Friday 31 August 2012

MD's Blog


"I Didn't Set Out to Beat the World; I Just Set Out to Do My Absolute Best."
- Al Oerter

It was great to get behind the Olympics Games recently; both the opening and closing ceremonies were fantastic and getting so many medals for Team GB really added to the excitement.  The good spirit in the UK, especially London, was almost heady.  For two weeks, people actually talked to each other on public transport and the games were the only topic of conversation. 

We tried to ensure that our customers were not disrupted by traffic issues and moved our start times around to accommodate as necessary, but in the end, there were few issues.

All the security forces and volunteers have been rightly praised, along with all those who have organised, planned and given us a Games to be proud of.

Robert De’Antiquis

Monday 13 August 2012

HD cameras for the future... make.believe in Sony

Our PES Manager, Izak, discusses his thoughts on HD cameras:

"As with all new technology there are always some sceptics who don’t accept pioneering technology.
I heard about the new HD cameras, but with good IP cameras available at the time, I was not really interested, as proven cameras (like the Sony SNC RX570) had a brilliant zoom and were already outperforming the Coax cameras which currently saturate the market.
As a company, Heston Apex Europe LTD, was chosen to carry out a trial installation of a number of RH-124 Cameras on a stadium.
From the commencement of the installation, it was glaringly clear that this is the new technology for the future of the industry.
On the opening day, with a crowded stadium, it was possible to zoom in and identify people on the opposite side of the field. This enabled the security controllers to monitor any disturbances with ease and be sure that proper identification of the people involved was available.

So why choose the next generation of Sony HD cameras?

1.       Fewer Cameras. With full HD cameras better coverage is provided, with the advantage that identification of individual suspects is still possible. With previous generations of cameras you would need both a static camera and a PTZ camera to zoom in to the specific point of interest to get identifiable images or as alternative a multitude of static cameras zoomed in, which would therefore cover a lot less.

2.       Fewer Monitoring personnel. Fewer cameras also means fewer people are needed to monitor the same area and in tandem with the implementation of DEPA technology found on Sony cameras, intelligent functionality can be utilised on a PC

3.       H264 encoding. With H264 encoding it gives the best use of the bandwidth possible.

4.       High frame rates. With up to 30FPS, a smooth picture is ensured, therefore assuring the consistent capture of movement. This will increase with the newer generation cameras as demonstrated by Sony at IFSEC.

5.       Monitoring in all conditions. The Sony camera ranges have some of the best low light performance around. This includes PTZ cameras and the ER550, as well as the static cameras with additional IR as the DH280 and CH280.  Even in incredibly low levels of light in a server room, I observed a DH140 displaying a clear picture.
Even the best cameras is useless if not correctly set up. The SNC-Toolbox ensures ease of setup with all the cameras and settings available in one place. The cameras now have an easy setup and focus feature that enable the installer to tweak the focus and zoom without the need to sit on ladders with a spot monitor to adjust it."