See below table containing add-on products available from Milestone:

Screen Recorder

Ideal for use by industries who handle critical data including; retail and banking as users are able to view their captured screen recordings from either POS systems or a computer to verify transactions and keep an eye on any fraudulent activities.

Screen recorder is easily installed; users simply need to download the software from here. It is worth noting that screen recorder will take up one of your XProtect device licenses. For example say your system has 20 screens and 5 cameras you will need a total of 25 device licenses for the version of XProtect you have.

Access

XProtect Access enables users to integrate their access control system with their XProtect video management software to control both video and access systems from one centralised interface. This is particularly useful for applications where there is a high amount of foot traffic coming and going through one area. As operators are able to manage the video and access control from one interface. This can be done via their desk or on the go with the Milestone mobile app.

This add-on works with all the Milestone XProtect VMS products. Users will need both the Access Base License to unlock all the add-on’s functions alongside the Door License to enable a single physical door.

LPR

LPR stands for License Plate Recognition; this add-on reads vehicles license plates and then links this information with video. There are many benefits to License Plate Recognition software including:
– Preventing loses
– Managing parking
– Regulating access
– Gathering evidence

Therefore making this software ideal for a wide range of applications including; petrol stations, border control, tolls and access control (in car parks).

To have the full LPR system up and running you require a Base License, Country Modules (which unlocks full LPR capability) added the this you’ll need a Camera License per camera stream. The base license includes 5 country modules.

Retail

Another Milestone add-on is XProtect Retail, designed for transaction analysis. Helping retailers to optimise store operations and increase their profit by detecting fraud.

Key Features of Retail are as follows:
– Ability to discover fraud patterns
– View transaction data along with corresponding video
– Link video sequences with receipt and transaction data

As well as this the software has advanced search options, full video documentation and a set of pre-defined performance indicators to allow retailers to easily protect their business and customers.

All you need to get this up and running is your XProtect VMS together with a Retail Connection License and Retail Server License.

Transact

Finally we have XProtect Transact which video enables transactions. Essentially this add-on extract data from whichever system is being used and then pairs this with the video from the time of transaction.

Reasons for video enabling transactions are as follows:
– Ability to investigate possible fraud
– Addressing product shrinkage
– You can document shipments and track parcels

Additionally as Transact is a fully integrated part of XProtect Smart Client making monitoring and controlling your system much simpler as you can do it all through one interface. Not only this but the Smart Client creates a much more efficient workflow.

To enable the full functions of XProtect Transact users need both the Base Server and Connection License. The base server comes with 1 connection license included.

If you would like to know any more about any of the XProtect add-on product please feel free to contact us or alternatively the Milestone website has many useful resources.

Gilly Marshall

The post Milestone Add-on products appeared first on IP Cameras and IP CCTV.

As with their VMS products there are different options when it comes to Care. Options are:

• Basic
• Plus
• Premium
• Elite

Care Basic

A free service which is provided with all Milestone products. As in the title this version of Care is basic and so has some limitations. With Care Basic you get access to the extensive Milestone eCare Portal which is a self-help universe filled with online guides, chat assistance and a user forum.

Care Plus

Contains all the features of Care Basic with many added extras intended to future proof your system. Care Plus includes:

• Milestone Customer Dashboard
• Access to latest Software version
• Access to new device driver packs
• Chat Support
• Access to User Forum

Care Premium

Gives you all the features of Care Basic and Care Plus but also gives users the added benefits of:

• Direct technical support 24/7
• Prioritised queuing
• Case Management
• Committed response times

Finally we have:

Care Elite

Which gives you all the features of Care Premium with the added extras of:

• A dedicated Milestone technical account manager
• Service level agreement with resolution times
• Access to the known issue database

We recommend Care Plus with all Milestone purchases of XProtect VMS. If you are already a customer of ours you will know we are big fans of keeping up to date with the latest software versions and Milestone is no exception, which is why we recommend purchasing Care Plus and keeping on top of the renewal of this to enable constant access to the latest software version.

Gilly Marshall

The post Milestone Care, what is it and why is it important? appeared first on IP Cameras and IP CCTV.

1. How many cameras are there in my system?
2. What do I want to get from my VMS?
3. Will I be expanding my system?
4. Will the installation be spread across multiple sites?

Once you have your answers to the above questions you are already in a better position for selecting your software. Now you need to know what versions are available to you and the differences between them. Options are:

Essential+
Express
Express+
Professional
Professional+

We’ll start with Essential+, this is a free full featured version of the Milestone software that has been specifically designed for small systems with support for up to 8 cameras. So if you have 8 or fewer cameras then this is the option for you.
You can download the free Essential+ video management software here.

Moving on to the Express Series, this software has been designed for smaller single-site installations with support for up to 48 cameras. Within the Express Series you have two VMS options; Express and Express+.

Express

An older version of the software which has:

• Basic Alarm Management
• Single-layer Map function
• Support for 5 concurrent users

Express+

First introduced in 2017 and builds on the capabilities of the Express software. Featuring:

• Full Alarm Management
• Multi-layer Map functions
• Support for an unrestricted amount of concurrent users
• 265 support
• Hardware accelerated video motion detection

We would always recommend Express+ over Express due to the added and enhanced features.

Now it’s time to talk about the Professional Series; designed for mid-sized security systems this VMS can support an unrestricted amount of cameras and servers. Like the Express Series the Professional Series has two VMS options; Professional and Professional+.

Professional

The older version of the software which includes features such as:

• Support for up to 320 cameras per server
• Multi-layer map functions
• Full Alarm Management
• Support for multiple servers

Professional+

Like Express+ was first introduced in 2017 and again develops on the capabilities of the Professional software. In addition to the Professional features this VMS includes:

• Support for an unrestricted amount of cameras per server
• The ability to centrally manage multiple servers on multiple sites
• Support for H.265 compression
• Metadata support
• Support for hardware accelerated video motion detection

A before we would recommend the Professional+ VMS over the Professional version.

Additionally see below table comparing XProtect VMS options and their features:

Now you know the basics you can select which VMS is best suited for your requirement and if you are still a little unsure you can always contact us for more advice or alternatively Milestone offer a Free 30 day trial of all their software. What better way is there to know you’ve got the right option than to test it for yourself?

Gilly Marshall

The post Choosing the right Milestone XProtect VMS for you appeared first on IP Cameras and IP CCTV.

Samsung Security is now Wisenet

First off I wanted to let the customer know that Samsung are no longer associated with IP camera solutions. In 2014 Samsung Techwin was acquired by Hanwha Group and in 2015 the name was changed to Hanwha Techwin, dropping the Samsung association.

Whilst some products (mostly the ‘S’ range) are still branded as Wisenet Samsung, the company is making the transition to Wisenet and all ‘X‘, ‘Q‘ and ‘P‘ series cameras and any new releases, will just be Wisenet.

That being explained, the company were happy to proceed so I raised discussions with our contact at Wisenet, to understand the best solution for our customer.

The Wisenet PNF-9010R 12MP Fisheye

The product suggested was the Wisenet PNF-9010R, a 12MP fisheye camera that is equipped with a range of smart features including people counting and heat mapping. The customer was interested and agreed to test the PNF-9010R.

Feedback from initial tests has been really positive and the customer has reported being very happy with the results gathered from this camera. They are going to update us further as they continue to test.

Other heat mapping options from Wisenet

The customer has since asked for a bullet camera that will also be able to carry out heat mapping and people counting.

I returned to our Wisenet contact and they suggested a choice of either a 2MP or 5MP bullet camera: XNO-6010R/XNO-6020R (2MP) or the XNO-8020R/XNO-8030R/XNO-8040R (5MP).

You can find all of these cameras in our webshop now and if you have any enquires about heat mapping, or your specific solution, then please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Tara Brown

The post Heat Mapping with Wisenet’s PNF-9010R appeared first on IP Cameras and IP CCTV.

What do the Hikvision G0 product codes tell us?

An example of a G0 product code is DS-2CD2143G0-1. This shows us that it is a 4MP dome camera and that it’s series code is “3” (The old R6 series code was “2” – DS-2CD2142FWD-I and the G1 series code is “5” – DS-2CD2155FWD-I).

As you can see on the table below, all previous cameras have ended “FWD” for example, G0 is a new format altogether.

What type of cameras are in the Hikvision G0 Family?

These cameras seem to be a mix of the R6 family of cameras and the new G1 family of cameras. The G0 family consist of 2MP and 4MP cameras just like the R6 family. However, the features such as H.265+ seem to be exactly the same as the G1 family (These are 3MP, 5MP and 8MP).

In the Hikvision catalogue the G0 family is named as an “Economic Series” while the G1 family is “Professional Series” even though I can’t see any notable differences other than resolution between the two.

Will we be stocking the Hikvision G0 Family?

At the moment we plan to stick with the Hikvision families we already stock. We feel that introducing a new family which is so similar to the current family may cause confusion, especially since the two are supposedly aimed at different markets even though the specification is the same. The price point between Hikvision families is already minimal and it seems unnecessary to broaden an already wide offering!

We will keep you posted if things change.

Keoni  Granger

The post The New Hikvision G0 (EasyIP 2.0 plus) Family appeared first on IP Cameras and IP CCTV.

I recently updated our rayTEC offer to include all the current available models! This involved a lot of work and a lot was learnt.

rayTEC designs illuminators to assist CCTV systems and improve captured images.

The first thing I did was check which models were current and which were End of Life. (It turned out that a lot of what we were offering was no longer available and I had a lot of new product pages to build.)

Before I started creating product pages for the range I decided to look at the literature offered by rayTEC so I could get to grips with which illuminators were from which families and figure out the best way to organise rayTEC

rayTEC offer Infra-Red, White Light and Hybrid illuminators along with a range of lenses and brackets. I learnt that the illuminators are split into families based upon their IP/POE capabilities and intended application:

VARIO 2

– No IP or POE capabilities.

VARIO 2 POE

– POE capabilities

VARIO 2 IP POE

– IP and POE capabilities

RAYMAX

– No IP or PoE capabilities. Adaptive illumination

PULSESTAR

– ANPR Lighting

PLATINUM

– Ultra long range. Adaptive illumination

PANORAMIC

– For PTZs, 180° coverage

Illuminators that are part of the VARIO 2 IP POE, VARIO 2 POE and VARIO 2 family all have interchangeable lenses available to change the angle of light provided. (Check our Frequently Bought Together Section to see every available lens option for each model). These illuminators are aimed more at domestic systems.

Furthermore, the VARIO 2 IP POE family can be powered by a mains power supply or by PoE (power budget changes between each model, check FBT for recommended) and offers smart, programmable lighting via web interface.

The VARIO 2 POE family can only be powered by PoE and the VARIO 2 family can only be powered by mains power supply.

The more advanced families are for larger systems where long range illuminators may be necessary. Some families have a very specific purpose: PULSESTAR is designed specifically to produce pulse lighting for number plate capture, PANORAMIC is designed to provide 180° (360° with two units) illumination for systems with PTZs or panoramic cameras. These illuminators need more power, power supply recommendations are in the FBT section.

We’ve tried to include as much information as possible on each product page. You should find the family name, literature, recommended items, an informative video and our other recommended illuminators along with a short description of what the illuminator can do!

If you need help selecting an illuminator for your system then please get in touch.

Keoni Granger

The post Updating our rayTEC Offer appeared first on IP Cameras and IP CCTV.

1. Image Quality

Hikvision Turbo HD cameras are capable of outputting full HD 1080p quality images, which is perfect for use in the majority of situations.

Currently 2MP models are available for purchase, however this is being increased later in 2016 to include models with both 3MP and 5MP imaging sensors, which will cover just about every conceivable industrial and domestic setting!

2. Cost

We’re all looking to reduce costs where possible, and for a small business or home-owner, the price of a security system with even a couple cameras can easily run up costs well above the average budget.

Most IP cameras process the images they capture in the camera itself, and this can lead to high costs per unit. Hikvision Turbo HD cameras process all their images within the DVR itself, meaning that each camera is able to be produced and sold for a lower price than their IP counterparts.

You don’t have to compromise on quality: the final picture you get is the same. It’s a fantastic feature that opens up security to a wider audience and lets you make the most of your money.

3. Simplicity

The use of analogue connections via coax cable mean that Hikvision Turbo HD cameras are incredibly easy to install and require very little maintenance once set up.

The DVR doesn’t require any complex networking or port-forwarding to detect the cameras, and adding new units to a system is as simple as plugging them in and providing power.

Later in 2016 we’ll be seeing our first Power over Coax enabled models, making installation even easier and further saving on infrastructure costs!

Summary

As we’ve seen, Hikvision Turbo HD offers a full range of benefits and features that make them an excellent option to a wide range of consumers looking to purchase a security system.

We stock a full range of Hikvision Turbo HD cameras and DVRs, as well as associated accessories.

If you have any questions about Turbo, or want a quote for a system, you can drop us an email at info@turbocctv.co.uk, or call us at 01304 827609.

Thanks for reading!

The post 3 Reasons You Should Be Using Hikvision Turbo HD appeared first on IP Cameras and IP CCTV.

Just before Christmas we were at the receiving end of a rather crafty scam attempt. Read on to find out why scamming a security company isn’t a very good idea!

Just another day in the office…

Picture the scene: you receive a fairly typical returns request from a recent customer to your online webshop. The request is a little strange, given that it comes bundled with the (now redundant!) distance selling regulations as a cover for return, and in their messages the customer has changed the spelling of their own name multiple times, but otherwise seems perfectly ordinary.

Fast forward a few days, and your office receives through the post an unsolicited, signed, and tracked bottle of ‘healing water’; new-age homeopathic liquid that supposedly claims that it can cure ailments and ills. All very strange, but made even more so by the email you receive a short while later from the customer. They declare that they have return your goods, that they have proof you received their returned ‘order’, and they threaten you with legal action if you do not refund them their money. The tracking code that they supply with this threat corresponds to that of the (who would have guessed?) bottle of ‘magic healing water’.

Oh dear

What we have here, ladies and gentlemen, is a classic case of ‘switch fraud’ – where some unscrupulous person has attempted to make off with a few hundred pounds in CCTV equipment while an honest small business is forced to foot the bill. By first ordering some expensive cameras, then requesting a refund and sending a signed and tracked package to the company (containing nothing), the scam artist can make a legal claim that in fact they’re the one who has been scammed, and so make off at the end of it all with some free high-end products that they can either use or flog online for profit.

Unfortunately for the would-be-fraudster who tried this on us at use-IP, we have in the office (funnily enough) a lot of active CCTV equipment! It becomes very hard to claim that you’ve returned a number of large pieces of kit when there is direct video evidence of our confused staff crowding around the package you’ve sent, clearly containing a bottle of water, trying to work out what exactly it is and why we’d been sent it!

Luckily for us, both the payment company and Action Fraud are more than happy with the evidence we’ve provided them, and are now investigating this individual for any other similar crimes they may have committed.

The moral of the story?

In future, perhaps don’t try to scam the very people who make it their business to secure others against this, and many other, types of crime!

The post Fraudsters: Why you shouldn’t try to scam a CCTV company! appeared first on IP Cameras and IP CCTV.

Vandal Resistance

When considering any camera that may be vulnerable to vandalism, it’s worth checking for the camera’s IK code, as this will tell you how fit for purpose it will be. The IK code is an internationally recognised system for determining the resistance of the camera’s case to mechanical impacts, and thus gives you a clear, objective picture of the sort of punishment the camera will be able to handle and still function. Unsurprisingly, those cameras that are designed with vandal resistance in mind, particularly dome cameras, come with a very high IK rating, and are as such very hard to damage even with hard tools or implements.

The code rating is given in a number from 1-10, and typically you will find the vandal-proof cameras boast IK10 as their standard level of durability. If a camera doesn’t come with an IK code readily supplied, it can usually be assumed that it’s not suitable for use in areas where it may be susceptible to vandalism.

Other steps you can take are generally common sense: if possible, place your cameras as high as possible, meaning that it’s out of reach of prying hands; if possible, have all cables run directly through a fitting into a wall, meaning that they’re not exposed; ensure that your NVR is locked securely in its location, so that any thieves can’t simply make off with your hard drives.

Camera Placement

Backlighting

When carrying out your camera installation, there are a number of things you can do to ensure you get the best image possible. One major pitfall to try to avoid is heavy backlighting. This is where the subject of your shot has a strong light behind them – a camera pointed towards a shop front, with lots of glass letting daylight in, is one possible example of this. It’s certainly not always avoidable, and if this is the case there are steps you can take to reduce the impact, but it does typically obscure any subject in a shot to some extent and thus render the footage less useful than it otherwise might be.

If you need to have a camera in a location where backlighting is unavoidable, don’t worry too much as modern cameras typically come bundled with good wide dynamic range (WDR) settings to help reduce the impact of backlighting. We’ve found in our own testing that the newer Hikvision 4MP models for example have very good WDR modes when compared with the older 3MP models, and so it’s worth trying these yourself if you feel like this is a factor that will impact your setup.

Behind Glass

If the camera is mounted behind glass, such as a window, it can result in reflections that detract from the final image, particularly at night. If this is unavoidable, definitely test the camera in different positions, at multiple times of day, and with different types of weather, to try to determine where it will receive the minimum amount of interference for the longest period of the day.

Problems like this are why, when a camera is able to be installed out of easy reach, we tend to recommend the turret style of camera as opposed to a dome. While the domes are obviously designed to minimise internal reflections, the turrets do provide superior images in certain scenarios, notably in the dark where they are typically able to have a stronger LED array due to a lack of internal reflections. Nine times out of ten though a dome will be more than sufficient for your needs. It’s a matter of weighing up the options yourself and attempting to achieve the best image possible whilst ensuring your system remains secure from unwanted tampering.

Near Other Reflective Surfaces

You’d be surprised how reflective your average wall or ceiling can get under IR light. If a camera is placed too close to a particularly reflective surface, you may find that you get a muddy image at night as a result. Again, this is usually just a case of testing for yourself and trying to find an ideal position, but if all else fails you can try placing a cover of non-reflective material on the wall or ceiling where the camera is attached to reduce the interference it causes.

Hikvision have produced a short guide on IR reflection troubleshooting that we have hosted on our forum and may be able to help with any further issues related to these you may be having with your camera installation.

Temperature

Make sure to check the operating temperatures of your camera in the manufacturer’s data sheet (all included on the product pages on our website) if you’re intending to install your cameras outside, or in an otherwise uncommon setting. Manufacturers obviously will typically try to cater to most situations, however if you are expecting your unit to experience extreme conditions at all (say, for example, if you were to place one within a storage freezer), you must ensure the camera is suitable for the conditions. Exceeding the recommended temperatures in either direction, hot or cold, is a fast way to end up with a faulty or broken camera!

Fittings and Weathering

It may seem obvious, but it’s surprising how often we receive calls regarding issues with external cameras being poorly fitted. Whilst the camera may be weather-proof, the network cable’s connection to the camera’s pigtail typically isn’t! This is why we also sell brackets and fittings that are specifically weather-proof: it ensures your connections are insulated and you haven’t simply left a plug out in the rain! These also double-up as additional anti-vandal measures, as it’s far harder to tamper with cables screwed into a secure fixture than left exposed. When browsing our store specifically, we include the suitable fittings under the ‘Frequently Bought Together’ section at the bottom of the product page, that way you (hopefully!) shouldn’t have to go trawling through a dozen specifications trying to find the correct fitting.

Further to this, it’s worth considering how you intend to wire your external cameras before purchasing them. We usually recommend wired cameras as opposed to wireless, as with PoE it’s typically just as easy to connect one as it is the other (even a wireless camera needs a power cable!). However, in a home that’s already fitted and furnished you may feel that you’d prefer to set up a wireless camera and power it via an existing power supply outside rather than running a new set of network cables through your walls. If this is the case, try to ensure as much as possible that your power supply is secure, ideally behind lock and key, so that any would-be criminals can’t simply disable your cameras by flipping a switch.

Legal Considerations

The UK legislation regarding the domestic and commercial use of CCTV systems is generally guided by common sense and shouldn’t be too big a concern for legitimate users. The biggest and most straightforward pitfall to avoid breaching privacy laws with regards to your neighbours – there are very few, if any, situations in which pointing one of your cameras to record your neighbour through their window can be justified! Private use of CCTV used to be exempt from the Data Protection Act, however a recent European ruling means that you could be included in its requirements if you’re capturing exterior footage. A much fuller set of guidelines are available from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), and if you’re unsure about anything we recommend contacting them and asking for their advice before undertaking your camera installation. We’re certainly not legal experts, so don’t take anything we’ve said as law!

Conclusion

Hopefully by now we’ve helped you identify and avoid some of the most common mistakes to make when carrying out your camera installation, and when it comes to putting them up the process is a little more straightforward. The cameras typically come with fairly well put together guides on installing them within the box, however if you do need to troubleshoot any problems for individual problems, the use-IP forum is a great place to start!

Thanks very much for reading! Do you have any feedback, thoughts for future pieces, or questions? Please leave me a comment below! I always enjoy hearing back from readers.

Navigation

< Part 3 – NVRs and Storage Solutions

The post Your First Home Security System – Part 4: Camera Installation appeared first on IP Cameras and IP CCTV.

What is 4k?

4k refers to the screen resolution of the images produced by the cameras, outputting at 3840 x 2160, however it’s far more than simply a bigger image. 4k is also used as an umbrella term for a standard of video recording that applies to multiple aspects of the production; not just the image size.

4k IP cameras typically adhere to HDTV standards, which mean that as well as outputting high resolution images, they are also capable of shooting at 30-120fps, 16:9 aspect ratio, and have a vastly superior colour fidelity than that of previous cameras, meaning that they’re far truer to life than ever before and even more effective at capturing important details in a scene.

What benefits does 4k bring?

There are a number of direct and tangible benefits that 4k technology will bring, as we’ll go into below:

Analytics

With the much greater resolution, the software that processes the image and allows for smart interaction becomes increasingly more effective. In his talk within the webinar, James Marcella talks briefly about the three levels of analytics detection, recognition, and identification, also known as Johnson’s Criteria, for visual devices:

• For detection, that is, detecting an object within the scene, it requires only a minimum of 1 pixel per inch (PPI) resolution.
• For recognition, differentiating between objects within a scene, 3-4 PPI is required.
• For identification, matching a face to a database say, a minimum of 12 PPI, or 80 pixels for the width of a person’s face, is required.

These are all possible with current technology, however, to achieve the high PPI required for effective identification usually means having to use a very limited field of view (FOV). With 4k IP cameras, these can all be achieved whilst maintaining a wide FOV, meaning that as well as getting the detail required for smart security software, you’re also maintaining a large amount of situational awareness, capturing what is occurring in and around the scene as well as your target. This means that users are able to use fewer cameras for the jobs that previously would require a large system.

Image Usability

We touched above on the complete array of improvements that the 4k standard brings, and this leads to a number of implications regarding the use of surveillance footage captured by these cameras. The most apparent of these is that, as the images captured on 4k IP cameras are clearer and more accurate than ever, they’re even more effective than those of traditional lower-resolution IP cameras as evidence within a legal context. Ultimately, these kinds of improvements lead to both a higher rate of arrests for perpetrators of crime, a higher rate of stolen goods being returned to their owners, and hopefully a higher rate of deterrent for would-be criminals.

Digital PTZ

With such a large area captured by a single camera, the options for digital PTZ (pan, tilt, and zoom) are vastly improved with 4k IP cameras. This refers to the ability to take an image, either live as it is being recorded, or when viewing after the fact, and using software to zoom into a particular section of the image without loss of picture quality. This allows an operator to enlarge a chosen aspect of a scene, and move around the area of zoom, without the need for motorised components within the camera itself that would traditionally be used to do this.

While digital PTZ has been around for a while, it’s never truly been able to rival physical PTZ as accomplished by motorised cameras. However, with the advent of 4k, we’re seeing the technology come closer than ever before to that of traditional PTZ, and for a much, much lower cost. What this will hopefully mean in the future is far cheaper cameras than are available commercially today, that provide the full range of utilities currently only available in more expensive models.

Monitors

It is not only the camera technology that is improving, but also the monitor technology alongside it to view the cameras on. This is being further helped by other factors, such as streaming services like Netflix, and also Blu-Ray, both now supporting 4k and meaning that it’s increasingly becoming an everyday technology. One of the best uses of these large 4k monitors is the ability to stream multiple HD cameras on the same screen. A 4k monitor will support 4 simultaneous 1080p streams in native resolution, or 8 720p streams. Long gone will be the days of a wall of monitors massively increasing the cost of large security camera systems!

What challenges does 4k bring?

Of course, with any new technology there comes new challenges to overcome, and in their talks both James Marcella of Axis and Doug Gray of Hikvision cover some of the more apparent ones that come with the developing 4k IP camera technology.

Storage

Clearly, with a greater resolution, more data is being captured by an IP camera than before, and so the storage requirements are increased. James gives some estimated average figures for a camera continuously recording at 25fps, using the typical H.264 industry standard codec, for 28 days of storage:

• 720p resolution – 342GB
• 1080p resolution – 770GB
• 4k resolution – 3TB

So, as you can see, there’s quite a jump in the 4k space requirements! Luckily there are a number of ways of combatting this. Both the cost of storage itself is lowering all the time, and compression technology is improving, meaning that more information is able to be stored. By and large the storage technology should keep up with the recording, meaning that this shouldn’t be too great a concern for someone looking at buying a system in the near future.

Bandwidth

As with storage, 4k IP cameras increase the load dramatically on the average recording system due to the sheer amount of data they transmit. We’ve written previously about the new generation of Hikvision NVRs that come with 4k support, and both Hikvision and Axis have developed their own optimised codecs, the H.264+ and ZipStream respectively, that aim to reduce bandwidth usage by up to 50%. Looking to the future, a new codec, the H.265 is being developed and is increasingly available for use, and this may provide an additional reduction in bitrate for 4k IP cameras.

As with many things, it’s a case of scalability; the higher quality the image, the more powerful the computer needs to be, the faster the network needs to run, the bigger the storage space needed, etc. You can’t have one without all of the others!

WDR and Low Light Recording

This is an interesting quirk of the technology. As you’d imagine, a 4k camera is the same physical size as your typical 3MP or 4MP camera, meaning that the internal imaging sensor is also roughly the same size. However, the pixels on that sensor are much smaller than on those of lower resolution models, due to there being so many more of them crammed into the same space.

This leads to a number of problems regarding a loss of wide dynamic range (WDR) and quality of low light recording compared with more conventional current digital security recording. Axis released a white paper in 2014 about the complexities of achieving good WDR in surveillance footage, and in many ways the problems are compounded by the increase in complexity that comes with 4k cameras.

Visual noise, caused by the different exposures in each pixel given by the amount of light in a scene, is obviously one of the major limiting factors when the number of pixels is increased substantially, and so noise reduction technology is having to be improved quickly in order to keep the images usable in low light environments.

This is something we can expect to improve over time, as the technology matures and becomes more common. Until then, the use of strong infrared (IR) LEDs greatly improves low light images captured by 4k cameras, as well as the use of more conventional night-lighting.

Where are 4k IP cameras currently being used?

The exciting thing is that 4k IP cameras have already been in use for some time, and as the technology becomes cheaper to produce we can expect to see its wide-spread adoption by both commercial and private users. At the end of his talk, Doug Gray outlined a few areas in which its currently used, and how the technology specifically has been applied by different agencies:

• Large public areas – the ability to use very wide lenses with 4k cameras, and still retain high detail on distant areas via the use of digital PTZ, has meant that they’re perfect for use in large public areas, such as city squares and sports stadiums. It’s meant that the actual number of cameras can be reduced, as a single 4k camera is able to do the job of a few lower resolution models, lowering costs generally for both public and private bodies implementing them, as well as reduced infrastructure required to get the systems running.
• National security – because of the very high level of detail that 4k IP cameras provide, as well as the host of other benefits that come under the 4k standard spoken about above, they’re perfect for use in high-risk surveillance, where detail is so vitally important. They’ve been utilised by national security agencies around the world for this very reason.
• Retail – the key use here is in loss prevention, due to the excellent abilities in these cameras for both identification and facial recognition. For stores it’s vital to be able to identify repeat offenders, and capture fine movements and detail in order to minimise stock loss.
• Video walls – as mentioned above, the use of single 4k monitors to replace large multi-screen setups is becoming increasingly common, and proves to be one of the best indirect benefits of this new technology.

Conclusion

We hope you’ve enjoyed our writeup of the excellent webinar given by Axis and Hikvision, in conjunction with Security System News. 4k technology is an exciting emerging field that’s producing a lot of very promising results, and we’re looking forward getting some of the new 4k IP cameras in the use-IP office some time in 2016 to test for ourselves, as well as expanding our current range of  4K cameras as they become more available and affordable. Watch this space in the coming months, as we’ll post regular updates on news, tech, and other 4k products that we receive in!

The post The New 4k IP Cameras – A Writeup of Axis and Hikvision’s Webinar appeared first on IP Cameras and IP CCTV.