Raytec Archives - Integrated CCTV

CCTV lighting for HD SDI CCTV

CCTV lighting has never been as important as it is today. With the growth of HD SDI CCTV and mega pixel IP cameras it is a well know fact that these cameras perform much worse in low light conditions than traditional analogue cameras. In the past CCTV lighting has been traditionally done using either IR bulbs or halogen lighting. This type of lighting is expensive, with halogen in particular it is now widely accepted across the industry that this polluting, inefficient lighting method is being rigorously phased out. New more efficient CCTV lighting in the form of IR and white light illuminators are now available and as LED technology gets better and better these lights are definitely the way forward.

If you want good colour images at night then the white light illuminator is what you should chose. You can expect the CCTV lighting illuminator to produce around 2700 lumens and be IP67 rated. The best thing about led lighting though is reliability. A life of 10 years or more is expected.

So why do we need lighting with cameras? CCTV lighting has always been a subject that gets overlooked but most crime occurs during the hours of darkness and we know all cameras need at least some light to produce an image. It is however the case that background lighting such as street light or even moonlight will not be enough for mega pixel cameras or HD SDI CCTV. It is also the case that good lighting will save space on your hard drive as background interference often increases the memory consumed on your hard drive. So better CCTV lighting reduces storage costs.

So what is the price of an illuminator compared to a halogen? Well right now price wise there is no comparison. While a 500 watt halogen can be purchased for as little as £5 an illuminator that is going to give the same sort of light spread will be well over £170 and very often more. This is hampering the change over of CCTV lighting from old to new technology. However the end user must be educated in the the TCO of an illunminator and the benefits of upgrading his CCTV lighting. While a halogen light might do you for a year without burning out , it wont last too much longer on average. Then it will draw 5 times more energy, this can be costly when having to pay the electricity bill. You must also consider access to the light for maintenance, a cherry picker these days is going to set you back at least £250 for the day so that halogen is far more expensive than you think. Finally if you are upgrading to HD SDI CCTV or a mega pixel IP camera then the extra money you have paid for quality images will be wasted as night time recordings will be disappointing.

So who are the main players well Iluminar and Sirius are popular brands and rival Raytec on price. All these CCTV lighting solutions are trusted brands and have a build quality that will ensure longevity in the field. It must also be noted that CCTV lighting can only become cheaper as led technology improves and more demand means more choice and competition.

So for crisp clear colour images from your HD SDI CCTV system at night go green with a white light illuminator and the sensible way forward for CCTV lighting.

CCTV LED lighting

Looking out the window its raining again. Not only that but its starting to get dark its only 7 o’clock and its still August. A dank, dark and dreary day its started to get me thinking about external lighting.

Raytec LED lighting

Involved in the day to day running of a CCTV company it reminded me that within a couple of weeks the service calls are all going to start pouring in. Whats more they are all going to say the same thing. “Lights not working. Bulbs blown,Lights burnt out, Lights won’t work automatically” and so the list will go on. It’s a symptom of the fact that the lights that give the CCTV systems clarity at night have probably been blown out all summer but it just happens that everyone seems to notice their problems at the same time. ie at 6 o’clock mid September when they all head home and set their systems. All of a sudden they notice they can’t see where they are going. Some even realize that their cameras can’t see where they are going either and so the influx of service calls begins.

The problem of course is that most CCTV systems out there still use halogen lighting systems, generally tripped by a PIR to bring lights on only when needed. Now these lights are cheap to buy and relatively cheap to install, but do they last …NO! Its actually not even the installers fault. Try buying a decent halogen light. The home DIY market has ensured that any light costing more than £10 and no one will pay for it. Its a shame because some years ago tungsten halogen lighting was made to a high standard and lights and bulbs would last forever. Unfortunately these good manufacturers were put out of business by cheap imports.

So what is the solution? Well its here and it comes in the form of high intensity LED lighting. Raytec immediately spring to mind as the market leaders. Their lights are cleverly designed and reliable. A huge marketing campaign has ensured that Raytec are number one when it comes to CCTV and to their credit they are also branching into street lighting. Ergonomic design ensures they look good and they give fantastic results.In addition Rytec led lighting gives great light spread and reduced costs once installed. The only issue is the cost of the initial unit, however in the case of Raytec we believe you actually get what you pay for.

So back to CCTV and surely lighting is becoming less important with more sophisticated cameras, right? Well quite the opposite. Megapixel IP cameras and CMOS chips in HDCCTV cameras perform much less efficiently in the dark than analogue CCTV cameras. To this end as the marketplace swings towards HDCCTV, lighting will actually become much more important. Now we suspect that it will not be too long before the market place starts to see lots of cheap LED lighting being used. The shift to HDCCTV will demand this and we think it will be beneficial to end users as there night time images will improve as a result.

Raytec led lighting

So maybe next year as more reliable led lighting starts to get installed across the UK and we start to see HDCCTV images with crystal clear clarity, we wont get quite so many service calls…………we live in hope!

CCTV lighting

CCTV lighting.

Often overlooked but a crucial part of any CCTV system, lighting is key to good pictures when you really need them. CCTV cameras have improved dramatically over the last few years and dual chip technology has meant that night vision from CCTV cameras is now acceptable most of the time, but in many cases it is only when images are really needed that end-users realize that lighting on their site is not sufficient to see exactly what they need.

lighting audit.

Most installers will put a caveat in there terms and conditions stating that lighting will be assessed after an installation and that it is the customer’s responsibility to ensure lighting levels are sufficient.. However how often is this really done? This is especially true on installations carried out during summer months when no one ever sees the night time images until it’s a little late? Central stations also refuse to monitor poorly lit installations and will not be held responsible for poor quality nigh time pictures.

Lighting solutions.

It is a little publicised fact but colour cameras need white light to work at night, IR lamps only work with mono images and in the past you either chose to install mono from scratch, sacrificing colour daytime images for night time clarity. Bulky IR lamps were installed and these were expensive and unreliable. Dual chip cameras were the compromise and these allowed colour during the day and mono at night but this did not solve the fact that IR bulbs would blow for a pastime.

Raytec.

Raytec are a progressive company who have addressed this problem using advanced LED technology to give an IR output that is long range and reliable it is something that anyone who demands night time pictures of good quality must insist on.

halogen lighting.

Alternatively you can fit halogen lighting that will work on a sensor to bring lights on automatically when someone enters an area protected by the CCTV camera, again however these bulbs blow easily and cost a lot to run.

Blackhawk and Predator domes.

360 vision have developed the ultimate solution to good night time images. They have both the Blackhawk and Predator cameras that have IR lighting built in that follows the tracking of the camera and ensures that a good nighttime image is always available.

Designing a CCTV system.

So when you think about a CCTV system, think about when it is most likely to be used and think about how you will design your lighting it is crucial this side of things is not overlooked.

Mayflex.

Mayflex

Within our industry we need reliable distributors. Mayflex is one of these companies that specialises in providing a broad range of IP security solutions for installers. Mayflex is dedicated to providing a broad range of IP cameras together with CCTV software, lighting and storage solutions.

Any budget.

Mayflex have produced a security product guide that gives in depth detail into all the products they can supply and the benefits of each of these integrated security solutions. They aim to cater for any budget.

Mayflex.com

The website is extensive. They have a competitive pricing structure together with a dedicated projects team to help with quotations and delivery. Orders will be taken on line up until 8pm.

Products.

Mayflex sell products produced by many manufacturers including:

ACTi.

Bosch.

GE Security.

Milestone.

Mobotix.

Panasonic.

Raytec.

And many others.

The web site is well worth a visit to introduce yourself to all their product ranges. Most of the above manufacturers will be exhibiting at IFSEC 2010.

Raytec,the lighting solution for CCTV

About the Raytec lighting system

Raytec supply state-of-the-art lighting systems, basically they have pitched their product as an energy saving method of illuminating areas covered by CCTV cameras. They use energy efficient LED lighting technology that can either be white light of infra-red.

Energy saving

By using LED lighting, cost savings can be quite dramatic, cameras nowadays need very little light to work effectively, so, although the light given off is not as bright as a traditional halogen light, it is still highly effective and can also be used as working light to. We did notice that if you look directly at these lights they can be blinding, so we do not recommend this!

So how much can it save?

A recent study estimated that an organisation using 200 old-style CCTV lights will save at least £90,000 per year by switching to Raytec LED technology. This is based upon 4,400 hours usage per year at 10p kw/hr; The above cost saving also takes into account bulb changes including the labour involved to change existing halogen light bulbs and fittings.

How often will the bulbs need changing?

Well, Raytec have proved that their lights have a longer life cycle than an ordinary halogen. Not surprising really as halogen bulbs tend to be highly volatile and often burn out the nipples that hold the bulb in place when they blow. Halogens are generally poorly manufactured (therefore the low cost) and rust making them very difficult to get into to change the bulb if they have been up on a wall for a number of years. Better reliability means of course when a critical situation arises ie a break in or an accident the lights are more likely to be working and the incident caught on CCTV .

Lighting Amnesty

Raytec are currently promoting a “Lighting Amnesty” the hope is end users and CCTV providers alike will be encouraged to upgrade to be more energy efficient and of course gain more reliability.

Cost.

Inevitably all things come down to cost. To be fair the Raytec illuminator is not cheap by any stretch of the imagination. Security companies have struggled purely on price to integrate this product and sell to end users and get Raytec lighting up on the wall. Lead times are poor as well. When you order the product 6 weeks is not unusual. So if Raytec are to see more of their product sold the above must be addressed

Can we get integrated CCTV solutions using this product?

Installers need this product. It will eventually be the only realistic way to light a site but competitors may take a good share of the market if they are able to replicate the LED solution at a cheaper price without infringing on any patents.