Sen jun15

Security Managers ◆ Integrators ◆ IT Managers ◆ Installers June 2015 Issue 366

the art of

camera performance l What is the future of IP Video? l Axis S1016 Workstation Review l Sydney Trains CCTV Tender l UTS installs Genetec at CUB l Quasar UHD Bullet Review l Audio and Video for Prince Alfred l Is Your Business NBN Ready? l Scenes from SecTech Roadshow

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editorial s ec u ri ty e l e ct ro n i c s & netwo r ks j u ne 20 15 i s sue 366

The art of camera performance

S

OMETHING interesting came out of SecTech Roadshow’s HD Camera Shootout, something still photographers have known for a long time. A beautiful image is a work of art requiring the combination of deep technical comprehension and creativity.

You mightn’t think CCTV installers would be interested in blowing away backgrounds to isolate faces in a foreground or using CCTV cameras to tell stories but thoughtfully considered and within the constraints of typical lens focal lengths, that’s exactly what they are doing.

When commissioning IP cameras setup is a tap dance but there’s plenty installers can do to ensure they get useful performance without completely rebuilding an image stream. Too often, cameras are installed with no regard for the realities of optical performance and the results are image streams that fail to deliver operational benefits.

Too much backlight causes loss of colour, smokiness and purple fringing.

Too little light causes noise and loss of depth of field. Poor choice of wide angle lenses for every scene wracks images more sensibly viewed at mid focal ranges and denies investigators useful digital zoom.

Most cameras sold today are 1080p. While they’re excellent at what they do, this resolution imposes limits on their ability to dig down and re-frame a scene viewed at wide angles, to digitally zoom and crop while retaining worthwhile detail.

All you installers and system

By John Adams

At SecTech’s HD Camera Shootout we saw quite clearly that small differences in light made huge differences to camera performance. operators out there know that 25 per cent zoom at 1080p with a wide lens can melt a view into meaninglessness.

And when you’re cramped for bitrate, you’d best not touch that digital zoom at all.

Because of these pressures, being creative about CCTV camera image streams is more vital. It includes thinking hard about lens selection.

When you’re building a camera view, do so with operational parameters firmly in mind. You want your image to tell investigators or system operators the story of what is taking place in a scene. You want to show them the things they need to see and ignore those things that will distract.

If you need a face at a particular focal length, don’t use the widest setting of your varifocal, go long. When you look at a scene, look through a mental viewfinder. What’s important? What is noise? What will ruin your image, when and why?

Then there’s the physical nature of the scene itself. What is its context?

Can you show a sense of distance, of perspective, of movement through a space? Watch people. What is the best point to identify them? Is it at the top of the stairs when they raise their heads after the climb, or half-way up when they are looking down at their feet? And what aspects of the environment, a clock tower or advertising screen, might encourage them more often than not to look up?

You need to be creative but in what way? For a start, you need to develop an eye for light – an ability to relax your eyes and take in a camera view, at all times feeling for light. Seeing the

way it falls on your target area, the way it reflects from adjacent surfaces, the way it throws parts of a scene into shadow, while revealing detail elsewhere. The way it overexposes some parts of a scene, tormenting a camera with backlight, smudging texture and stealing detail.

Something else that’s vital to comprehend is the nature of colour and the way it interacts with light.

If you’re using a colour camera, you want that camera to offer the best possible rendition of colour you can. That means placing the camera sympathetically to ensure it gives you the best performance.

For instance, if you install a camera viewing a light coloured external wall that will radiate huge amounts of light at particular times of the day you’ll get over exposure and loss of image detail. Conversely, the reflectance of another wall may give a beautiful image at night.

At SecTech’s HD Camera Shootout we saw quite clearly that small differences in light made huge differences to camera performance.

We saw that face recognition demands a focal point up to 6 metres, even less at night. We saw that strong backlight impacts heavily on some cameras and that while it’s possible to manage backlight, this comes at the cost of image detail. Better to create camera views that sidestep challenges, better to make the best use of available light. Cameras can manage many difficulties but it’s better if you manage the most extreme challenges for them. zzz

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10 58

82 38 are rumours swirling around a pending announcement.

42: Integrated Flavour

18: Axis S1016 AXIS S1016 is a rugged workstation designed to handle up to 16 video channels, that’s driven by the latest iteration of Axis’ sleek Camera Station management solution.

22: HD Camera Shootout SecTech Roadshow’s HD Camera Shootout was subjective, not officially recorded for publication and we won’t be announcing a winner. But there was much to be learned from the nature of the shootout and from the performance of the cameras that participated.

28: What future for IP Video?

IT’S tough to get a handle on the future of video surveillance. Consumer AV is going in multiple directions, we have multiple compression technologies, with more on the way and open standards are giving way to proprietary solutions.

38: Sydney Trains Arriving There’s still not been a decision announced on Sydney Trains’ upgrade of its 10,000-camera CCTV system to high definition IP but it’s coming soon. The tender closed on March 14, 2014 – around 15 months ago - and there

jun 15

United Technology Solutions has integrated Genetec Security Center, AutoVu and Synergis solutions to deliver automated vehicle tracking at Carlton & United Breweries’ Yatala manufacturing facility in Queensland.

48: Quasar UHD Bullet DVTEL’s Quasar is a 4K UHD IR bullet camera with an integrated polycarbonate body and sunshield and a poly and aluminium housing.

Sporting 6 IRs, the Quasar is designed to offer strong performance in real world applications.

52: Audio Visual Presentation Audio Alarm Vision has integrated a SIP server, 180 IP-based Yealink phones, 45 Mobotix cameras and 3 RAID 6 QNAP storage centres for Prince Alfred College in Adelaide. The clever new system allows the school to use its Mobotix cameras to make phone calls.

58: Is Your Business NBN Ready?

Ongoing rollout of the national broadband network will carry 1 million alarm systems into a networked environment. Installers and monitoring stations need to plan ahead to make sure they don’t get caught out.

66: Gatwick takes off CEM Systems has provided a CEM AC2000 airport access control and security management

78 74 22

80

regulars

system, including CEM’s new emerald access terminal, to London’s Gatwick Airport.

10: news

68: Scenes from SecTech Roadshow

Latest business, product and technical news from Australia and around the world.

SecTech Roadshow travelled from Brisbane to Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth during May, with more than 1000 installers, integrators, end users and consultants taking the time to check out the latest security solutions and the HD Camera Shootout in their own state capitals.

62: monitoring Despite the tidal wave of change that will sweep the alarm monitoring industry in 2016, it’s apparent the market remains sanguine about the future, with interest in automation and cloud-based applications yet to peak.

74: Command and Control

76: editor’s choice

Honeywell has released the next generation of smart building technology, Command and Control Suite, which turns complex facility data into recommendations and easy-toimplement changes that help boost business outcomes — lowering costs, minimising risk and reducing downtime.

Security Managers ◆ Integrators ◆ IT Managers ◆ Installers June 2015 Issue 366

THE ART OF

CAMERA PERFORMANCE l What is the future of IP Video? l Axis S1016 Workstation Review l Sydney Trains CCTV Tender l UTS installs Genetec at CUB l Quasar UHD Bullet Review l Audio and Video for Prince Alfred l Is Your Business NBN Ready? l Scenes from SecTech Roadshow

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80: helpdesk Our team of electronic security experts answers your tough technical questions.

Editor John Adams Advertising Manager Monique Keatinge Customer Service Annette Mathews tel 61 2 9280 4425 annette@bridge publishing.com.au Design Tania Simanowsky e: taniasdesign@ optusnet.com.au

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Don’t miss SecTech 2015! p.12 Manny Pirrotta Appointed FLIR Head of Security ANZ, PNG p.14 Access Control Sales Remain Stable in Australia p.16

news in brief june 2015

Cliff Simons Now NUUO BDM

c o mpil e d b y j o hn adams

Cliff Simons

Kaba, Dormer in access control integration

■

KABA and Dorma Holding have agreed to a merger deal that would create a new, access control business with a turnover of $US2.1 billion, second in size to Assa Abloy.

Kaba will become a holding company that owns a 52.5 per cent stake in the new operating business called Dorma+Kaba. The Mankel and Brecht-Bergen family, which owns Dorma, will acquire a 9.1 per cent stake

in Kaba, taking the family’s interest in the merged business to 52.3 per cent, while ensuring it doesn’t have absolute control as its direct stake is 47.5 per cent.

“By merging our 2 globally established companies, we will significantly strengthen our market position,” Dorma Chairman Hans Gummert said in a statement.

“Our strategies also largely correspond with one another.”

Hikvision Continues Oceania Expansion

Michael Bates (left) and Adam Kalnin

10 se&n

n HIKVISION has continued the expansion of its team in the Oceania region with the appointment of Adam Kalnins as Regional Sales Manager – QLD, with additional appointments yet to be announced.

Kalnins has over 15 years of security systems channel sales and integration experience in QLD and NSW. Adam will work with distributors, consultants and end users to further enhance

Hikvision’s strong market position.

“Having established our head office in Sydney just over 12 months ago, we are now looking to expand our footprint with appointments in other states,” said Michel Bates, Oceania sales director for Hikvision.

“Adam will drive sales and brand profile in the Queensland market and we will soon be announcing a new appointment to be based in Melbourne.”

CLIFF Simons who has worked for Q Security Systems for more than 8 years has taken a new role as NUUO national business development manager.

QSS and NUUO created a dedicated NUUO national business development manager role to focus on NUUO security management solutions that are exclusively available from QSS throughout Australia.

This position, which commenced May 1, enables QSS to focus on mid to higher-end projects with products like NUUO Main Console, Titan and the new Crystal-Pro. “I’m excited about this opportunity given that NUUO has a solution ranging from small to high-end project requirements catering for up to 1000s of cameras and device integration,” said Simons.

NUUO, a Taiwanese based company, is well known for its ability to fast track integration into many 3rd party products and already has one of the largest list of current integrated platforms and camera brands. In his new role, Simons will be based at the QSS Port Melbourne facility but will report directly to Frank Wei (NUUO VP Regional Sales).

Having established our head office in Sydney just over 12 months ago, we are now looking to expand our footprint with appointments in other states

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news june 2015

QSS Distributing FLIR’s Day/Night HD Camera Range

Manny Pirrotta (left) and Rob Rosa

n QSS is now exclusively distributing FLIR System’s economical day/night HD IP and HD over coax optical camera range.

Manufactured by FLIR after its acquisition of North American CCTV camera manufacturer, Lorex and IP video specialist Digimerge, the range of bullet and PTZ cameras, DVRs and NVRs is branded FLIR and is backed by the full R&D support of a $US1.5 billion

12 se&n

company which offers a 3-year warranty.

According to QSS’ Rob Rosa, FLIR’s new camera range is targeted at the entry level of the Australian market, where it is wickedly competitive on features and price.

“I’m seriously excited about this new, exclusive IP camera and NVR brand, which also features FLIR cloud-enabling and which will be available through our national footprint of

QSS branches,” Rosa said.

“Our technical staff have all been trainined on FLIR IP, on top of their experience with FLIR thermal cameras, and we are thrilled with what FLIR brings to the table in its IP Visual range,” Rosa said.

“The FLIR product offering supported by QSS is a solid and stable one for 2015 and beyond.”

“FLIR is building economical products with very high feature sets backed by a company with a $US1.5 billion annual turnover,” Rosa said. “We can now go head to head with the big Chinese manufacturers and offer more features at more competitive prices in the same entry level spaces. The market will be shocked at how competitive we are.”

According to Rosa, the exclusive distribution of FLIR finalises QSS’ recent

examination of its product strategy.

FLIR Systems’ Manny Pirrotta said he was also excited by the opportunities the new agreement brings.

“We have a full range to meet market demands and will ensure that QSS has available stock on the shelves to meet those demands.” Pirrotta said.

“Our FLIR IP range has been available overseas

I’m seriously excited about this new, exclusive IP camera and NVR brand, which also features FLIR cloud enabling and which will be available through our national footprint of QSS branches

Ivy Li

for a while and is doing very well. We had been in high level discussions with a number of potential partners but were looking for a distributor with minimal product conflict in its stable.

“QSS was in the middle of a product review as part of a transitional stage between suppliers and given QSS has a true national footprint and considerable technical and service support, probably the best technical support in Australia, it made sense to come to a distribution agreement. We’re looking forward to giving the market a big surprise.”

QSS undertook a soft launch of the new FLIR IP range at SecTech Roadshow in Adelaide and Perth last month. The full FLIR range will be released at Security 2015 Expo in Melbourne.

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For all the features and to see AXIS Q6000-E in action, visit www.axis.com

Distributed by:

news march j u n e 2 021 0 51 5

Grant Logan, new Hills Ltd CEO

Ted Pretty Leaves Hills, Grant Logan New CEO n HILLS Limited has announced that the board of the company and group managing director and CEO, Edward (Ted) Pretty have reached agreement that Pretty will leave the company and Grant Logan, the current Hills chief operating officer, will be appointed CEO with immediate effect.

“Ted has led Hills through its transformation from a diversified holding company to a technology business focused on

security, AV, audio, communications and health,” said Jennifer HillLing, Hills chairman.

“The board has recently reviewed and refined the company’s strategy and committed to consolidating its existing businesses and growing, both organically and by acquisition, within Australia and New Zealand.

“After discussing the refined strategy with Ted we have agreed that this is the time for a change in executive leadership. Ted

leaves the company with a strong balance sheet, a simplified business model and the thanks of the board.”

According to Pretty, Hills is a great company with a wonderful brand and people and significant potential as a leading provider of technology solutions.

Grant Logan joined Hills 4 years ago as chief financial officer (CFO) and was appointed chief operating officer in February 2015.

Genetec 5.3 GA Ran For the First Time at SecTech in Adelaide n GENETEC Security Centre 5.3 GA VMS ran in the wild for the first time at SecTech Roadshow HD Camera Shootout at the Ridley Centre at the Adelaide Showground during May. According to Lee Shelford, Genetec 5.3 GA had never been seen before anywhere in the world, putting Adelaide at the cutting

14 se&n

edge of video surveillance technology.

“Because the system we were running was so high end, including multiple 1080p, 3MP, a 5MP and a 4K camera, SecTech’s HD Camera Shootout was a perfect test for Genetec 5.3’s new GPU off-loading feature as well,” Shelford said.

Lee Shelford of Genetec Australia

Logan has had a number of executive roles in both Australian public companies as well as global multinationals. Prior to joining Hills he held the role of chief financial officer at Corporate Express. Earlier in his career Grant has served as chief financial officer of Goodman Fielder, chief executive officer at Philips Electronics and chief financial officer at Bayer Limited.

“Given his role as COO, Grant is able to move seamlessly into the role of chief executive officer,” said Hill Ling. “On top of his operational experience, he possesses extensive and proven abilities in negotiating and completing complex financial transactions, particularly mergers and acquisitions.

“Through this experience he has built a broad array of relationships with international and domestic analysts, our key shareholders and other major business influencers that will be essential for Hills’ future success. Grant’s primary focus will be on ensuring the company generates consistent returns for shareholders.”

Logan’s remuneration details will be released shortly and his appointment will be for an initial term of 12 months. Pretty will receive a termination payment in accordance with his contract. No short or long term incentives will vest or be payable.

Federal Budget Delivers Opportunities for Installers, says Hills

David Lenz

SMALL businesses stand to receive significant tax breaks for purchases on sound and security systems up to $A20,000 as outlined in the Federal Budget handed down this week in Canberra.

Hills Head of Sales, David Lenz, welcomed the measure and said Hills would be helping its partners and installer base to take advantage of the deductions by developing concise security and sound system packages up to the value of $20,000.

“I know many of our partners and installer base will welcome the opportunity to make improvements to their own business infrastructure as well as to on-sell targeted security and AV packages to their end-users’ customer bases.

“Hills has the product range to help them do that across the security and AV spectrum and what we will do from here is make it even easier for business by developing new packages specifically to support our customers to take advantage of this new arrangement,” Lenz said.

To be eligible businesses need to have an ABN and turnover of less than $2 million dollars and the tax break will be effective immediately and run for 2 years.

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news june 2015

CSD’s New Paradox Panels Program in 60 Seconds Flat n CSD has released a new range of Paradox AU alarms based on existing Spectra and Magellan alarm panels but preloaded with defaults that suit the Australian market. The panels are also optioned for automation.

“Paradox alarm panels have always featured the latest technology and with new Australian programming they allow a working system in under 60 seconds,” said Mark Cunnington, managing director of CSD. “The main change relates to programming a basic system. Historically, Paradox panels shipped blank and installers needed to program multiple locations before commissioning. Now the panels ship fully programmed with typical Australian settings and installers simply add a pin code and central station details and the panel is done – programming in 60 seconds couldn’t be easier.”

According to Cunnington, the second key change is that AU panels will be compatible with an interactive module and cloud service (Bluetooth, Z-wave, 3G, etc). This is a

16 se&n

big deal for CSD, with a major announcement and full details coming in a couple of months.

To celebrate the launch CSD has 3 months of special promotion and training available through sales representatives or one of 8 branches nationally. The promotion includes special prices on kits and special deals for installation companies that switch to Paradox from a competing product.

“There’s also an in-branch promotion and weekly training in every branch across Australia,” said Cunnington.

Mark Cunnington

Timothy Burley, HRC Security

Alarm.com Registers $US75 Million Initial Public Offering n ALARM.COM, the home automation partner of Hills and QSS in Australia is preparing to go public, with a Form S-1 filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission relating to a proposed initial public offering of shares of its common stock on May 22.

The number of shares to be sold and the price range for the proposed offering remain unknown but the S-1 shows registration for a $US75 million IPO. Alarm. com sells interactive home security systems controlled by smart mobile applications and partners locally with QSS and Hills Ltd. The owners of the company applied to

list its common stock on NASDAQ under the ticker symbol ALRM. Alarm.com was bought out of data warehousing group MicroStrategy in 2009 by ABS Capital.

In 2012, Technology Crossover Ventures took a minority stake in the business for $136 million.

There are considerable advantages to taking a fast-growing company like Alarm.com public, from the point of view of owners. These include access to credit outside the banking system, a more powerful negotiating position with banks, a spreading of the risk of further expansion and the chance to take back some hard-won early profit.

Sylo Announces Apple Watch Winner SYLO gave away an Apple Watch at the end of SecTech Roadshow in Perth. According to Sylo’s Mark Hartmann, the future-proof nature of Apple Watch made it the perfect prize for Sylo, which considers itself the architect of integrated security solutions.

“We’re delighted to announce that the winner of Sylo’s Apple Watch was Timothy Burley of integrator, HRC Security,” said Hartmann. “This prize reflects Sylo’s own commitment to the creation of intuitive security solutions and we know Tim is going to enjoy discovering the limits of what it can do.”

p ro d u ct rev i ew

axis s1 01 6

Axis S1016 AXIS S1016 is a rugged workstation designed to handle up to 16 video channels (expands to 24 channels), that’s driven by the latest iteration of Axis’ sleek Camera Station management solution.

A

XIS has released Axis S1016, a one-box workstation designed to work with Axis cameras and Axis Camera Station to provide a capable, reliable and thoroughly tested solution for SMEs needed 16 video inputs, with the capability to expand the system to 24 inputs if required.

According to Axis’ Wai King Wong, this S1016 is not an enterprise–level solution but is designed from

18 se&n

by john adam s

the ground up to support users who want a system from a single manufacturer, with a uniform warranty, and support from a single source.

“Our S1016 workstation is tested, proven, stable and reliable,” says Wai King. “It’s been built and configured for surveillance and can do 12 frames per second on all inputs simultaneously. The processors, hard drives and video cards are different from standard, there’s a 3-year warranty, and next-day replacement of any parts and redundant hard drives.

“It’s a Dell box and includes a range of neat features including the ability to send information about key parameters including temperature and HDD function that allow issues to be dealt with quickly and before security is compromised.”

We have a steer of the Axis’ office cameras through the system – John Richardson does the driving and the underlying system is easy to manage. This latest Axis Camera Station is a nice job, I think to myself, making a mental note to undertake a separate review of it. You run an add wizard to search for new cameras and the system will find and add them to the system. It’s camera management technology,

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p ro d u ct rev i ew

axis s1 01 6

the AXIS Camera Station S9001 Desktop Terminal is available as an option. A keyboard and computer mouse are included.

While we’ll take a look at the latest Axis Camera Station software in the next issue, it’s worth running through the fundamental specifications of the S1016 VMS. There’s live view with map function, PTZ control, playback, smart search for recordings, playback of up to 64x or frame-by-frame and up to 25-camera synchronized playback.

There’s export manual and scheduled export, single images in JPEG format, video in ASF format, digital signature on exported recordings, and a standalone player. Events can be triggered by video motion detection, and there’s an active tampering alarm, AXIS cross line detection, external I/O, action button, system triggers and device event triggers.

You can go for scheduled recording, schedule per camera for continuous recording or customization of weekday and weekend recordings. Other features include an alarm manager, Microsoft Active Directory support and multiple user access levels with password protection using local or Windows domain users (Active directory).

Specifications

It’s been built and configured for surveillance to our specifications and can do 12 frame per second on all inputs simultaneously. says Richardson, as he goes through the process to demonstrate.

Making life easy for installers and end users, the pre-installed AXIS Camera Station video management software features a flexible live view layout, site maps, powerful event configuration, efficient alarm management and responsive PTZ control. System settings such as camera and storage are configured to further simplify system setup and maximize performance. There’s intuitive timeline visualization and an efficient video search enabling quick investigation and retrieval of evidence for safe and secure export.

The S1016 comes with pre-installed system software such as Windows 7, recorders are easily scalable with additional AXIS Camera Station licenses, there’s support for multiple screens and

20 se&n

In terms of raw specifications, the S1016 features an Intel i5 4570S processor running at 2.90 GHz, with RAM of 4GB (4096 MB). Onboard storage is a 3 TB, 7200rpm HDD with 64 MB cache and SATA 6Gb/s interface, RAID 1 and the graphic card is an AMD Radeon R5 A240 with 1 GB of memory.

There’s an optical disk drive, an OEM DVD RW, embedded Win7 Pro operating system, the network card is an Intel I217LM supporting up to 1Gb throughput. The system can handle resolutions up to 5 megapixels, up to 15 fps at compression level 30.

Recording is qualified for recording up to 24 video channels with a global recording rate up to 96 Mbit per second.

The unit supports all Axis network cameras and encoders including HD, standard resolution, high resolution, PTZ and thermal cameras with firmware 4.30 or later.

Axis S1016 has 6 x USB 2.0, 4 x USB 3.0, 3 x display port including 1 x VGA, 1 x Dual link and one DVI-I (maximum of 2 monitors). There’s a network connector, line-in/out connectors, Computer mouse and keyboard connectors. Operating temperature is between 5-35 degrees C. Dimensions are 360 x 175 x 417 mm (14.17 x 6.89 x 16.42 in) and weight is 8.50 kg (18.74 lb).

This unit features one-way audio streaming with AAC, G.711 and G.726 compression, while video compression is H.264 (MPEG-4 Part 10/AVC) and motion JPEG. In the S10 recorder series, other options include the AXIS S1032, rack server model for installations of up to 32 video channels and the AXIS S1048, rack server model for installations of up to 48 video channels. zzz

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s p e ci al re p o rt

sectech camera shootout

Hans with Hikvision Darkfighter

Set up in Sydney

hd Camera Shootout SecTech Roadshow’s HD Camera Shootout was subjective, not officially recorded for publication and we won’t be announcing a winner. But there was much to be learned from the nature of the shootout and from the performance of the cameras that participated.

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S

ECTECH Roadshow’s HD camera shootout represented very broadly, a potential 24-hour light cycle. This was an application test in order to see which camera performed best across a range of conditions that might be experienced on a site in a given day. One of the challenges of SecTech’s HD camera shootout was deciding whether there should be restrictions on settings, given that every setting comes with a price. High performance in static low light exacts a penalty in terms of motion blur and noise, as well as impacting on WDR performance.

Strong performance against WDR means loss of low light performance. Holding colour deep into low light usually means losing contrast and general image acuity.

Another challenge was defining what high definition was meant to be. In this case we decided it was a resolution greater than 720p. Our cameras were all IP, though I think we’d probably have shown an HD-SDI or CVI camera had it been put up. There

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was also the challenge of specification and when it came to this we decided to allow every camera manufacturer or distributor to bring whatever camera and lens was available from their product list that they thought would best handle our 24-hour light cycle.

This meant we were not going to stipulate sensor size, resolution, lens speed and focal length, compression type, shutter speed, bit rate, or any of the laundry list of digital settings that are possible with current HD cameras. Nor did we ask that all cameras meet a price point - we had a $400 camera competing with a $1700 camera. Our mixed group of cameras included some very high end units and some lower end integrated bullet cameras with internal IR (this was deactivated for our shootout).

We had a 4K camera, a 5MP camera and a flock of 1080p cameras. We had f1.4 and f1.6 lens speeds, as well as Hikvision’s new Darkeye, at f0.95. We had sensor sizes that included 1/2-inch, 1/3-inch and 1.1/8-

One of the challenges of SecTech’s HD camera shootout was deciding whether there should be restrictions on settings, given that every setting at any extreme comes with a price.

inch. Obviously, the 4K camera – it was the DVTel – has smaller photo sites on its sensor and both it and a Ness 1080p bullet had their integrated IR deactivated.

Of all these varied aspects of setup, perhaps leaving bitrate open was the most telling. Some cameras were capped at very reasonable levels, others stayed at acceptable levels throughout, while others were free to spool up to very high rates in the tens of megabits that no installer would want to hustle around a subnet and no end user would want to pay to store.

At every stage in the test, these bit rates were read out so attendees could get some sense of changing bandwidth demand.

Another variable was the demo rooms. These varied at every location in size – length, breadth and height – and this influenced the depth of field of our shootout, which was greatest in Melbourne and smallest in Perth. Ambient lighting and reflectance were other issues. Reflectance was greatest in Adelaide, while stray light made its way into the room in Perth from covered windows.

In Brisbane the demo room was painted white, in Sydney it was cloaked in black drapes with a white screen for our backlight test (this was the most demanding backlight test of the Roadshow). In Melbourne the demo took place in a huge auditorium that seated 500 or more, challenging our backlighting procedure with a shiny grey wall while offering fingertip control over comprehensive house lighting.

In Adelaide, the white painted ceiling was so low we had to cover part of the lamp on its lowest setting to get to 1.25 lux. Finally, Perth had a highly textured wall that played havoc with some of the cameras until we turned off the house down-lights.

Because of all these variations, each setup was a demo in itself and every camera needed to be refocused and tweaked a little to meet the demands of the new location. Because the test jig – including the room – was not scientifically objective, we allowed camera manufacturers to tweak their cameras in each location and we also had cameras that were removed, with other cameras added to replace them.

What never changed was the light cycle, which

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sectech camera shootout

Setting up in Melbourne

was measured in each location at Norman’s face and at the lens (the latter with great difficulty given the location of our directional truss-mounted lamps).

During the test process, movement was added to the scene in the form of a person walking and running up and down in front of the target area. The idea here was to establish what compromises all the cameras needed to make in order to perform well in low light in terms of slacker shutter speeds. Under 1.25 lux we were also able to get a clear look at which cameras showed the greatest levels of noise, which generally indicates elevation of ISO. We started out with reasonably good light – not tens of thousands of lux of daylight but decent light between 150-650 lux, depending on the nature of the house lights in the room in which we were testing the cameras. Next we turned off the house lights and wound back the directional lamp until we were at 10-12 lux, the level of very good streetlight. We then went down to 4 lux, the level you’d measure on a city street between street lights. After this we went down to around 1.25 lux, which is the lowest level the lamp went and the lowest level our light meter could usefully measure.

We then turned on our RayTec 15m IR lamp to see how the cameras would perform in IR light – we were looking for quality of contrast, the ability to identify a streetlight and to recognise a human face, as well as checking for flare. To end the low light section of the shootout, we turned out the lights completely. After this we put around 100 lux on Norman’s face from the front and bounced up to 300 lux off the back wall to show backlight performance and finally, we spun a 4500-lumen Chroma-Q lamp around to face the cameras to give us an intense contrast point that was brighter than a car headlight.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of SecTech’s HD camera shootout was the performance variations that emerged from the camera settings plugged into the cameras by their handlers. I think in one case, the

24 se&n

technical team supporting a camera – I think it was Bosch’s Starlight – left the camera in default for most of the Roadshow. The nature of the 24-hour light cycle test meant default gave this camera the most balanced performance.

But other cameras were tweaked to perform best in particular ways and this changed between cities.

Not all the cameras were all-rounders – we had a couple, including the Bosch Starlight and Hikvision’s Darkfighter, that were low light specialists. Obviously, cameras optioned for low light will not do so well faced with strong backlight but most the cameras were polished towards a mid-point by the technical teams’ desire to do well in all aspects of the demo.

By Melbourne, most the cameras were doing well in multiple areas of the test.

Something that was pointed out during each shootout was that as soon as we started heading down below 4 lux we were getting into an area where most cameras would not typically be installed without some form of support. In external applications, cameras will be installed to view scenes covered by existing lighting, or lighting will be included in the specification. But there are applications – typically in public surveillance – where it’s an advantage for cameras to be able to make do with whatever light lux they can scrounge.

For me, the area of greatest interest was between 11 and around or just under 1.25 lux (.5EV). A camera that can do well in this area is an excellent tool for external surveillance applications. Our demo showed there were a number of cameras that performed well in this space. Some cameras were notably better than others, not just in outright performance but in their ability to handle motion blur and minimise noise.

We also saw some cameras hold colour very low, while others went to monochrome around 7 lux and produced a tight black and white image. Holding colour deep into low light is a double edged sword.

It’s impressive if your camera is capable of the extra work required to manage it. But colour comes at the cost of additional noise and loss of contrast and if a camera cannot manage those elements of an image stream, woe betide you.

I think the HD camera shootout proved that it’s often better to hop to monochrome and do better with edges, contrast and reduced noise. We saw a couple of cameras do very well in monochrome down to 1.25 lux and even lower during the shootout – face recognition being excellent at up to 6 metres at the higher light level.

For me, the area of greatest interest was between 11 lux and around or just under 1.25 lux (.5EV). A camera that can do well in this area is an excellent tool for external surveillance applications.

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s p e ci al re p o rt

Something else we managed to test, accidentally in Sydney and deliberately thereafter, was the ability of cameras to offer useable images in very low light levels down towards 0.002 lux, which is generally considered to be the level of starlight on a clear and moonless night. During our test we probably got our darkest light levels in Sydney, during which attendees would agree that no camera was performing particularly well. In other applications, light was probably around .5 of a lux and some cameras managed to handle this well while others struggled with noise, motion blur and epic bit rates.

Interestingly, these bit rates varied significantly as the technical teams tweaked cameras looking for visual performance gains.

What’s important to take away here is that claims of useful low light performance under .5 lux can generally be discounted. It may be possible to set up a camera with high ISO and positively viscous shutter speed in a lab and attain static scene situational awareness, but it can’t yet be done in more organic applications. There’s always a trade-off in low light.

What you gain in contrast, you lose in blur with a slow shutter and there’s no way to avoid it. The same thing applies when it comes to ISO. The higher your ISO, the faster the shutter speed can be, so you have less blur but more noise, or one-dimensional noise reduction artifacts. And around and around it goes.

Some things that came out clearly during the shootout was that no single camera was best at everything, though a small number did well in all areas. Low light specialists are not at their best against backlight but if set up to handle it they can do well.

Less expensive cameras are generally less capable in a range of situations but it depends on what you mean by low cost. We had a couple of 700-dollar cameras that did well in multiple aspects of the shootout.

Perhaps the most important lesson from the point of view of the installers, integrators, end users

26 se&n

sectech camera shootout

Perhaps the most important lesson from the point of view of the installers, integrators, end users and consultants who attended the shootout was that objective testing does show real performance differences. and consultants who attended the shootout was that objective testing does show real performance differences. That these differences are interlocking and that variations in performance are usually bought at a price. These differences often do not translate between sites. And all other things being equal, it is possible for some high quality CCTV cameras to offer strong performance down to 1.25 lux.

Something else to consider is that many installers don’t bother much with camera setup and just bang the default camera on the wall and walk away. We all saw that quirks or missteps of camera setup were responsible for huge variations in camera performance. In some cases they turned the performance of cameras completely upside down. Getting settings right was more important to performance than lenses, sensor size, compression type and even price. Techs who don’t invest the time – and it’s a good investment – in getting their heads around the setup menus of the cameras they install, are letting themselves and their customers down.

Something we saw at the HD Camera Shootout that caused some significant grumbles was Hikvision’s Darkeye lens, a superfast f0.95 optic manufactured inhouse by the Hikvision lens division. While Darkfighter, along with a number of other cameras did well in low light, it was hard to be certain how much impact the Darkeye lens had without comparing its performance to a Darkfighter with the standard lens fitted.

There was talk that this lens cost thousands of dollars but Hikvision says the cost is $400, on top of Darkfighter camera’s price of $700. While decisions about next year are still yet to be finalised, it may be that there’s a standardised lens for the shootout.

Further, the shootout may be locked to 1080p resolution with a separate 4K test and a separate division for cameras under $200. Next year, we’ll also be stipulating things like a constant bitrate.

It goes without saying that putting all this together in a way that remains coherent from the point of view of installers and end users is likely to be challenging.

The variable nature of our test jig, the differences in locations, the necessarily intuitive ideas most attendees will have taken away from the HD Camera Shootout are likely to lead to a more structured approach next time but whether we’ll move away from an application based test is less certain. Any old camera can be tweaked to handle a single dynamic.

But as installers already know, a 24-hour light cycle is the most demanding application of all. zzz

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s p e ci al re p o rt

the future of ip

What is the future of IP Video?

IT’S tough to get a handle on the future of V video surveillance. Consumer AV is going in multiple directions, we have multiple compression technologies, with more on the way. And now open standards are giving way to proprietary solutions.

28 se&n

by john a dam s

IDEO surveillance is the nexus of a constellation of pressures that spell out a nebulous future. In every direction you look there are challenges of technology and infrastructure, as well as threats to established business models from DIY and cloud-based systems, with very affordable cameras fast pushing hardware towards ubiquity.

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s p e ci al re p o rt

Price – well, there’s nothing we can do about that. The pressure on prices will continue to pinch margins, leading to ongoing rationalisation of manufacturers and warping of business models.

The new and universal trend towards proprietary models reflects this new paradigm. Many who blame Chinese manufacturers build their own hardware in China, Regardless, price falls are normal in technology.

There’s hype at the moment about the first full HD cameras under $100 and while we’ve not tested one, something very low cost often means is average performance. This said, there are some very useable cameras that cost less than $200, so the trend is clear.

Regardless of how things are at the lower end of the market, quality gear that offers face recognition at real life distances tends to cost more.

As well as threats to traditional business models

At the moment plug and play is demanded rather than required for most small installations. PoE NVRs make up a bulk of our NVR sales in the low-end to mid space.

30 se&n

the future of ip

from telcos and Internet companies, there are a couple of other major potential influences on the market. The first is Plug and Play (PnP) solutions, which are designed to introduce installers to simple IP solutions. These systems are simple – so simple that similar systems are marketed by other manufacturers as DIY. In both these cases, such solutions are realistically 4-8 cameras in size. While that’s small potatoes, small systems represent a significant chunk of the CCTV business.

As if this wasn’t enough, product development is on the march. When it comes to technology, wherever you look there are new developments beginning to filter through in our current HD CCTV cameras – UltraHD (4K), H.265, cloud, capable IVA, plug and play (PnP) solutions, integrated thermal, the re-birth of proprietary solutions, long-range laser and IR-equipped cameras.

“I think IVA capability is a big one – it’s great technology that is underused,” says Steve Malesevic of Bosch Security. “Cloud is not quite ready yet, as the NBN is not widespread enough. I think 4K will also be mainstream in the mid-term – at the current rate of progress, perhaps it’s 18 months away. And when it comes to H.265, I think the decoding processing capability is not quite there yet.”

When it comes to significant technological trends outside the main areas of focus that might have significant impact on HD CCTV cameras over the next 5 years, Malesevic nominates Geolocaton

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s p e ci al re p o rt

Object Tracking Handoff from one (IP) camera to another adjacent camera as something for installers and end users to keep an eye on.

For Damien White, surveillance product manager at CSD, PnP and H.265 will have the biggest impact on the future.

“At the moment plug and play is demanded rather than required for most small installations,” he says.

“PoE NVRs make up a bulk of our NVR sales in the low-end to mid space. The benefit for the installer is that they need virtually no networking experience and simply need to run the cables and plug them in.

“For a large scale project, the network infrastructure and storage requirements could make up over 50 per cent of the cost of the system. H.265 has the potential to dramatically change this. The storage and network requirements could result in a huge drop in price on large-scale projects.”

What’s the most significant external trend that’s going to impact on the HD camera market over the next 5 years?

“The number 1 trend which will affect the HD CCTV market is the high quality product now being offered by Chinese manufacturers which are better known for lower price,” says White.

“These new quality HD products are now being specified where previous traditional brands were recommended. As the Chinese manufacturers grow in revenue, they will have significantly more money to invest in R&D, which will see their products introducing a lot more innovative features.”

When it comes to which new developments are going to have the greatest influence in the future, Andrew Cho, product manager at EOS Australia says simplicity is the key.

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the future of ip

In the longer term, I think codec technology will have most impact as it will open up different horizons for many solutions. With current H.264 technology, it is very limited.

“In short term, plug and play solutions will have most impact as this is what is required in day to day solutions,” he explains. “There are still many old installers who hesitate to use IP because they believe it is too complicated.

“But in the longer term, I think codec technology will have most impact as it will open up different horizons for many solutions. With current H.264 technology, it is very limited in its ability to utilize current infrastructure for cloud storage, 4K, or any other solutions. The codec must be improved in order for many such applications to be feasible. In the very long term, I think we will see expansion of the DIY and off-site recording trends.”

Considering new developments like UltraHD (4K), H.265, Cloud, capable IVA, plug and play solutions and the rest, Chris Tangsilsat, senior sales engineer at Axis Communications, has his eye firmly on workaday realities.

“I would say H.265 will have the largest short term influence due to the fact a more efficient encoding algorithm has the largest impact on system cost,” Tangsilsat explains. “The more we’re able to reduce storage requirements, the cheaper the solution becomes. Alternatively we’re able to use the same available storage to accommodate a higher camera count.

“At Axis, in addition to the improvements we’re making to image usability, we’ve also developed the ZipStream technology which was launched at ISC West in Las Vegas. ZipStream will on average provide a further 25 per cent – 90 per cent reduction on existing H.264 storage requirements. As H.264 is launched and becomes more commonly utilized in the coming years, Zipstream will also be applied to H.265 providing even further reductions.”

When it comes to long term trends, Tangsilsat thinks the market is constantly evolving and because of this, the expectations of what an HDTV CCTV IP camera is capable of have also changed over the years.

“As an example, 8 years ago our main message was centred on the advantages of IP over analogue,” Tangsilsat says. “Today, as IP surveillance and HDTV cameras become the commonly accepted standard, we now start to shift focus on image usability, ensuring that the user is able to achieve a good image in all conditions.

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s p e ci al re p o rt

“Within the next 5 years we will definitely start to see more focus placed upon on-board video analytics, changing the perception of a camera as just a box which streams video. I believe we are already starting to see this trend emerge in the form of intelligent on-board solutions, such as people counting, traffic flow management, license plate recognition and POS integration, even non-security related on-board applications which allows users to link their camera directly to a live YouTube channel.

“It’ll certainly be exciting to see how the technology will evolve over the coming years transitioning from a simple HDTV video box to an intelligent video platform.”

For Michael Bates at Hikvision, resolution is vitally important.

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the future of ip

“4K will be at the forefront of R&D moving forward, however, there will be some limiting factors that will hinder adoption, including low light performance and storage/bandwidth issues,” Bates explains. “In time, these will be overcome and 4K will be the dominant resolution, just as 1080P is today. H.265 compression will help this adoption when it is perfected and accepted by VMS manufacturers.”

If were to pick a couple of significant trends outside these areas that you think will have significant impact on HD CCTV cameras over the next 5 years, what would they be?

“Intelligent video analytics is becoming increasingly important, making CCTV less reactive and more proactive, enabling our products to become so much more than just security devices,” Bates says.

“The integration of CCTV systems to access control systems, PSIM’s and nurse call systems. CCTV and security are increasingly become components of much larger integrated systems.”

According to Bates, Hikvision has just released a Laser PTZ with a massive 500m IR range and he says this product will be a game changer for affordable, long range, perimeter protection.

For Lou Mavrelis of Hills, compression is going to be a big deal in the future.

“We expect to see greater transition to cameras utilising H.265 compression, especially with the development of UltraHD cameras,” Mavrelis explains.

“With H.265 we are expecting up to 50 per cent saving in storage resulting in greater recording times with the same amount of storage.”

When it comes to other significant trends, Mavrelis believes edge device video analytics, cloud storage and improved low light colour performance will all have an impact.

Bruce Maxwell, national marketing manager at Seadan, says it’s all about the picture.

“UltraHD (aka 4K = 12MP) is a big deal because the majority of real world video surveillance projects do not demand special technology, people are simply attempting to minimise risk – they just want to take pictures, store pictures, find pictures and show pictures.

“4K delivers improvements in picture they can see right now,” Maxwell says. “In addition, there’s a lot of consumer marketing around 4K.”

Within the next 5 years we will definitely start to see more focus placed upon on-board video analytics, changing the perception of a camera as just a box which streams video.

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s p e ci al re p o rt

Maxwell has an interesting take on significant trends of the future – in particular the risks surrounding open systems.

“I am sure more people have been proved wrong than right when they attempt to predict the future, nevertheless, while many technology commentators are extolling the promise contained in the growth of ‘The Internet of Things’, I feel that this is the antitheses of video surveillance and in fact represents an increasing threat,” Maxwell says.

“As the Internet cannot be ignored, the physical security industry must embrace the tenets of the data security industry though the design/architecture of video data networks. Let me give you an example.

Many items of security equipment have tamper alarms - cameras, detectors and control panels of all kinds. But which video surveillance system has a data tamper alarm, which alerts the operator of an unauthorised attempt to access stored or real time camera images?”

Over at QSS, Rob Rosa leans towards high resolution and PnP as being key developments.

“I feel that Ultra HD (4K) and plug and play solutions are the ones that will get some traction,” he says. “It’s interesting that everyone talks cloud and has been doing for some time and yes, eventually it will be the way forward, but back end infrastructure still needs to be robust and capable of handing the site requirements. Integrated thermal will also be great as prices continue to decrease on this technology, so there are many exciting new products and technology being released daily.

When it comes to significant trends of the future, Rosa thinks cloud and integration.

“More use of cloud-based services on security products rather than local equipment being utilised on site and home automation and how we look at smart homes, businesses and other ways to monitor, protect and respond to critical issues using smart devices in real time situations,” he says.

Compression is top of the heap right now, according to Neil Morgan, national products engineer at Ness.

“Immediately, H.265 and no doubt this compression

It’s interesting that everyone talks cloud and has been doing for some time and yes, eventually it will be the way forward, but back end infrastructure still needs to be robust and capable of handing the site (project) requirements.

36 se&n

the future of ip

engine will help HD streaming bandwidth,” says Morgan. “Then, at some time in the future, UltraHD will be the next leap forward in image quality, matching up to UHD TV’s and monitors.

“IVA is probably the next software development forward which will enrich the CCTV experience but you will need proprietary setups to fully achieve the desired result,” Morgan explains. “I hope at some stage though, developers will set up an IVA platform similar to ONVIF which makes the cameras compatible on different platforms, software or NVR-wise. This makes more sense than a full proprietary arrangement and also future-proofs system components to some degree.”

When it comes to significant trends, Morgan thinks system intelligence is the thing.

“I would like to see more intelligence within CCTV systems - analytics and a combination of technologies, virtually like chemical analysis, object detection, thermal and x-ray scanning at airports for early detection of potential terrorist activity but far less intrusive,” Morgan says.

“Given this, I believe internal software development is the next biggest potential direction for CCTV, as it does not require any new technology - just the application of what’s currently available on a different platform, which makes it cost effective. Only when we start combining technologies like this will we truly start seeing a really powerful application of CCTV.” For Sony’s Steve Charles, the future is already here.

“At Security 2015 Expo in Melbourne later this year, we are releasing our new Generation 7, 4K cameras along with our new FHD Generation 7 line up,” Charles explains. “Both incorporate the latest in Exmor R imager technology and Bionz X Processor to enhance our current line up alongside the much respected Ipela Engine processor.

“Included with our new technologies are ROI for greater bandwidth management and also ultra-low light performance. At Sony we believe the market is more attuned to greater resolution and performance than we were a few years back when FHD took over from HD.” If you were to pick a couple of significant trends outside these areas that you think will have significant impact on HD CCTV cameras over the next 5 years, what would they be?

“Sony has a number of new technologies currently under development. We cannot discuss them at this point but watch this space,” says Charles. zzz

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n ews re p o rt

sy dney trains cctv

by john a dam s

Sydney Trains Arriving There’s still not been a decision announced on Sydney Trains’ upgrade of its 10,000-camera CCTV system to high definition IP but it’s coming soon. The tender closed on March 14, 2014 – around 15 months ago - and there are rumours swirling around a pending announcement.

N

OT surprisingly, there’s a lot of interest in the Sydney Trains contract, which is likely to be worth more than $A20 million and will comprise up to 10,000 HD cameras, with local switch support, servers and video management solutions at multiple stations. The labour component alone is considerable, with some larger stations incorporating CCTV solutions of more than 100 cameras. Geographically, the system has components on the Far North Coast, the Mid North Coast, New England, the Central Coast, the Hunter

38 se&n

Valley, Cumberland/Prospect, Nepean, Northern Sydney, the Inner West, South East Sydney, South West Sydney, the Central West, Orana/Far West, the Riverina/Murray, Illawarra, and the Southern Highlands.

The contract is part of $A40 million pledged by the State Government on a Park and Travel Safety Program that was to be spent primarily on upgrading Sydney Trains’ CCTV system and improving lighting at stations and station car parks. Although the lighting component is a separate contract and is now underway, most of the money assigned to CCTV remains unspent due to a series of delays that were probably unavoidable. Historically, this complex solution has always had a fraught tender process and this one has been no different.

The original contract was valued at around $A40m but given Sydney Trains requirements for blanket HD video and additional detection technologies, including completely re-cabling for PoE, this blew out the tender cost and the original contract was withdrawn and re-released in a more limited form rumoured to be worth about $A20 million.

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sy dney trains cctv

Cabling is a key component of this huge system.

In order to avoid massive labour and cable costs it’s possible the chosen solution might wind up using the existing coaxial cable runs supported by new digital converters to handle cameras locally, with Sydney Trains fibre network handling any long haul work. In a bid to keep prices down, it’s also thought that Sydney Trains stipulated keeping as many still functional rack encoders and video recorders as they could. None of this should be seen as unusual – most surveillance solutions happily incorporate hybrid architectures and certainly most the large government systems we’ve seen in recent times retain significant legacy hardware.

The size and complexity of this solution, which will incorporate significant remote storage capacity spread over thousands of kilometres, means there are multiple stakeholders on the hardware, software and integration side who have a lot invested in a positive outcome.

The latest murmurs in the industry about this vast contract are conflicting. Some say the contract has been won and it’s simply a matter of the successful integrator agreeing on the price. Others say the

The size and complexity of this solution, which will incorporate significant remote storage capacity spread over thousands of kilometres, means there are multiple stakeholders on the hardware, software and integration side who have a lot invested in a positive outcome.

40 se&n

system’s management solution has been selected but Sydney Trains needs to go back to tender to attract an appropriate group of security integrators capable of handling the job state-wide. Still others say the hardware decisions have all been locked away, but the integration is completely up in the air.

And there’s another rumour the entire system will be put back out to tender because of changes to hardware pricing and camera technology during the long tender process. Trying to get a handle on which of these rumours is more or less true is a tough business.

Speaking broadly, the upgrade is a comprehensive expansion that will put HD video in trains, buses, light rail, ferries. There’s no doubt that in many applications – particularly those with good light – there will be significant improvements in Sydney Trains’ ability to offer face recognition to investigators. Depending on the cameras chosen, low light capability could be very good, though if price is too big a factor in the decision, or the cameras agreed on represent 2 yearold technology, there might be a need to additionally support the system with more lighting.

Speaking about the current CCTV system, Sydney Trains’ chief executive Howard Collins said last year that the CCTV solution helps to observe incidents across train lines and “catch criminals in the act”.

“So far the PTC has conducted 470 operations, handed out more than 76,000 infringements, laid more than 3,900 arrests and 7400 charges since starting on the network in May 2012,” Collins said.

RailCorp selected ADT’s Integrated Systems division to undertake $A25 million of security works on the CityRail network between 2005 and 2010. ADT Security still maintains CityRail’s CCTV solution. zzz

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cas e st u dy

Carlton & United Brewery

Integrated Flavour United Technology Solutions has integrated Genetec Security Center, AutoVu and Synergis solutions to deliver automated vehicle tracking at Carlton & United Breweries’ Yatala manufacturing facility in Queensland.

42 se&n

By John Ada m s

W

ITH a rich history dating back to 1824, Carlton & United Breweries (CUB) is part of the SABMiller group, the second largest brewer in the world, and is responsible for producing some of Australia’s most famous beers and ciders, including Victoria Bitter, Carlton Draught and Strongbow.

With an annual brewery capacity of 5.6 hectolitres, the CUB brewery in Yatala (a suburb in the South East area of Queensland, Australia) is set on 76 acres and located directly between Brisbane and the Gold Coast. Supplying most of Northern Australia, CUB Yatala grants onsite access to over 300 vehicles daily and that makes vehicle tracking a key aspect of logistics and security.

Tracking and monitoring the comings and goings of vehicles had long been labour-intensive, and mostly managed by guards and staff who would manually input data into multiple systems.

After initiating a full site review, CUB Yatala realized opportunities to improve operational efficiencies, traceability and security.

“We were looking for a more automated and formalized method of logging vehicles as they arrive and move through the site, ensuring first that they are permitted to be there,” said Kevan Morgan, project manager at CUB Yatala, who spearheaded the project.

“We wanted a system that would also enable a more efficient traffic management plan, to get vehicles in and out as quickly as possible.”

For assistance in fulfilling objectives CUB Yatala relied on design and engineering consultants from Hills Ltd, which suggested customizing unified security platform Genetec Security Center for both automatic license plate recognition (ALPR) and access control components at the gates. CUB Yatala chose technology integrators, United Technology Solutions, to implement the solution.

CUB Yatala now has a total of 5 AutoVu Sharp ALPR cameras on site; one at the front gate to capture vehicles entering the property, and another 4 cameras (2 at each exit lane) installed to capture the entire field of view as vehicles are leaving the premises.

Through Security Center, Synergis is programmed to trigger outputs within HID Global VertX controllers, which control the opening and closing of the gates. The graphical user interface (GUI) is a fully customized solution provided by Hills, according to client specifications.

With a newly customized system and graphical user interface (GUI) in place, and Security Center running on the back-end to relay ALPR and access control systems at the gates, CUB Yatala has seen huge efficiency improvements.

“The system has helped CUB to achieve a significant reduction in traffic management and operational costs,” says Morgan.

We wanted a system that would also enable a more efficient traffic management plan, to get vehicles in and out as quickly as possible.

The way the system works is that as vehicles approach the CUB Yatala gate, AutoVu Sharp cameras read the license plate which automatically triggers the GUI to populate the information associated to the license plate. This includes the transport company name, the load, the driver name, the driver’s license information, and the captured vehicle picture, among other data.

After quickly verifying that the prescheduled appointment and mandatory fields are met, the CUB Yatala security officer inputs the delivery/pickup location (DPL), and confirms entry by pressing a button which triggers an output in Synergis to open the boom gate. Vehicle entry is known as timestamp 1, or T1, and as the vehicle continues through the site, reaching each point of interest, it receives 3 additional time stamps, the last being T4 on exit.

“When our security officers would have to input information, it would take about 2-3 minutes per vehicle, and it was not uncommon for us to have 10-15 vehicles queued up,” says Morgan. “Now we average about 30 seconds per vehicle, which is a huge time saving. The process for our security officers is simplified, and very rarely do we have a backlog of vehicles waiting to come on site.”

Once the vehicle arrives at its DPL, an operator enters T2 which is when the loading or unloading begins, and then T3 when the process and paperwork has been completed. The operator then calls the security officer who validates the

se&n 43

cas e st u dy

information, and confirms the vehicle can leave the property. This validation adds the vehicle license plate to an exit-permitted database, allowing AutoVu Sharp cameras to read the plate on exit (T4) and automatically trigger Synergis to once again open the boom gate.

“AutoVu is performing at an accuracy rate of 92.7 per cent, exceeding our 90 per cent requirements.

We are very happy with these results,” says Morgan.

“The AutoVu fuzzy matching feature also ensures accurate reads by automatically correcting any potential misreads of familiar license plates.”

Internal efficiencies The most significant advantages of the new solution for CUB Yatala are being able to generate performance metrics, and accessing general information.

“The system provides us with built-in key performance indicators (KPIs), because we now have accurate data that proves how long the vehicle is on site, and what position it’s in when it is onsite, how long loading took, and what time it entered and exited the site,” says Morgan.

CUB Yatala was recently asked to provide information to a transport company which had concerns about a driver’s longer than average delivery times.

“We were able to quickly run a report to prove how long the vehicle was actually onsite, and justify that we withheld our end of the bargain, in terms of loading that truck, and getting it out in an efficient and timely manner,” explains Morgan.

While the new system has been operationally beneficial, security and safety has also improved.

CUB Yatala is now able to immediately identify

44 se&n

Carlton & United Brewery

drivers who have been banned from entering the site for any particular reason.

“By increasing our efficiency in processing vehicle pick-ups and deliveries, there are fewer trucks on site at any given time. The route signage also helps to ensure this efficiency. Drivers and transport companies are happier, and pedestrians are safer,” says Morgan.

Expanding applications After experiencing such positive results, CUB Yatala is looking at expanding the functionalities of Security Center to automate entry and exits in staff parking lots. While this is entirely a different project, CUB Yatala is confident in the unified platform’s capabilities and sees the opportunity for greater efficiencies.

“This solution installed by United Technology Solutions and engineered by Hills Limited using Genetec Security Center, has exceeded our expectations and has allowed us to provide better governance over our operations and security.

While operations have been streamlined, the return on investment is unquestionable and we plan to continue evolving the system to meet new objectives,” Morgan says. zzz

The system has helped CUB to achieve a significant reduction in traffic management and operational costs.

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The Next Generation in Security Systems

p ro d u ct rev i ew

DVTE L Quasar

Viva the resolution!

DVTEL’s Quasar is an IP66-rated 4K UHD bullet camera offering 4072 x 3076 pixels of resolution and sporting 6 integrated IRs, a combination that gives strong performance in real world applications.

48 se&n

N

o one is certain what a Quasar is. These vast intergalactic objects throw out huge amounts of energy, including light. They appear to be stupendous stars in some images, yet possess some of the gluttonous characteristics of light-absorbing black holes. Their dichotomous nature shares kinship with DVTEL’s Quasar UHD bullet camera, which features a light-hungry 1/1.7inch CMOS sensor and 6 powerful IRs, giving an effective range of 40m in zero lux.

Having spent a week with DVTEL’S Quasar 4K camera during the SecTech Roadshow HD Camera Shootout, I had a reasonable sense of the cameras strengths and weaknesses. Or so I thought. Our compact SecTech test jig featured a depth of field that never exceeded 6 metres and it wasn’t until I set Quasar up outside the SEN office and sat down at my workstation that this camera truly revealed itself.

By John Ada m s

Camera specifications Before we get stuck in, let’s rush through some fundamentals of Quasar. The big thing is 4K resolution – that’s 4072 x 3076 pixels. At SecTech’s HD Camera Shootout we really didn’t get to see exactly what 4K means, but more on that later. Held in the hand, this Taiwan-built camera has good feel and a weight of just under 1kg. The sun shroud and snout of the camera are poly and feel well-made.

The rear part of the camera body is aluminium and acts as a heat sink.

Quasar is a unit – it has an integrated mount with a set of flying leads emerging from a single cable shield.

The mount is all metal and all the terminations, which measure about 40cm, are nicely done. The unit has a front window behind which are located the LEDs and the recessed lens, which in this case is a 9-22mm varifocal giving a field of view between 45 and 18 degrees. The lens is quick at f1.4 and at least the first element is coated against flare and ghosting.

The back-side illuminated, progressive scan CMOS sensor is chubby at 1/1.7-inch (7.6 x 5.7mm) and gives a strong resolution of 4072 x 3076 pixels.

BSI sensors employ specific imaging elements designed to improve the light captured by their sensors and enhance low light performance. That’s especially important with 4K, which sees many photo sites packed onto a single sensor. DVTEL claims low light sensitivities well under 1 lux for colour and monochrome but I tested Quasar with the IR illuminator on.

The lens is motorized and has auto-focus, autoiris/p-Iris, D/N cut filter, automatic electronic shutter (AES) 1.0 to 1 / 10,000 (auto) with digital slow shutter (DSS) 1/1 to 1/25 or 1/30 with up to 32x sensitivity boost in color or night mode. There’s white balance, automatic gain control, auto back light compensation, compression on/off, iris control, P-iris, wide dynamic range (WDR) On/Off and 3 levels, noise reduction 2D/3D/colour, tamper detection on/ off and schedule, 5 privacy zones, VMD, and smart day/night mode. Signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is solid at ±50 dB. Video compression is fully compliant multistream H.264 main/high/SVC/baseline profile + MJPEG (FHD). Maximum performance is H.264 30/25 FPS @ 4K or you can go for H.264 15/12 FPS @ 4K + 1080p + 720p + D1 (NTSC/PAL). Resolution range is scalable from CIF to UHD but I stayed at full resolution throughout. Bandwidth is configurable between 64Kbps and 20Mbps, which gives plenty of room to move. We noticed at SecTech that Quasar controlled bandwidth exceedingly well at full frame and full resolution, outperforming most 1080p cameras in our tests. It did just as well for me.

Other features include microSDXC up to 128GB (Class 10), bi-directional audio (line in and line out with G.711, G.726 audio connections terminal block already installed). The IR illumination system comprises 6 SMD 850nm LEDs offering IR range of

Wide angle top, mid zoom bottom

40m with a useful beam angle of 60 degrees – perfect for a lens with a 45-degree field of view – I was always in the IR sweet spot.

As usual, I’m testing this camera on SEN’s Dell 9020 server workstation, which hustles an Intel i7-4770 3.4GHz quad-core processor (8 threads per core), with 8GB of RAM. The 9020 has an AMD Radeon R7 250 graphics card with 2GB of RAM – it’s not a sky rocket but that’s loads for a small group of cameras.

Camera power and data are handled by a dedicated Netgear GS108P ProSafe 8-port Gigabit switch with all the components living on a dedicated subnet with no additional tasks assigned to switch or workstation.

Having spent a week with DVTEL’S Quasar 4K camera during the SecTech Roadshow HD Camera Shootout, I had a reasonable sense of the cameras strengths and weaknesses.

Or so I thought. se&n 49

p ro d u ct rev i ew

Test driving Quasar The last few cameras we’ve tested I’ve driven through ONSSI Ocularis but I’m driving the Quasar through the camera browser as it’s not integrated with Ocularis just yet. While camera browsers are not the composite management solutions you enjoy with a quality VMS like Ocularis, Quasar’s browser is actually pretty good for the tasks I’m undertaking.

My only gripe is that there’s a little latency in the controls and it’s easy to go a step too far with focus.

With a properly integrated VMS platform – DVTEL DVMS, for instance, things would be more seamless.

The first thing I do is muck around with settings.

It’s 5.30pm in winter so things are getting towards dark. I don’t change much – I lift sharpness, colour and hue 5 per cent and turn noise reduction on and leave WDR at default. Post SecTech Roadshow I can’t help feeling a strong tendency towards balance in camera settings. Unless someone is going to tweak settings as the light levels fall each day, you installers and end users are going to want a capable mid-point.

Of course, that doesn’t mean default. You really need to live with a camera to learn how to get the best out of it.

I start testing out the back and measure only about 12 lux at the lens before pointing the camera down the hill towards Elizabeth St. The moment I go to full screen – bang - an eye-whack of 4K from the Quasar. Resolution is spectacular. Something to note here is that I’m using the 9-22mm lens (there’s

50 se&n

DVTE L Quasar

Norman at 12m with zoom (top). At 8m and wide angle bottom.

a 3-8mm wide angle option), which is a longer than usual focal length. I find that for my jumbled district scenes with narrow streets and lanes, 9-22mm is a nice range - it doesn’t spread the pixels out too far, allowing super sweet zooming.

The office buildings on Elizabeth St (250m away) look pretty good at 9mm but when I wind the tele into 22mm I’m getting the best view into those offices I’ve ever had. The foreground is gloomy but the detail, even where light is low, is sensational.

In that sentence lies the unspoken pay-off. High resolution means smaller photo sites, which means low light performance is not as strong as you’d get with a ½-inch sensor built to deliver 1080p. As we’ll see, however, things are different in this test when compared to SecTech’s HD Camera Shootout, because today Quasar has its integrated IR on.

Before light levels drop any further, I swing Quasar around to view the city. The camera is staying in colour. Detail is good, though I can perceive some noise in this scene which suggests ISO is now elevated. When I zoom from 9mm to 22mm the scene tightens dramatically. It’s still colour, there’s the faintest haze of noise, but the image remains taut. I’m focused on the distant towers and the level of detail through the scene is exemplary.

Something I notice very early is a lack of barrel distortion. That’s partly because this is a longer focal length lens but even at the widest viewing angle of 9mm (45 degrees), curvature of vertical lines at scene edges is very well controlled. Something else that’s well controlled too, is blooming. The streetlights in the lane remain comparatively tight, suggesting shutter speed is high enough to avoid excessive motion blur.

At about 9pm when conditions are as dark as they will get (1 lux at the lens, 1-4 lux in the lane) I take some more shots out the back. Performance is good under IR. I think DVTEL’s claim of 40m is pretty accurate and the IR spread produces no vignetting – a 60-degree light spread works well with a 45-degree optical angle of view. But it’s zooming in that really has Quasar kicking up its heels. As I start to reel the scene in, all sorts of fine details I’ve never seen before become apparent.

There’s a little processing shimmer in the scene but detail is outstanding. I’m getting nail heads in roofing iron and scraps of paper on the ground, strands of straw poking up from the backyard of the share house 2 doors up, grain in the walls around me.

At full screen and half zoom I can read ‘No Stopping’

Unless someone is going to tweak settings as the light levels fall each day, you installers and end users are going to want a capable mid-point.

on a tiny red sign at 20 metres. IR hates red, so that’s impressive. Barrel distortion is non-existent at this focal length and there’s no pin cushion distortion, either. When I go in all the way to 22mm the image shifts towards sepia and I gain a little noise and softness but there’s still loads of detail.

The same applies when I aim the camera up towards the furthest brick wall. A very tight scene at 15-16mm will get a little swimmy at full zoom in low light. In part I suspect it’s because I’m zooming out of the meat of the IR range and into the gloom beyond.

Down the lane is darker still and you can see the IR function better here, bouncing off the white painted house-backs and distant tree branches.

Next I go out the front. It’s 4 lux at the lens out here and I trundle Norman up the street on a trolley to give us a familiar target. Because the integrated IR is not laterally offset from Norman’s shin-height license plate strip, I get flare but I also get face recognition at 8m. The level of detail in the rest of the scene is profound. On screen you can see details in distant wrought iron rails, ripples and tears in the paperbark trunk, bare branches and twigs in the distance. Now I take Norman back to 12m and while I lose face recognition, I gain the license plates.

The next port of call is 16m – half way across the Yaffa building, and my movement activates a couple of 100-watt fluoro flood lamps at its entrance. They put around 25 lux on Norman’s face but it makes a huge difference to the light level in the scene, which is instructive. And look at the depth of the scene. It’s a piece of work. I can read the Albion Lane street sign at 40 metres and Albion St at 70m. As soon as the floodlights go off, the scene is much more challenging with only 2 lux at Norman’s face but there’s still a high level of detail.

Next day at around 12.30pm I take a series of shots out back in 75,000 lux with the sun to the right and above the camera. It’s horribly glary out here with the sort of thin cloud that diffuses bright light but does not significantly reduce it. In the wide angle view I can see the profound level of detail from front to rear in this scene. It’s an excellent image that suffers very little from barrel distortion.

Something I notice is that when the Quasar is

Lane view - wide angle top, mid zoom bottom.

WDR performance

really pushed by backlight, colours get muted.

Important to point out is that this is common in any CCTV camera being blind-sided with 75,000 lux or more. There’s also some chromatic aberration in the form of purple fringing to be seen in high contrast areas, along the powerlines and around the edges of buildings and antenna. While this softens a scene, overall there’s more detail in this image than in any other camera we’ve tested.

Next, I swing the camera back down the lane away from the sun. I’m looking at a wide angle view here and I can see some barrel distortion on the buildings on either side and purple fringing on the building to the right. Overall, there’s loads of detail in this scene, though at depth the images have a smoky rebuilt look to them. Next, I swing the camera a little more and pull in the zoom to view roof tops, chimney pots and trees and the whole colour balance changes.

Without the sun provoking WDR, colour and texture come alive and fine detail sprouts from every surface.

This is still a deceptively deep scene. The roofline in the mid-ground is at about 30m, the trees another 15m beyond. There’s fine detail everywhere, colour rendition is good and sharpness and general acuity are quite high through a wide focal point, which is beaut given the quick f1.4 aperture. Zoomed in all the way, you can again see some softness but it may be a shallow depth of field engendered by the longer focal length and very small f number.

Spills to page 76 se&n 51

cas e st u dy

p rince alfred college

Audio Visual Presentation Audio Alarm Vision has integrated a SIP server, 180 IP-based Yealink phones, 45 Mobotix cameras and 3 RAID 6 QNAP storage centres for Prince Alfred College in Adelaide. The clever new system allows the school to use its Mobotix cameras to make phone calls.

52 se&n

I

s it a camera or is it a phone? Technically, it could be both. Since the advent of the Mobotix door station, a Mobotix camera can make calls and send footage to an IP video phone. Dave Richards, managing director of Audio Alarm Vision, unlocked this untapped potential during his companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s upgrade of the CCTV surveillance system at Prince Alfred College in Adelaide, Australia.

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VIDEO SURVEILLANCE

cas e st u dy

Established in 1869 and one of Australia’s most prestigious private boys’ schools, Prince Alfred College sees over 1200 pupils come through its doors, both day students and boarders. Supporting daily operations the school had an analogue CCTV system which was notorious for being unreliable and frustrating to use.

“The only way to be sure of successfully retrieving footage of an incident would be to have the cameras monitored live 24/7,” Richards explains.

As he explored options to update the system, Mobotix IP technology seemed the best fit. The decentralised concept, with the high quality images being processed and compressed in the camera itself, combined with intelligent event-driven recording, means that neither the existing network, nor the storage facilities, are overburdened.

Combined with maximum coverage for fewer cameras, this made it the ideal solution for a large site of this nature.

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p rince alfred college

The quality of footage is astounding, and because it’s best in class in terms of storage and cameras, the system is finally reliable.

Exploiting SIP technology Richards worked closely with Chris Downing, Prince Alfred College’s systems engineer, to design the integration, It was decided that rather than replace the entire system, Mobotix cameras would be installed in new locations, as well as replacing any existing defunct analogue cameras.

Downing and Richards were particularly intrigued by the cameras’ built-in SIP server, having seen the Mobotix T24 (now superseded by the T25) door station connect to a Grandstream video phone. Using the SIP protocol, thanks to a functionality written into all current Mobotix camera firmware, any Mobotix camera can communicate with a phone directly over the internal PBX, or externally via VoIP. Richards became determined to reconfigure a camera to make a phone call.

“A late night at home experimenting with 3cx VoIP phone software, with the help a few glasses of wine, I managed to get a Mobotix camera to call

cas e st u dy

p rince alfred college

The only way to be sure of successfully retrieving footage of an incident would be to have the cameras monitored live 24/7.

one of the phones at the school,” Richards explains.

“When I told Chris Downing he nearly fell off his chair!”

With this breakthrough, Richards was able to convince St Alfred’s College to combine the update to the CCTV surveillance system with a rollout of new communication equipment. A SIP server was installed onsite, along with 180 IP-based Yealink phones, 45 Mobotix cameras and 3 RAID 6 QNAP storage centre.

The cameras were integrated into the PBX using 3cx software and configured with MxCC, in a fully customised setup. Authorised members of staff can dial into any camera, as each one has been allocated its own phone number. They can then view live footage on the 7-inch HD touch screen, which also offers rudimentary PTZ functions and an intercom.

Further capabilities to view and search recordings are available to authorised staff on dedicated PCs. However, retrieval and downloading of specific footage is strictly limited to security personnel, who perform this function on request and only release recordings when deemed appropriate. This implementation not only maximises the security around accessing recordings and surveillance, but

Early evening

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it has also resulted a highly efficient, effective and reliable operation, with 4 times as many cameras and no increase in staff at all.

“Now the security officers have even more time to complete other tasks relating to their job, with surveillance taking up a much smaller proportion of their shift,” Richards says.

“The quality of footage is astounding, and because it’s best in class in terms of storage and cameras, the system is finally reliable,” Downing adds.

As Mobotix technology is further enhanced and developed, concurrently with the continuous advances in communication, the possibilities expand in terms of what can be achieved. Indeed, this particular project shows a paradigm shift in thinking around surveillance and communication technology in general, something we are likely to see much more of in the future.

Both Richards and Downing feel they have only scratched the surface in this area and have plans to add further functionality, such as using the cameras in evacuation procedures to play sounds and evaluating post-evacuation footage for analysis afterwards; or to alert staff of an event via phone and then display the footage live, where a verbose SIP header can provide additional information.

Although this last feature covers the same ground as alarm notifications built into the MxControlCentre, it nevertheless demonstrates the considerable possibilities of exploiting SIP technology in the cameras. The integration of phone and communication systems is set to continue evolving, allowing integrators to offer more effective customised solutions. zzz Night

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From Tyco Security Products

s p e ci al re p o rt

the nbn

by tom sy k es

Is Your Business NBN Ready?

Ongoing rollout of the national broadband network will carry 1 million alarm systems into a networked environment. Installers and monitoring stations need to plan ahead to make sure they donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t get caught out.

B

Y February 2015, the NBN was available in around 3 quarters of a million premises across the country and was being rolled out at twice the rate of the previous 12-month period. Similar increases in the pace of the rollout are expected this year and next.

2014 also saw the beginning of copper line disconnection and disruption to existing telephone and ADSL services, prompting concern from some businesses. For example, as the NBN roll out continues and more disconnections take place,

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around one million back-to-base monitored alarms will require an upgrade to operate in an NBN world.

Despite the widespread publicity, there is a surprising lack of awareness and plenty of confusion within households and businesses about the NBN cutover. According to research by service provider iiNet, around 2 thirds of Australians think switching from copper to NBN is optional, while 62 per cent believe their copper landline will remain connected even if they donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t switch to the NBN. The ramifications for the security, health and aged care industries are clear. As the switch-off progresses, security companies can expect to be inundated with phone calls from end users who will find their back to base security alarms suddenly not working or homes and businesses reporting operating issues with their alarm systems. Monitored medical alarms will need to be replaced with next generation devices that can work in the new NBN fibre era.

This presents businesses with opportunities but how do you capitalise on it? Taking security alarms as a case study, communication is a critical factor in making customer migration seamless. The

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s p e ci al re p o rt

the nbn

Checklist for your NBN readiness plan: l Determine an optimum migration path based on known technical facts. l Will you migrate using PSTN or other technology such as wireless? Some segments such as commercial customers may be moved directly to cellular/IP. l Reassure your end users that their alarm will work. l Proactively communicate and don’t wait for them to ask. l NBN Co can offer you access to the switchover Disconnection Address Database. Email legacyservices@nbnco.com.au to request access to the disconnection address database. l This database lists all addresses which are scheduled for disconnection as well as the planned date. l You can compare this to your own database of customers to identify which ones you need to contact.

As the switch-off progresses, security companies can expect to be inundated with phone calls from end users who will find their back to base security alarms suddenly not working. different parties involved in an alarm installation – alarm installers, alarm companies, NBN Co, service providers and the alarm manufacturers – must work together to minimise the risk of operating problems.

This might sound like it is not for your business, but with more than one million homes and businesses across Australia now supported by the NBN, it is worth your while making it yours. In the security industry, alarm installers and alarm companies are well placed to take advantage of the opportunity presented by this situation. They have a direct relationship with the end user, knowledge of physical alarm locations and forewarning of the imminent changes.

NBN Co, telephone and internet service providers can’t move on this space yet. Usually, they don’t even know the equipment exists. This is a customer engagement opportunity too good to miss. To assist, Hills has developed an NBN Ready training program to help security companies communicate with end users early to ensure customers don’t reach the copper disconnection stage without their service being migrated.

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l Send customers a targeted letter or call them to start the conversation about moving to the NBN. l Simple advice is better – don’t overload end users with specifics in the first contact; just ask them to contact you so you can provide tailored advice. l You can do simple things like updating your website with a clear position on NBN compatibility.

Make sure you publish a clear call to action for your customers – e.g. “when the NBN is coming to your area, give us a call to discuss moving your alarm onto the NBN”. l NBN Co. has put together a package of assets, able to be adapted to your business to help keep your customers informed about what needs to be done to migrate their security alarm to a phone service provided by the NBN. Fact sheets on disconnection and migration, template letters for end users and frequently asked questions for call centre staff are some of the tools available to assist customer communications. l Most companies have several existing inbound and outbound channels who deal with end users.

Make sure those who deal with end users have consistent information. l Have your team ready to answer commonly asked questions such as: 1. Will my device work on the NBN? 2. If it won’t, do you have a model that does?

3. What service providers over the NBN will best support my device? zzz *Tom Sykes is head of sales & operations, Hills Health Solutions at Hills Ltd.

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Calm before the storm Despite the tidal wave of change that will sweep the alarm monitoring industry in 2016, it’s apparent the market remains sanguine about the future, with interest in automation and cloud-based applications yet to peak.

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I

N 2016 we’ll lose 2G and PSTN, changes that will pitch-pole the alarm monitoring industry into a strange new place without the parachute of rebates, a place beset by monsters. These monsters won’t be the sea dragons of cartography but the gatekeepers of a digital world and combating them is going to demand a focus on what customers want.

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as well as pinching the possibilities.

There have also been delays from big players, with Telstra’s rollout of its new alarm monitoring service said to have been put back by the need to train an adequate number of technicians.

There’s no word on Telstra’s pricing yet, nor on how far into automation and video the big Aussie Telco’s chosen solution is likely to go but once Telstra’s people get out and start churning, we’re likely to see some fireworks in the market. Telstra has a turbulent history of competing with its wholesaler providers and just how this is going to impact on the overall market remains to be seen.

Something we’re certain to see is the evolution of alliances between hardware providers and back-end providers. That’s visible now with DSC, Go!Control and Alarm.com, all of which had a strong presence at SecTech Roadshow in May. But things are not going to stay as they are for long.

We’ll see other key players taking up powerful positions.

CSD’s plans are in this area have not yet been revealed but those plans are likely to be thoughtfully considered and technically adept and they’ll muster the support of a loyal customer base.

Bosch too, is developing considerable automation capability that will demand an appropriate delivery mechanism, while Risco is already well established, having pioneered the space.

It’s a time of opportunity at multiple levels. From the point of view of alarm panel makers, this means sales.

Some alarm systems can’t handle automation, some don’t integrate with the best supported remote management applications. And therein lies a particular challenge for installers, manufacturers and distributors. Each needs to map out a route to market, an ecosystem that will support their solutions and their customers. The nature of the issue is such that it almost suggests proprietary solutions as the state of perfection.

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We’ll see swirling allegiances, realignments and the formation of alliances. Some companies aren’t going to want to sell the products of bitter competitors.

Trying to make a selection of hardware and backend is likely to be fraught for many companies but it’s something they’ll have to take on over the next 18 months. We’ll see swirling allegiances, realignments and the formation of unlikely alliances. Some companies aren’t going to want to sell the products of bitter competitors.

I think something that’s apparent among installers is unease. Some

installers seem cynical about the changes, perhaps feeling they’re being led by the nose by great powers beyond their control. To some extent, those feelings are accurate. There are huge changes coming and while many installers recognise the need for change, some fail to see how profound the changes must be.

The old model is not going to exist much longer. Installation businesses must look at the products they support, the services their customers require, at the sales hooks they believe in, at the dependability of their comms and mobile applications. They must consider the needs of the deep future.

Taking these and other factors into consideration they need to select hardware and a backend that will service their businesses as well as supporting their client’s operational requirements. For many installation businesses and monitoring providers, this process is not going to be easy. zzz

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Visit www.interlogix.com.au/innovation for more information.

Interlogix is part of UTC Building & Industrial Systems, a leading provider of intelligent building technologies that make the world a better place to live. Š 2015 United Technologies Corporation, Inc. All rights reserved.

cas e st u dy gatwick airp ort

Gatwick takes off CEM Systems has provided a CEM AC2000 airport access control and security management system, including CEM’s new emerald access terminal, to London’s Gatwick Airport.

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EM Systems, part Tyco Security Products, has assisted London’s Gatwick Airport undertake a major upgrade of its AC2000 access control and security management system. The project was phased throughout 2014 and involved an upgrade of AC2000 Airport software, as well as the upgrade of more than 700 card readers throughout the airport terminals to support PicoPass smart card technology.

CEM’s intelligent access terminal, emerald, has also been installed at Gatwick Airport, providing a modern, innovative solution that goes beyond access control. London’s Gatwick is the UK’s second largest airport, serving around 200 destinations in 90 countries, with more than 38 million passengers a year.

“Over the last year we have worked with CEM Systems to seamlessly upgrade our existing AC2000 security system, which has proven to be highly reliable and powerful,” said David Rees, business system manager for operations at Gatwick.

“As a large system with more than 80,000 card holders and due to the critical nature of the airport

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environment, we needed a phased upgrade that ensured zero system downtime. CEM’s support was second to none with the AC2000 Airport software upgrade performed remotely and quickly”.

CEM is also pleased with the outcome of the upgrade.

“CEM Systems has been working in partnership with Gatwick Airport for more than 25 years, during which AC2000 security management system has been continually upgraded and customized to meet Gatwick’s unique aviation requirements,” said Philip Verner, regional sales director, EMEA, for CEM Systems.

“This recent upgrade was a significant project that required all existing CEM S610e card readers to be upgraded to support highly secure PicoPass smart card technology. We are also delighted that our new CEM emerald IP access terminals have been installed to enhance operations at Gatwick Airport’s arrival gates and to act as an information point for ID staff and flight agents”.

The first of its kind in the industry, emerald is a touch screen reader, door controller, VoIP Intercom and system terminal all in a single box. The innovative touch screen LCD greets cardholders by illuminating as they approach and provides a user friendly security experience. As an intelligent multifunctional IP access terminal, emerald provides London Gatwick Airport with more than access control at the door. Airport security can use remote apps on the terminal to update personnel records, perform reader maintenance and display airport adverts and messages.

Gatwick Airport is also using the unique emerald flight arrivals door mode, which enables flight arrival gates in both the North and South Terminal to intelligently route domestic and international passengers accordingly. Upon a valid card swipe, flight agents intuitively select a predefined flight carrier number on the emerald terminal. CEM emerald then interlocks the appropriate doors to allow international passengers to be routed to passport and border controls, with domestic passengers simply routed to baggage collection. zzz

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s pe ci a l re p o rt s e cte c h 20 15

SECTECH ROADSHOW SecTech Roadshow 2015, featuring an HD Camera Shootout and home automation sessions, drove around Australia in May with roadies including Bosch, CSD, Hills, Canon, Panasonic, Q Security Systems, Sylo, Ness, HID, LSC, Geutebruck, Mobotix, Tyco Security Systems and Axis Communications.

S

ECTECH Roadshow, a joint partnership between Security Electronics and Networks Magazine and CX Roadshow, hosted an inaugural nationwide tour that brought the latest and greatest electronic security products from the best manufacturers and distributors in the world to the capital cities of 5 Aussie states.

The event was a success, with more than 1000 installers, integrators, end users and consultants taking a look at the best gear in the industry and checking out the HD Camera Shootout, which challenged all comers to do their best across a 24-hour light cycle. The ideas

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behind SecTech, including a relaxed local environment reflecting the electronic security industry’s camaraderie and technical curiosity, were proved during SecTech.

According to organiser, Monique Keatinge, in 2016 it’s likely SecTech will be expanded slightly to include additional demonstrations but the event will remain compact and will retain its intrinsic technical focus.

“We’d like to take this opportunity to thank the roadies who travelled with us, as well as all the installers, consultants and end users who took time out to visit SecTech,” Keatinge said. zzz

SYDNEY

sp ecial rep ort sectech 201 5

After kicking off in Brisbane, SecTech warmed up in Sydney, with a good crowd taking the opportunity to see the latest gear and do some networking.

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s pe ci a l re p o rt s e cte c h 20 15

Everyone had a great day in Melbourne, with plenty to see and a growing heap of prizes.

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melbourne

s pe ci a l re p o rt s e cte c h 20 15

Adelaide built up to a crescendo in the late afternoon.

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adelaide

perth

sp ecial rep ort sectech 201 5

Perth was another excellent day, with great support from locals providing real atmosphere.

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n ew p ro d u ct command and control suite

Command and Control Honeywell has released the next generation of smart building technology, Command and Control Suite, which turns complex facility data into recommendations and easy-to-implement changes that help boost business outcomes — lowering costs, minimising risk and reducing downtime.

B

Y combining intelligent automation, advanced analytics and visualisation with the simplified user experience of the latest home and mobile electronics, Command and Control Suite links building automation and the enterprise.

This solution can provide an holistic view of a connected building’s video feeds, access control and fire alarms, for example, and pull in relevant information from human resource applications.

Integrating data from these disparate systems could help security personnel track occupants and make sure they exit the facility in the event of an evacuation, improving employee safety.

Investing in this type of smart building technology typically pays for itself within 1-2 years by delivering operational efficiencies as well as energy savings, according to a recent report by Jones Lang LaSalle, a financial and professional services firm.

“The building data currently collected in modern facilities presents a vast opportunity to reduce operations and maintenance costs,” said Benjamin Freas, senior research analyst, Navigant Research.

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“However, difficulties in integrating data from separate building automation systems have encumbered realising this potential. The usability of facility technologies has been a persistent challenge as well. To date, success in system performance has largely been dependent on the skill and experience of operators.”

All components of the Command and Control Suite were built with the intuitive, consumer-friendly simplicity of tablets and smartphones, making the technology accessible to both a facility manager and chief operating officer. Because virtually anyone can understand and act on the insights the command suite provides, companies can improve business continuity and efficiency, and get a higher return on investment. A refined user experience helps reduce operator training and related expenses as well.

Honeywell Command Wall, the core of the suite, features map-based visualisation and navigation, along with integrated workflows and system-wide integration from a single, intuitive touch screen interface. The Command Wall presents data from multiple systems across a facility, such as utility meters and temperature sensors, while providing context for more informed decision-making.

Using progressive disclosure, users can access an enterprise-wide view and also easily zoom into specific areas to quickly understand and react to issues and opportunities as they arise.

“A building’s intelligence is largely influenced by those who operate it and can make the changes necessary to improve performance,” said John Rajchert, president of Honeywell Building Solutions.

“So enhancing the user experience is imperative.

Like today’s ubiquitous tablet and mobile devices, Command Wall makes connecting with information and others fast and simple. It allows organisations to extract the most value from their technology investment.”

A supplement to Command Wall is Incident Workflow, which guides users step by step through scripted responses to security incidents and other emergencies, helping further reduce risk and improving accuracy in mitigating issues. In addition, the system’s enterprise dashboards extend the suite’s real-time visualisation by presenting detailed energy data and actionable guidance to help control consumption and boost efficiency.

Command and Control Suite technologies integrate with Honeywell’s flagship building management platform, Enterprise Buildings Integrator (EBI), which helps facilitate the integration of security, comfort, life safety and energy systems, among other functions. EBI gives users a single point of access and consistent view to information and resources that enhance the ability to monitor, manage and protect a facility, campus or multisite operation. The Command Wall with Incident Workflow and Enterprise Dashboards will be available in the second quarter of 2015. zzz

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p ro d u ct rev i ew

DVTE L Quasar sense of how Quasar handles that variable in more typical applications. Next, I wheel Norman out to 12m and again, look at that image from the Quasar.

I think 9mm is perfect for a streetscape this size.

The detail is painted deep into the scene, giving me a dimensional sense.

Next, I take Norman out to 20m. He’s standing outside Ruby House which is why he’s looking so uncomfortable. We are getting face recognition with digital zoom at this focal length. We are getting his license plate. From the letter C on Norman’s chest down, we have delineation of blacks and whites. In the far right of this scene on the unit block wall there’s some over exposure starting to mist detail but generally speaking, this is a super image. Finally, I reel the lens all the way in to full tele. Norman’s expression of unease is clear to see now but we have excellent detail and great colour everywhere.

DVTEL Quasar is a good camera - much better than the sum of its parts. That huge resolution is so useful on the street. You actually can zoom in with 4K – it’s not adventures in artifacts as it is with 1080p. There really is no substitute for pixels.

Quasar is not the best low light camera I’ve seen.

Nor is it the best WDR camera I’ve seen (though apparently DVTEL has an excellent WDR camera in its lineup). However, allied with a capable integrated IR system, Quasar makes the most of its assets. zzz

From page 51

dvtel Quasar Next, I swing Quasar down into the lane and you can really see in the images what UHD means. It’s really, bloody good. Lashings of detail throughout, from the leaves on Fred’s pot plant over the fence, to the license plate on the neighbour’s Aurion, the texture of bricks and the creases in garage doors.

It’s good work. This scene is at 75,000 lux, with the camera looking under the sun. The complete lack of ghosting and flare at all times is a credit. I think I see some colour shift towards green in the top half of the building centre left. Winding in the mouse wheel half way and you really see the power of 4K. This is a smoking image. The far brick wall is at about 40 metres and I can almost make out the shape of every brick in full screen on my workstation.

Back in the office I check out WDR performance looking out the back door into the sun. I had thought to put Norman in this scene but it’s really not necessary. With WDR set to mid, Quasar is looking out the door and getting detail in the courtyard.

There’s blooming in the kitchen and in the foreground I think colours are slightly and typically muted in the presence of backlight but overall, detail is extremely good.

Now I head out the front into daylight shade – it’s about 5000 lux out here below the towers – you can really see how well Quasar does in public surveillance. I put the camera at 9mm and viva the resolution! This scene is backlit, too, so you do get a

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Top, Norman at 16m in 25 lux with mid zoom. Bottom, daylight at 12m, wide angle.

Features of DVTEL Quasar include: l Multi-streaming at the highest frame rates l 4K Ultra HD at full frame rate and the lowest bit rate l P-Iris l Indoor/outdoor, IP66-rated l Vandal Resistant l 40m IR Illumination l Web interface for viewing and configuration l 4-year warranty.

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editor’s choice Hikvision LightFighter from CSD l HIKVISION is set to raise the bar with the launch of the

LightFighter series of 2MP SMART IP cameras. Incorporating ultra-high 140dB WDR technology, LightFighter series cameras have been designed to overcome the pitfalls of viewing extreme backlit and high contrast environments. The result of this is clear, detail-rich images in lighting conditions that would defeat conventional WDR cameras.

Equipped with the full range of Hikvision’s SMART features, LightFighter series cameras are capable of rendering full 1920 x 1080 HD images at 50 frames per second. Additionally, they also boast low-light capability for night time surveillance making them particularly suited for applications that involve pointing towards windows and entrance doors.

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What’s new in the industry

Dahua launches Eco-Savvy 2.0 Series Network Cameras l Dahua Technology has introduced its new Eco-Savvy 2.0

series of network cameras. Dahua’s latest 2.0 series offers impressive new surveillance features while maintaining the green energy-saving concept of its Eco-Savvy equipment range, including the enhanced, performance-boosting Ambarella S2LM chip. The new cameras feature a 4-megapixel progressive-scan CMOS, which delivers high quality images at 20fps.The end result is an image twice as clear as a traditional 1080p camera.

The Eco-Savvy series features an impressive range of smart detection features, including face detection, tripwire detection, and intrusion detection. These features mean that users are equipped with more precise video analysis and, as a result, greater security efficiency.

The series also boasts WDR image enhancement technology, triple video streams, and Intelligent Video Surveillance (IVS). The wide dynamic range (120dB) ensures the cameras offer impressively high performance in backlit scenes.

Distributor: Seadan Security & Electronics Contact: +61 3 9263 0111

Xtralis Introduces HeiTel XOh SecurityPlus Software l XTRALIS has introduced the HeiTel XOh SecurityPlus remotely

programmable operating system, available on a new line of high-performance RMGs — the HeiTel CamDisc E, CamDisc+ E, and HeiTel ipVG. HeiTel XOh is specifically tuned for end users requiring up to 10 analogue or IP cameras and 8 video content analytics on the same system.

Running exclusively on the new HeiTel CamDisc E, CamDisc+ E, and ipVG RMGs, XOh software features seamless connectivity to external detectors, newly embedded IntrusionTrace motion detection video content analytics, remote video verification, unbreakable transmission over any network, and rapid response capabilities.

A single new CamDisc+ E running XOh can stream 10 IP/analog cameras for remote monitoring while simultaneously running award-winning IntrusionTrace video analytics available on up to 4 of those channels, for sterile zone perimeter protection. A compact CamDisc E RMG offers up to 4 channels of streaming video while simultaneously running up to 4 IntrusionTrace analytics. To learn more about the HeiTel XOh-enabled portfolio of RMGs, visit www.xtralis. com/XOh. Distributor: Hills Contact: 1800 685 487

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ISCS launches GoldClass+ Mobile Access l Start opening doors with your Mobile Access Enabled

Device using ISCS’s GoldClass+ and HID Mobile Access.

Moving up to the next level of security GoldClass+ HID Mobile Access is built on proven technology. Credentials can be deployed within minutes and will work immediately with GoldClass+ Bluetooth-enabled readers that are available exclusively from ISCS. Distributor: ISCS Contact: +61 2 9485 0485

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duct showcase / n ew p ro d u ct s h owcas e / new pr o d u ct showcase / new p roduct showcase / new p roduct showcase /

Double down with Ness SmartLiving l NESS SmartLiving control panels come standard with zone

doubling, 3 state and 4 state monitoring - giving you up to a whopping 100 terminals with 200 zones on the 10100L. Each terminal has auto-learning zone balance and is totally configurable for end of line resistor value and you can even adjust the EOL threshold for dead easy retrofits and upgrades.

Connect your APP to everything, wirelessly l WITH video verification on alarm, pre-configured

Distributor: Ness Corporation Contact: +61 2 8825 9222

automation sequences, service automation, lighting control and energy management, the Yale Professional Series brings control of not just the household but now also large commercial premises to the smartphone or browser any time.

Yale’s Professional Series Alarm features world leading 2km RF range and superb reliability coupled with integrated IP, 3G and GPRS reporting.

The integrated transceiver supports up to 40 devices from a range of Zigbee and RF-433/F1 devices including, locks, temperature sensors, power relays and outdoor PIRs. Verification & Control make the Yale Professional so much more than a wireless alarm.

Net2 PaxLock Wireless Door Access

Distributor: Security Merchants Australia Contact: 1300 663 904

l Paxton’s Net2 PaxLock is an online battery powered Net2 access

control unit in a secure door handle and comes ready to install with a C Keyway lock or alternatively to fit with an SFIC lock.

Communication between Net2 PaxLock and the Net2 server is done wirelessly through Net2Air and the Net2Air Ethernet bridges, providing all the advantages of a wireless access control system.

Net2 PaxLock is simple to use and fast to fit because it has a selfcontained power source, making it ideal for internal doors.

Distributor: Security Distributors Australia Contact: 1300 882 101

Avigilon HD Multisensor Cameras l ADDRESSING a growing market need for a multi-directional

camera, Avigilon has recently introduced the HD Multisensor camera. Designed with 3 or 4 individually configurable 3MP camera heads, HD Multisensor cameras enable users to easily monitor environments in high resolution image quality with multiple viewpoints from a single imaging platform.

Offering complete coverage of wide areas with the simultaneous ability to digitally zoom in on any movement that occurs within the field-of-view. The HD Multisensor provides the flexibility of having up to 4 cameras positioned at one location using a single Ethernet cable, housing and camera licence, thereby reducing installation time and maintenance costs.

Distributor: Central Security Distribution Contact: 1300 319 499

Bticino Classe 100 Video & Audio Solution l CLASSE 100 is the latest range of Italian-designed video and

audio internal units from Bticino. This stunning new range features both hands free and handset units, together with a range of installation options to suit any installation – flush, wall mounted and a new table top option (for video units only).

Bticino has made the Classe 100 range very affordable while still keeping quality features customers have come to expect including robust yet slim line profiles, white glass finish and a full colour 3.50-inch screen (video units only). All internal units also come standard with lighting control, note functions, intercom and gate release features.

Keep an eye out for future BTicino ranges coming soon. Contact your local Hills branches today for more information.

Distributor: Hills Contact: 1800 685 487

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re g u lars help desk

helpdesk

Q: Are good CCTV lenses always expensive or can relatively cheap lenses still offer a quality alternative?

A: Generally speaking, good CCTV lenses are going to be more expensive. They’ll be made of glass, they’ll have coatings that resist internal reflection and they’ll have corrective internal designs. However, it is possible for a relatively low cost lens to offer higher quality than its price might suggest. The types of low cost lenses that might offer good performance will generally be simple with less complex elements.

If there was one thing that installers should think about with low cost lenses it’s coatings. I see some CCTV lenses with no coatings at all and that’s a strange thing, given they are not all that expensive to apply. Good coatings reduce internal reflection which causes ghosting and flare and softens contrast.

A lens without coatings, even a simple lens with 4 elements or so, is going to suffer from major issues. More complex lenses without coatings will be horrible.

Typically an uncoated lens can lose 8 per cent of light per element – that means fewer elements and less complexity is better if you are stuck with uncoated lenses. Of course, good lenses have corrective elements which enhance resolution and reduce chromatic and spherical aberrations. In the old days (before Alexander Smakula invented lens coatings at Zeiss in 1935) few lenses would have been built with more than about 4 elements as the cost imposed on image contrast was too high.

So you can see that lens designers face a balancing act. More elements make a better lens with greater resolution and fewer aberrations. But more

80 se&n

Our panel of experts answers your questions.

elements means greater need for coatings on each element, which adds to cost.

Quality coatings of magnesium fluoride or Teflon must be applied by Hard Ion Beam Sputtering or Advanced Plasma Reactive Sputtering – processes that need to take place in a vacuum. Given the complexity of doing a good job of it, it’s no surprise some lens manufacturers take short cuts.

Even relatively ordinary coatings reduce reflection by 80 per cent and collectively allow transmission of more than 95 per cent of light through a lens. A single layer of low cost coating will reduce reflection from 4 per cent to 1.5 per cent, while a decent multilayer coating will reduce reflection to around 0.2 per cent. When you’re holding a lens in your hand, tip it onto an angle to your eye and see if you notice a colour tint – green, purple, yellow, orange – that you don’t see looking directly through the lens.

That’s the coating, the colour of which may influence your images with warmer or cooler hues.

There’s no doubt that sometimes lens makers accidentally get it right and create gems. The hard thing will be finding out which low cost lenses are high quality. There are few if any reviews of low end CCTV lenses, so trial and error is the only way. And if you find you have an uncoated lens that’s delivering poor image quality in stressful light conditions, think about applying a filter and/or a sunshade or hood – it will make a big difference.

Q: We’ve had some issues with Cat6 installations, with shield cracking and crushing during haul-ins. We’ve also discovered that while Cat-6 has a higher performance that Cat-5e, it’s more temperamental when it comes to installation. In fact, in a couple of our jobs it seems the Cat-6 is doing worse than the old Cat-5e. Are there any particular tips you could offer that would help?

A: In the past, network installers could be relaxed with the rules of network cable installation. Sure, you needed to ensure adequate twist pre-termination but as a rule you could wring the necks of your Cat-5e and the system would function just fine. Not only that, Cat-5 has no real trouble if you ignore the stated bend radius in cable runs or bind a mess of Cat-5 cables into a bundle. And you can pull Cat-5e too – not the way you can pull coax - but you can drag bundles with no real trouble.

It’s different with Cat-6 cable. Those techs looking to upgrade need to take a whole new attitude to their installations.

You can’t install Cat-6 in the old way and expect it to perform to specification – in fact if you don’t follow the guidelines with your Cat-6 installations it will perform worse than Cat-5e and negate the upgrade process completely.

Oddly, the way to ensure the best possible performance from Cat-6 is to be sloppy

There’s no doubt that sometimes lens makers accidentally get it right and create gems. The hard thing will be finding out which low cost lenses are high quality. with the installation. Avoid neat bundles of Cat-6 cable – avoid tight cinches – and don’t pull Cat-6 cable, lay it. If you’re a bit of a sloth when it comes to neatness you may qualify as the perfect Cat-6 cable installer. The looser and swirlier your Cat-6 cable runs are, the better they’ll perform.

Q: Is it possible to install passive infrared sensors in areas that include significant amounts of glass?

A: Sure, it’s possible but it’s not advisable.

There are a number of reasons for this, first being that during the process of warming up, glass will reach body temperature.

It will also create thermal currents in the detection space, as well as allowing the entire space to warm up considerably in the absence of air conditioning. If you do install PIRs around glass, point them away from it as far as possible. If there’s a dominant entry point to the room, install them at right angles to the entry, rather than trying to cover an entire foyer or

boardroom. If the space is smaller, you have temperature compensation, you’ve undertaken objective testing and you’re happy that in this application there will be no false alarms to drag you across town, then by all means use PIRs. Dual technology (PIR/microwave) is more reliable around glass, generally speaking.

Q: Would you agree that HD-CVI is a capable video surveillance technology that in some cases, can offer superior performance to HD IP camera technology?

A: Yes, there are some applications that really suit HD-CVI – especially if you are viewing and recording in small or medium-sized non-enterprise applications and have a lot of existing coaxial infrastructure that you want to retain. HD-CVI is low latency (not zero, but low), low noise, offers excellent colour rendition and contrast, and is low cost. You can get HD-CVI onto wider networks but obviously things get more complicated in doing so. Local tribrid DVRs and composite infrastructure are the best way to handle HD-CVI. Composite HD technologies are also very reliable, which is why they’re the standard used in the AV industry.

You’re not going to get finicky things like packet loss in a typical small HDCVI application. You’d need to talk to a supplier to get the low down on things like support for mobile devices and so forth.

Q: How can I tell if there’s a short circuit causing periodic faults in a cable run?

A: Mmmmmm. The worrying word there is ‘periodic’ because it means sometimes you’ll be able to find the fault and sometimes you won’t. When testing for short circuits what you’re really trying to establish is whether a circuit is open or closed – it’s a continuity test. Remove power from the circuit and set your multimeter to megOhms. Put the probes on the positive and negative wires of the circuit. If your DMM has the capability, you should hear a beeper alarm indicate a short circuit. If there’s no beep, expect to see little or no resistance in a closed circuit or an over-reading ohms range if the circuit is open. zzz

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events Security Managers ◆ Integrators ◆ IT Managers ◆ Installers

& Networks

June 2015 Issue 366

IFSEC

THE ART OF

CAMERA PERFORMANCE l What is the future of IP Video? l Axis S1016 Workstation Review l Sydney Trains CCTV Tender l UTS installs Genetec at CUB l Quasar UHD Bullet Review l Audio and Video for Prince Alfred l Is Your Business NBN Ready? l Scenes from SecTech Roadshow

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Date: 16 - 18 June, 2015 Venue: ExCeL London, U.K. Tel: 44 (0)20 7069 5000 IFSEC International is the only event to bring together the entire buying chain, from end users, installers and integrators to consultants, distributers and manufacturers.

Security Exhibition & Conference

+

Date: July 15-17, 2015 Venue: Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre Contact: Kylie McRorie on 03 9261 4504 or www.securityexpo.com.au for more information.

Australasia’s premier security industry event, the Security Exhibition & Conference, will return to Melbourne in July 2015.

In 2014 more than 4500 security professionals attended, there was a record number of individual registrations and 170 brands exhibited on the show floor.

Security in Government (SIG)

+

Date: August 31, September 2, 2015 Venue: National Convention Centre, Canberra Contact: 61 2 6141 3717 The SIG Conference enables delegates from Australian government to engage with public and private sector security experts from a diverse range of fields. The extensive trade exhibition attached to the conference features over ninety security-related service providers who work closely with both the government and private sector to provide cuttingedge solutions to protective security issues.

CPSE 2015 Date: October 29 – November 1, 2015 Venue: Shenzhen International Convention & Exhibition Center, Shenzhen, China Tel: 86-755-88309123 Founded in Shenzhen, served more than 8600 security companies and 524,000 buyers. The largest exhibition in the world and the most influential exhibition in Asia, holds its 15th event.

ISC West

= DAILY, WEEKLY, MONTHLY.

Date: April 6-8, 2016 Venue: Sands Expo & Convention Center, Las Vegas, NV Contact: 1-203-840-5602 With more than 26,000 industry professionals and more than 1000 exhibits, ISC West is the largest security technology event in the Americas. ISC West’s attendees represent more than $US50 billion in buying power.

DAILY, WEEKLY, MONTHLY.

Security Managers ◆ Integrators ◆ IT Managers ◆ Installers

& Networks

June 2015 Issue 366

WEBSITE THE ART OF

CAMERA PERFORMANCE l What is the future of IP Video? l Axis S1016 Workstation Review l Sydney Trains CCTV Tender l UTS installs Genetec at CUB l Quasar UHD Bullet Review l Audio and Video for Prince Alfred l Is Your Business NBN Ready? l Scenes from SecTech Roadshow

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MAGAZINE

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Advertising enquiries call Monique Keatinge on 02 9280 4425 or email info@bridgepublishing.com.au