Pelco Spectra HD series dome.

Pelco HD dome

Pelco have released their new Spectra HD Series dome and its one worth looking at. The new spectra HD dome is capable of delivering crystal clear pictures through a standard web browser via live streaming. With an aspect ratio of either 16:9 or 4:3 and 1280 x 960 it offers 360 degrees continuous pan at up to 400 degrees per second. Auto flip provides an added benefit.

Better resolution.

With better resolution than standard domes, the higher definition allows the cameras to be deployed in order to capture number plates, faces and even perfect detail within a casino type scenario. Ease of installation is assisted by POE as you would expect and additional features include auto tracking, privacy zones, adaptive motion detection and onscreen configuration.The camera also has the functionality to include 255 presets and 16 programmable preset tours.

VMS  CCTV software

The Pelco HD dome will interface with Digital Sentry VMS and this CCTV software allows video management solutions that are second to none in the IP CCTV market place.
Spectra HD  comes in several formats including ceiling mount, pendant and environmental models.

Norbain.

Available from Norbain, Pelco have designed a dome that can fit into pretty much any environment you require and the Pelco name will ensure strong sales.

March Networks enter the Hybrid arena

Not content with offering IP VMS solutions, March Networks announce the imminent arrival of their Hybrid 7532 DVR

Ok, so this isn’t new territory being trodden here – but, this unit comes from the March Canadian stable of High End DVR solutions – products that for years have been trusted by the North American Retail and Financial sectors in their thousands.

Offering up to 32 IP inputs or a blend of 16 IP and 16 regular analogue (or analog for our North American friends!), this integrates seamlessly with the VMS and Sitemanager platforms.

Who will use it? Well, consider this – if you have a legacy analogue system, you can either upgrade to IP cameras and forget your current kit (expensive) or you can add IP Encoders to each analogue camera to IP enable it (cheaper, but depends on how many analogue cameras you have) or you can use a Hybrid system – simply plug in existing analogue cameras, add new IP cameras if expanding, and replace broken analogue cameras in the future with IP !! Simples!!

Looks another good unit from the well known March Networks brand!

IP camera Choices?

Here’s a conundrum….

Do you, as a valuable IP surveillance Installer, install a system because of the camera choice or because of the Software / Recording choice?

We posted a while back about how in the good old days, it simply didn’t matter whose camera you wanted to use, whose DVR (actually, multiplexer and VCR!) you wanted to use etc etc

Today, we have stunning HD and Mexgapixel ip cameras coming from the likes of March Networks, Arecont, Avigilon, Sanyo etc and on the other hand, great Software VMS solutions from the likes of Milestone, IndigoVision, March etc

Don’t get me wrong, each PIXC manufacturer is trying real hard to get their cameras compatible with everything and anything….and there is RTP/RTSP standard protocol that ‘sort of’ gets around things (streaming video but without the settings/config capabilities)

ONVIF promises to deliver a ‘uniform’ experience – we don’t think it can happen fast enough really…… the industry, particularly the IP camera industry, will get choked if it doesn’t open itself up more to co-existence and compatibility….

CCTV Software replacing Hardware?

We’ve seen a huge increase in IP specifications of late

But what about the back end? The recording side of things? The control interface?

We are all bamboozled with the latest megapixel this and HD that, but what about the ‘heart’ of the system?

Recent moves, from companies such as March Networks, involves taking the hardware away and offering a software based solution…….VMS…….Video Management Software…..Video Management Solution……Video Management Security…….call it what you wish, but it is software that is gathering pace in the recording and management arena….

Allowing the installer and end user the ability to select their own hardware – Server based PC’s with industrial components built to the specification recommended by the software manufacturer – we think this is a really interesting way forward.

Most reputable Server suppliers – and we mean the Dell’s, HP’s and Sun Microsystems of the world – can offer excellent additional on site repair and replace support……often within the same working day……

The software manufacturer is pleased, because profit is not eroded in ever increasing hardware costs…..

The end user is pleased because additional, sometimes same day service is offered within the system cost…..

VMS……this could catch on !

What do you think?

CCTV software

CCTV software.

Over the next few years we will begin to see hardware recording solutions in the CCTV security industry slowly disappear and be replaced almost exclusively by CCTV software.

Cost of CCTV hardware.

The high production costs of hardware have in the past always been able to be offset because most end users networks struggled to cope with the high amount of bandwidth taken by HD and Megapixel IP cameras. Recently however, there is a marked change. Recording solutions are beginning to be biased towards CCTV software platforms recording onto dedicated servers. The servers are getting cheaper and developers have taken all the best features from their hardware recorders and integrated this into CCTV software solutions.

CCTV software.

The software of course can vary enormously. Some manufacturers such as Sanyo are happy to give away software in order to sell their IP cameras in volume. Other big players such as March networks have spent lots of time money and effort on developing their Videosphere VMS software into a fantastic package that includes analytics and extremely advanced search facilities not seen in cheap or free CCTV software packages.

Who decides.

Of course the decision will always come down to end user and their requirements. Anyone trying to integrate CCTV systems that already exist on site will not be able to use off the shelf packages. They will have to choose a CCTV software solution that can integrate a multitude of cameras and codec’s especially when using a combination of analogue and IP cameras of different makes and model. The older analogue cameras will need some kind of multiple recording platform and then conversion to IP video streams.

The future.

CCTV software can and will get better and better. Software gives flexibility that older hardware DVRs lack. It will eventually get less expensive and remote support for the product is easier than returning a DVR back to its country of origin just simply to be repaired. The benefits and advantages of using CCTV are slowly but surely meaning that DVRs are soon to go the same way as the VCR.. Ie it become a very breed indeed.