to the market and install a 1001 system and there’s been a positive response.

So we feel we have something good here. It’s innovative and it’s a new development, a new direction.”

Interestingly, Nilsson says there is scope for Axis to release additional IP-based electronic security hardware in the medium term.

“The history of Axis starts with printer connectivity, printers, print servers, scan servers, and on to cameras for 17 years, and now to access control so continuing the expand our range is part of what Axis has always done,” he says.

“Our strategy has always been to bring out new intelligent edge devices that can complement existing products. Are there products that can complement IP-based access control and video surveillance products? Absolutely there are.” zzz

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s p e ci al re p o rt

new pr o d u ct s h owcase / new p roduct showcase / new p roduct showcase /

editor’s choice

What’s new in the industry

Hikvision battles low light with DarkFighter camera l HIKVISION is setting new standards for low-light surveillance with the launch of the DS-2CD6026FHWD DarkFighter network camera. This camera utilizes Hikvision’s ultra low-light MP lens and is designed specifically to capture sharp color and monochrome images in extreme, low-light conditions. The result is colour images down to 0.002 Lux and B/W to 0.0002 Lux. The DarkFighter camera features a 2MP, ½-inch progressive scan CMOS image sensor.

Together with a 120dB WDR (wide dynamic range) and Hikvision’s 3D DNR (Digital Noise Reduction) technology, the new camera is able to stream video in full 1080p HD at 60 fps, which results in latency-free clear images day and night. A de-fog feature is also incorporated to noticeably improve image clarity in poor weather conditions, such as rain or fog.

A choice of wide-angle and telephoto varifocal MP lenses is available (The Hikvision HV1140D-8MPIR MP lens offers focal range of 11-40mm, while HV3816D-8MPIR provides another choice of 3.8-16mm), both including IR correction, and ABF (Auto Back Focus) functionality, which allows the camera to adjust positioning of the image sensor to obtain an optimal focus. The new camera also features an ROI codec and supports ONVIF, PSIA, and CGI standards.

Distributor: Central Security Distribution Contact: +61 2 8014 2600

Superior Detection with the Paradox NVX80 Detector l PARADOX NVX80 with all-new

SeeTrue technology delivers superior motion detection with advanced capabilities, beyond others in its class. Boasting a combination of technologies including active infrared, microwave, and SeeTrue, the NVX80 has highly efficient detector sensitivity, enhanced reliability and fewer false alarms.

Programming and configuration are simple with the NVX80’s full-colour OLED screen and 4-button interface. Suitable for both indoor and outdoor applications, the NVX80 is the detector to choose when protecting high value, high security sites that demand high performance.

Distributor: CSD Contact: +61 2 8014 2600

Bosch DINION IP 4000 and IP 5000 HD cameras l BOSCH’S new DINION IP 4000 and 5000 cameras offer high image quality, management of bit rate, and low storage requirements, as well as important audio capabilities, cloud-based services plus easy and cost-effective installation.

The cameras are available in April in 2 resolutions – the DINION IP 4000 HD with 720p and the DINION IP 5000 HD with 1080p. The desired amount of detail can be selected according to the intended application, while intelligent Dynamic Image Noise Reduction (iDNR) automatically adjusts the level of noise reduction based on movement in the scene.

A built-in microphone and 2-way audio functionality turn these DINION IP cameras into even more effective security tools, as the operator or security officer can not only listen to but also question intruders or communicate with visitors who appear to be in need of assistance. Easy installation and configuration are guaranteed by the cameras’ Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) functionality, as well as due to the preconfigured user modes.

Dynamic Transcoding technology constantly measures the available bandwidth, automatically adjusting the bit rate of the camera for smooth live video streaming, regardless of the available bandwidth, as well as full-HD details when playback is paused.

Distributor: Bosch Security Systems Contact: +61 2 9672 1777

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Honeywell EBI Upgrade

Genetec Synergis Master Controller (SMC) l SMC is an IP door controller based on an open architecture that has been engineered for flexibility and functionality.

SMC provides native support of widely-deployed and nonproprietary security modules from leading access control hardware vendors, including HID Global and Mercury Security.

The SMC allows clients to leverage their corporate or security network to transition to a fully IP-based access control system. This facilitates the migration to Genetec Security Center, bringing the benefits of access control and video unification to a wider audience while they can leverage their existing infrastructure of readers, interface modules and wiring.

Distributor: Open Platform Systems Contact: +61 3 9646 9004

l HONEYWELL has updated its flagship building management system, Enterprise Buildings Integrator (EBI), enabling facility personnel to view and enhance core building technology with greater ease and precision. EBI R430 helps improve efficiency, and reduce energy and operational costs by simplifying setup, scheduling and control. The recent upgrades to EBI centre include improved integration – EBI is now compatible with many common web services to provide facility managers and IT staff with new ways to customise how building systems import and mine data, and synthesise the information into actionable recommendations.

There’s increased efficiency – facility managers can program and coordinate facilitywide systems — including HVAC, lighting, security and life safety — in minutes using the revamped automation engine and scheduling.

There’s enhanced mobility – operators can continue to use smartphones for remote access and management, but can now implement tablet-based connectivity, which replicates the user interface of an EBI workstation and provides access to all building information, such as system status and trend data that can help optimise energy use in real time.

And there’s an intuitive interface. While the basic layout and navigation remain, the new software incorporates features common to consumer applications, such as drag-and-drop interaction, that make day-to-day tasks and training easier.

Distributor: Honeywell Contact: 1300 234 234

Geutebruck Adds Thermal Cameras To G-Cam Range l GEUTEBRUCK’S new professional IP thermal cameras are designed for unobtrusive video surveillance or video motion detection in total darkness, mist or smoke.

With lenses ranging from 7.5 mm to 35 mm, horizontal fields of view from 40-degrees to 9-degrees, and frame rates from 9-30 fps, the new G-Cam/PTHC camera series includes an ideal model for increasing accuracy and reliability in your video analytics-based system as well as one for providing very early intruder detection by revealing people at up to 1450m and vehicles at up to 3400m.

All variants use uncooled VOx microbolometer image capture with a resolution of 320 x 240 pixels. Their special image contrast enhancement feature ensures razor sharp b/w pictures with excellent contrast, while the Geutebruck specialist security H264CCTV compression format delivers video with smooth fluid motion in all speeds and replay modes - without jumps, jerks or other evidential gaps. All facilitate easy installation with IEEE.3af compliant PoE and are ONVIF compatible.

Distributor: Geutebruck Australia Contact: +61 2 8969 6302

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editor’s choice

What’s new in the industry

Mobotix M15D Thermal Cameras l A THERMOGRAPHIC camera sees what would otherwise be invisible to the human eye. What’s certainly not invisible though, is the fact that Mobotix continues to excel with its M15D AllRound thermal camera range.

Based on the proven M15 system platform, these thermal cameras offer an abundance of new application options for the consumer. In combination with a comprehensive array of camera sensors, which include a PIR sensor and microphone, and the analytic capabilities of the camera software (MxActivitySensor, video motion detection, event logic, and more), it is now possible to detect moving persons or objects even in total darkness.

Distributor: Mobotix Australia Contact: +61 2 8507 2000

Samsung SRN-4000 from EOS l SAMSUNG’S SRN-4000 is a 64CH, 400Mbps network video recorder that allows the connection of up to 64CH with 5MP cameras supported, a max of 12 hot-swap hard disk drives and redundant power supplies. While supporting high level functions such as RAID 5/6, 4 x Gigabit Ethernet ports and advanced video motion detection, it also supports a local monitor for ease of use, automatic camera registration, ONVIF cameras and mobile apps for smart phone and tablet connectivity. There’s also a local monitor output (VGA/HDMI).

Also just released is the new 2MP Full HD (1080P) of 8 new camera models incorporating the new WiseNetIII DSP chipset, which has been developed by Samsung as a result of a market research programme which identified what users and installers felt were the key ‘must haves’ in order for high definition IP network cameras to automatically become the preferred choice for professionals.

Distributor: EOS Australia Contact: +61 2 9749 5888

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Genetec Synergis l SYNERGIS is the IP access control system of Genetec Security Center, Synergis can heighten your organization’s security and increase your readiness to respond to incidents, all while leveraging your existing network and security equipment investments.

As a powerful single site solution able to extend to multi-site management, Synergis can be deployed over any network environment.

With sophisticated security functionalities and support for an ever-growing number of third-party access control devices such as HID Edge EVO, SMC, ASSA ABLOY and Mercury Security, you can count on Synergis to make your switch to a leading IP system.

Distributor: Open Platform Systems Contact: +61 3 9646 9004

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Kantech Intevo from QSS

Hikvision 1.3MP covert l HIKVISION DS-2CD64 1.3MP

WDR Covert IP Camera Series provide both flexibility and ease of installation, its size allows the camera to easily blend into very limited space, which makes it ideal for discreet surveillance applications. This product incorporates true 120dB WDR, as well as other powerful image processing functionalities like 3D DNR and BLC. Additionally, the DS-2CD64 series supports on-board storage of up-to 64GB and ROI codec to save on overall bandwidth and storage.

It also provides choice of lens and mounting types for users to find an option to best fit their surveillance needs.

Distributor: Central Security Distribution Contact: +61 2 8014 2600

l INTEVO from Kantech is the evolution of integrated security platforms.

Compact and easy-to-use, Intevo integrates access control, IP video and intrusion into one common and powerful platform to deliver leading edge security solutions.

The system is preloaded with EntraPass Corporate Edition security management software and American Dynamics IP video recorder, giving you plug and play capability and industry-trusted reliability. Intevo also supports the EntraPass Web client and the new EntraPass Go mobile application. Intevo takes security beyond integration.

Distributor: QSS Contact: +61 3 9646 9016

HID iCLASS SE Platform Powered by Seos l HID Global’s award-winning iCLASS SE Platform sets the standard for adaptable, interoperable and secure access control. Powered by Seos, it provides compatibility with microprocessor-based credentials including cards, smart phones and other mobile devices.

Seos enables any smart device to become a trusted credential, replacing mechanical keys and access cards using wireless technology, such as NFC or Bluetooth, to open doors in homes, hotels, offices, hospitals, universities, industries and commercial buildings. The Seos ecosystem is used for issuing, delivering and revoking digital keys that are delivered with end-to-end encryption and stored securely on SIM cards, embedded secure elements or Micro SD memory cards.

Distributor: Open Platform Systems Contact: +61 3 9646 9004

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re g u lars help desk

helpdesk

Our panel of experts answers your questions.

Q: I opened an NVR case to clear out dust out of the fans as the unit was running hot. At the beginning of this process I felt a really large snap of static electricity and the NVR is now inoperative. Is it possible that static could have badly damaged the unit?

Q: We’ve inherited an access control and alarm system that has an external intrusion detection system that incorporates PE beams on an unfenced perimeter backing onto the Lane Cove River. For a number of reasons the site is very secure in part thanks to difficult terrain but the PE beams provide a vital warning of any deliberate or inadvertent encroachment from intruders or kayakers who might come ashore to explore. The issue is that during recent heavy rain we realised the units have an unreported shunt that essentially deactivates them during rain, fog or smoke so as to avoid false alarms.

Is there some way we can have this shunt reported as an alarm event at out monitoring station?

A: A simple solution is to run a multiple-conductor cable and install relays in the alarm panel. Setting the zone up this way allows the technician to provide multiple relay outputs allowing environmental contacts to be shunted at the same time as tripping a 24-hour zone.

You can use the relays built into the PE beam so there’s no need to put additional relays into the panel.

Alternatively, if the EOLs are installed in the field inside the PE beam instead of at the controller – the zone loop will be fully supervised. If the alarm circuit is shunted, you’ll know.

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A: In short, yes. Static could damage an NVR or a DVR. Any static charge that builds up on a tech can be discharged across vulnerable circuits and will blast multiple components on a board and elsewhere.

Humans don’t sense static electricity until it reaches 1500 volts, yet a microprocessor on a board can be fried by a measly 10 volts.

That means you can damage hardware with static without even knowing it. HDDs are also vulnerable to static – you can lose everything stored on an HDD with a jolt of static.

Making things more fun is that roaming around on a carpet in an office can build up a static discharge of 12,000 volts. What’s amazing is how little movement it takes for the human body to generate major static charges. Just getting off your chair is often enough. A normal static snap might reach voltages of 10kV, while the highest recorded ESD voltages are around 30kV (30,000 volts). What does the damage with ESD is the fast high current waveforms

and fast magnetic (H-field) or electrostatic (E-field) disturbances. These can induce voltages or currents in nearby sensitive circuitry, corrupting stored data or causing spurious failures.

The process that causes static in the human body is called triboelectrification and it’s the result of electrons moving between 2 objects that touch. One object – a person – becomes positively charged and when they touch an object that has a neutral or a negative electrical charge, the electrons flow from the positive person to the negative object.

The safest way to handle sensitive components is to wear a grounded antistatic wrist strap. Any static electrical charge that builds up on your body is then immediately transferred to ground. But experienced technicians can also use a few tricks for controlling static electricity.

You can ground the static electricity by touching the internal metal frame of the computer’s case while the computer is plugged into an electrical socket that’s turned off. Static electricity will be discharged to ground via the AC outlet.

One trick is to leave the circuit board laying on top of an antistatic bag or antistatic foam whenever possible.

Bear in mind that if you are a 12-volt installer,

you shouldn’t be poking around inside the casing of 240V AC hardware.

Q: We are setting up a system for a client who is asking about protecting the subnet. How important is physical security of cabling??

A: You need to think about physical security not just of devices but the network itself.

All loosely guarded network connections and devices are equally vulnerable. Letting network connections float round in the open is asking for trouble and the danger applies to workstations and outward leased lines. Basic though it sounds, it is possible for simple tapping of video over phone lines using alligator clips and the appropriate device and software to intercept data travelling down a line. The idea is to ensure that secure cables come into a locked cabinet or room and that all connections are made in secure locations. Also important when marking cables for identification in cable trays is to ensure that security Cat-5 runs have markings that make for easy ID by authorised techs yet don’t advertise their purpose to baddies. You also want a system that can self monitor and report instances of physical or network intrusion.

Q: Can we provide UPS support for basic DVR installations? We had a blackout of about 7 hours recently and had no coverage whatever of our site. There was no attempt to breach our facility but it’s a real concern.

A: Yeah, sure. There are plenty of small, low-cost UPS solutions. The first thing you need to do is draw a checklist that will allow you to protect the digital surveillance system. Begin by making an inventory of all electronic equipment to be protected.

You need to include total wattage required for each piece of equipment you want to connect to your uninterruptible power solution.

Also important is to include physical

location of the equipment and to draw a floor plan of your office. You should include locations of equipment you want to protect. When doing this, include electrical outlets, plug type, circuit information and amperage. You must decide what level of power protection to provide each piece of equipment and finally you should purchase and install power protection equipment.

UPS prices start at less than $A200 for very basic units but you can spend tens of thousands for large server rooms. For a small network server rack carrying DVRs, expect to pay between five hundred to a couple of thousand dollars for UPS equipment, depending on how many machines you’re running.

Bear in mind that a UPS handles a number of jobs. It provides battery back up to ensure data is saved by ensuring DVRs remain powered up during brownout, blackout, or overvoltage. A UPS also offers protection from surges, spikes, and sags.

A great feature of a UPS is attached software that senses a blackout and as its own power comes to an end, shuts down DVRs connected to them, writing unsaved data to disk, and issuing shutdown commands to the operating system. In our opinion, every small system should have UPS protection for a couple of hours and you are doing the right thing considering this.

Q: We’ve lost some devices to surges at a particular site – we don’t know if they were caused by lightning or some other event on the grid. Is there something we can do to protect field equipment?

surge protector, always remember that the lower the let-through voltage, the better your equipment will be protected.

Q: We have a long cable run to an analogue camera that sits inside a remote supply room. The image is ok – but only ok. Could we use a different coaxial cable and get better performance here? It’s only the single run. We are using RG-59 – should we try RG-11?.

A: The larger the cable, the less signal loss experienced. RG-11 has less loss that RG-59 over much longer distances but at half an inch thick it’s both heavy and hard to work with – it’s also more expensive per metre. If you are running a cable of say, 150-200m, then cable cost needs to be factored in. If the client is not happy with the image, it’s certainly worth doing the job properly next time you have a crew on site. zzz

A: Basic electrical system protection begins with combating surges and spikes.

Often overlooked, surge protectors are inexpensive devices that filter electrical power to eliminate surges and spikes before they get to your client’s very expensive electronic security equipment.

Surge protectors start around $15 for a 4-outlet protector. When purchasing a

A normal static snap might reach voltages of 10kV, while the highest recorded ESD voltages are around 30kV (30,000 volts).

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events

april 2014 – SEPTEMBER 2014

ISC West

February 2013 Issue 351

Date: 2-4 April, 2014 Venue: Sands Expo & Convention Center, Las Vegas, NV, U.S.A. Contact: +1-203-840-5602 ISC West is the largest physical security show in North America featuring over 1,000 exhibitors in one place in just 3 days. You’ll see more breakthrough product unveils than ever before.

MEGAPIXEL LENSES Safety & Security Asia l Avigilon’s new H.264 HD Pro l QSS is distributing DVTel l Alarm sensor standards l Bosch secures Gardens by Bay l Synology Surveillance Station l Installing wall anchors l Arecont’s MP camera broadside l Installing end of line resistors

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Date: 22 – 25 April, 2014 Venue: Marina Bay Sands, Singapore Contact: 65 6278 8666 SSA 2014 will present an array of issues and challenges faced by the government and civilians to increase awareness of the importance of maintaining security in numerous forms. Congruently, a series of solutions and strategic plans are also exhibited to encourage and enlighten the people on ways they can adapt to combat this heightening threat.

Security 2014

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Date: June 4-6, 2014 Venue: Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre Contact: Kylie McRorie kmcrorie@divcom.net.au +61 3 9261 4504 Security 2013 brought together more than 4500 security professionals and 150 leading brands in its busiest and most successful show in years. Visitors and exhibitors alike celebrated in the largest annual event for the industry to seek out the latest security solutions, share ideas and extend their professional networks. The Security Exhibition & Conference returns to Melbourne for the first time in 14 years from 4 – 6 June 2014, we look forward to seeing you there.

Secutech Thailand Date: 3 – 5 July, 2014 Venue: Bangkok / Thailand Contact: 886 2 2659 9080 Ext. 665 Secutech Thailand is a dynamic trading platform for security, fire and safety that helps spearhead security businesses into Pan Asia. Technology includes CCTV, access control, biometrics, RFID, smart cards, gate/fence, intrusion alarms, intercoms and networking solutions.

Security in Government Conference 2014

= DAILY, WEEKLY, MONTHLY.

Date: September, 1-3 Venue: National Convention Centre, Canberra Contact: 61 2 6141 2987 The SIG Conference targets senior executives responsible for managing security in agencies; officers from all levels of government who contribute to the development of security capability and response; security practitioners from the public and private sectors who contribute to the provision of services to government and critical infrastructure providers

Security China Date: 28 - 31 October, 2014 Venue: New China International Exhibition Center, China Contact: Tel: 86 010-51920615 Fax: 86 010-51920049 Security China in Beijing is located in the biggest security distribution and procurement center in China and provides a major platform for exhibitors to meet government level buyers and senior management.

DAILY, WEEKLY, MONTHLY.

February 2013 Issue 351

WEBSITE

MEGAPIXEL LENSES

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MAGAZINE

l Avigilon’s new H.264 HD Pro l QSS is distributing DVTel l Alarm sensor standards l Bosch secures Gardens by Bay l Synology Surveillance Station l Installing wall anchors l Arecont’s MP camera broadside l Installing end of line resistors

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ENEWSLETTER

Advertising enquiries call Monique Keatinge on 02 9280 4425 or email info@bridgepublishing.com.au

NEW IP CAMERAS Ranging 1.3MP to 5MP

iTech Multicam

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www.itechsec.com.au (Formerly Crow Australia)

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