All posts by Robert

What Is Panoramic Camera

Panoramic camera, as the name suggests, is a wide range of surveillance cameras, it can be divided into single-lens fish-eye camera and multi-lens stitching camera according to different structures. Taken the angle of view between multiple lenses, the installation location and other factors into consideration, the general price of Multi-lens stitching camera is more expensive, rarely used in the project, so the fish-eye camera has become a representative of the panoramic camera.

Analysis of the Advantages and Disadvantages of Fish-eye Cameras:

Fish-eye cameras rely mainly on fish-eye lens to achieve a wide range of monitoring, the biggest feature is the formation of the image into a circle, to achieve 180 degree omni-directional coverage, in order to clear the overall situation. In order to realize 180 degree omni-directional monitoring, a surveillance camera needs at least two cameras to be mounted back-to-back. Unless there is a special adjustment of the angle of view, there is a blind spot at the bottom of the camera. The larger the focal length of the camera, When a moving object moves from the field of view of one camera to the field of view of another camera, it is difficult to form a complete image association, and it is likely to cause visual disturbances. This is the two main advantages of the fish-eye camera compared to the common camera.

Compared to the ordinary camera, since the fish-eye camera exits advantages, why it has not been eye-catchy in the market?

In fact, the application of fish-eye cameras have been in the panoramic monitoring, but it is hard to meet people’s expectations in capturing details. As the fish-eye lens is ultra-short focal length lens, although the field of view is large enough through the fish-eye lens formed by the screen, but the detail object in the picture will be very small; In addition, the circular viewing angle through the fish-eye lens does not meet the human eye viewing habits, and the quality of side area is badly distortion, missing a lot of details.

The development trend of fish-eye camera:

Until recent years, with the distortion correction technology matures and the use of EPTZ technology, the appearance of the fish-eye camera on the details began to meet people’s expectations, enhance the practicality of the screen before they gradually enter the public’s vision. The so-called distortion correction is to show normal display instead of distortion circular image as much as possible; with EPTZ function, you can zoom in and move the image to achieve the effect similar to the PTZ operation, which is easy to view some of the details.

In addition to distortion correction and EPTZ, are there any other ways to improve the usefulness of its picture? The answer is, of course, yes.

The first method is to improve the overall screen resolution. In the panoramic images, the more peripheral images, the same number of pixels carried by the broader monitoring range, the content required to show more, so the higher the resolution of the fish-eye camera, the more pixels Point to show the same scene with more details. with the EPTZ function more and more to improve the practicality of the screen. Currently on the market, the fish-eye camera resolution is mainly concentrated in the 3 million to 5 million, with 4K ultra-high-definition cameras into people’s field of vision, ultra-high definition fish-eye camera is inevitable.

But to improve the resolution is not just a simple upgrade Sensor and lens, ISP processing, coding, the network needs to be considered, and, the high-resolution fish eye camera has to be more strict than the ordinary fish eye camera in the requirements of corresponding structure and process.

The second method is the fish ball with the ball machine to achieve fish ball linkage. Fish-ball linkage is an upgraded version of gun-ball linkage, through the fish-eye camera to monitor the overall situation, once the suspicious target linkage ball machine to enlarge the target. Compared with the gun ball linkage, fish ball linkage of the global monitoring range is larger; compared to the fish-eye camera’s own EPTZ, the ball machine magnification effect is more clear.

Because of the seriously distorted image formed by the fish-eye camera, it is necessary to provide a more accurate linkage algorithm than the gun-ball linkage.

The value of monitoring should be landing on the practicality, poor practicality with fancy features will not be recognized by the user, so the two methods to improve the usefulness of the screen will be the key points of a new generation of fish-eye cameras.

Why Should You Be Industry Certified

Sure you can be certified by a manufacturer, but what about in the industry?. Manufacturer certification shows you are proficient and trained in their product. What about your proficiency as a whole?

Sure you can be certified by a manufacturer, but what about in the industry?. Manufacturer certification shows you are proficient and trained in their product. What about your proficiency as a whole?

An Integrator and installer typically need to certified before the can carry a specific brand. Manufacturers like Pelco, Samsung and Panasonic have their own certification programs that cover installation, configuration, maintenance and training of their product with the basic premise that the individual or company already knows the basics. The basics, however, can be different from market to market due to city codes. Some have not had the pleasure of installing cabling in rigid conduit and the costs associated with it. Others have never installed equipment in an explosion proof environment.

How many of you came into another surveillance companies prior installation and wondered how anything can possible work? How many have seen a multitude of problems from sloppy wiring, poor terminated ends, power supplies lying on the floor, wrong cable type, cable too long, multiple splices, multiple splitters’, cameras in areas the should have housings but don’t, no site plan or many other poor practices? For the end-user this usually means system problems and service calls to correct something that should have been done correctly the first time.

There are several organizations out there that certify based on security principals and knowledge but not on real world practice. UL Certification for alarm system installation comes the closest but for alarm systems only. No one had a similar certification for video surveillance or access control, until now. An organization called NAVSAC (National Association of Video Surveillance & Access Control) has a multi-level program that combines knowledge and practical experience with an inspection service. Level 1 is a basic proficiency exam with a company background check. NAVSAC verifies incorporation, owner credentials and insurance information. Level 1 must be in business a minimum of 1 year prior to applying. Level 2 takes it 1 step further by conducting interviews and questionnaires with clients. The applicant then chooses 3 clients for inspection varying in complexity and design. The goal is to measure proper installation techniques, design and engineering, cleanliness, termination, site plans and quality. Level 2 also requires a minimum of 2 support staff, support ticketing system and documented polices for providing support.

Each levels requirements increase in difficulty and time-in the industry in order to advance. The most amazing thing that attracted me to look closer was the promotion of members. Typically most organizations you will get a certificate and a directory listing. With NAVSAC, they actively promote their members through the web and other outlets. The concept promotes pride in being a true industry professional and therefor the consumer should know who you are. They offer additional services such as web design and marketing specific for the industry following strict guidelines for honest and ethical marketing. The additional services help professional companies get noticed and weed out the opportunists.

Furthermore, consumers can go to www.navsac.org and verify all members credentials and experience and can see photos of previous installations. NAVSAC also provides arbitration services if a customer should have an issue with a member.