The V national conference on City and Stadium Safety was held in Kielce on the 27th and 28th of October, 2004. Compared to previous years, the number of exhibitors as well as visitors was considerably smaller. The turnout during seminars was at an unchanged level.
Interest in network monitoring is becoming visible. TCP/IP cameras were the subject of numerous discussions and presentations. Until now they haven't been very popular due to their poor image parameters and a lack of programs that would allow to remotely control an entire monitoring system that comprises a greater number of these cameras. Nevertheless, in the near future there is a good chance that they might win a huge portion of the CCTV market.
Wireless monitoring has become a hot topic. It turns out that security services and police are inclined in favor of such a monitoring solution. Very often there is a need to build a temporary monitoring system only for a short period of time, for instance, during some stake-out operations or all sorts of short-lasting events. The police are also using this type of equipment to supervise and inspect their own patrols and to transmit video images of their routine controls and operations in a fast and reliable way. Features such as on-line monitoring, remote access to databases allow for a quick decision-making process; these features will certainly draw attention toward the mobile CCTV systems.
During “The Safe City” conference various ways of city monitoring were put to debate. Besides identifying advantages and disadvantages of various monitoring solutions, a number of speakers pointed to numerous difficulties connected with practical realisation of monitoring in fiber optic-based networks. Among debated issues the most prevalent were the following: difficulies with obtaining 'telephone conduit network' permit, problems with conduit leasing from telecommunication companies, and a constantly rising cost of access to fibre optic networks. As it has been noted those problems do not exist in case of wireless networks. A number of speakers have shown that the cost of building a wireless installation in a small area is comparable with that of setting up a fiber optic infrastructure, but the cost is significantly reduced over larger areas. For a wireless network to meet requirements of any surveillance provider, it has to show a high degree of reliability similar to fiber optic systems. It should operate in a licensed frequency band and be properly protected in emergencies. Nera Networks Polska, Sprint, Alcatel, and Media Com S.A (Markoni distributor) have demonstrated professional wireless monitoring equipment.
In the Sprint and Media Com's showrooms the visitors could see entire systems for wireless surveillance which consisted of the PTZ cameras in motorized fast-response housings,
...radio terminals, antennas,
base station equipment,
and a monitoring center with a station for one operator.
Sprint corporation presented a wireless video monitoring system that utilizes 7390 LMDS technology from Alcatel. The system had been installed and put into opration during the European Forum on Economics in Warsaw.
The most frequently-used solution in professional systems is LMDS (Local Multipoint Distribution System) which works in 28GHz band and point-to-point transmission working at high frequencies.
For low priority networks an unconventional 5GHz band transmission can be utilized. Such a solution has been proposed by Nera – Netlink III as well as Motorola – and Canopy.
Police department representatives tackled the issue of mobility of surveillance equipment during their discussions of monitoring systems. The very fact that surveillance cameras are installed is a deterrent in many instances and the monitored areas have proved to have a lower crime rate. The problem is that crime moves into the areas where surveillance is not present, for this reason it is extremely important to have the capability of setting up a fast, mobile equipment to monitor those sections of a city. Such a mobility is impossible in case of fiber optic networks, but it is feasible in wireless systems.
Most interesting equipment that had been introduced during the fair was the newest invention from Mitsubishi Electronic – triplex, 16-channel digital recorder, DX-TL5000E. The most important features of this machine include:
-
new type of compression - JPEG2000 –, producing a much better image quality than Wavelet, or realtively new - MPEG4, preview at the speed of 800, recording time – 200 halfframes/sec,
-
large disk support - up to 2TB and support for S-ATA disks,
-
built-in dual multiplexer – double playback function (simultaneous playback of two archived files),
-
Two built-in network cards. One for the communication of the device with a network computer and one for data transmission to NAS (Network Area Storage)
-
state of the art motion detection function (dual mask, 506 grit) and archive search; possibility of data transfer to other external devices via USB port, for instance.
The recorder was displayed at Faxon Proffesional pavilion.
Mitsubishi Electronic – triplex 16-channel digital recorder, DX-TL5000E
The most interesting product turned out to be ObjectVideo VEW 2.0. At first glance this machine looks like a typical video recorder, but in fact it is a professional early warning system (Video Early Warning). Shown by Geva.
This very powerful software tool allows to detect, classify, and track suspicious objects. Very advanced data analysis, which permits a fast data preview and quick decision-making. In the on-line mode the user can obtain information about different objects being left or removed from the monitored areas. The device can define and identify the direction of movement. Fuunctions such as tracking objects and time analysis of the objects being in the protected zone are available. The system is capable of recognizing objects like cars or people. VideoObject can distinguish potentialy dangerous situations from the typical ones ( swaying of trees, falling leaves, sea waves hitting the shore and other natural phenomena)
Applied algorithms and filters make this device the product that opens “new era” in the surveillance system design. Today this product resembles gizzmos from many science fiction movies, but the newest systems are bound to have the similar appearance in the near future. This product has won its popularity in the USA, where it is used in the airport surveillance and border monitoring. More information about this system here.
Besides typical video-radar the fair has also presented automatic registration-plate-number recognition systems ARTR was one of them, displayed by VCS Polska. It is obvious that the types of systems presently manufactured can easily handle an analysis and recognition of even the dirtest registration plates, even if the tracked vehicle is moving at a considerable speed. If a mistake happens, said the exhibitors, the systemn captures also the car's picture – please, don't count on a mistake.
Another interesting product was fast-response movable SONY camera. The application of 1/6” sensor has permitted to minimize the size of this camera without sacrificing the quality of image. SNC-RZ30P model of Video Network Camera is equipped with 25X optical zoom, full remote control via network - thanks to its built-in network card. The camera can record an image on the Memory Stick (8-128MB). Besides TCP/IP output it also comes with a standard video output.
Fast-response movable SONY camera