Avigilon Cameras

[Gareth Jones]

Hi,

I went to Infosec and saw the Avigilon cameras and software, from my limited knowledge they were the best thing there. They looked to be much better than Sony's "Go Mega" cameras that seemed more hype than substance.
Do they do a external case for their range of cameras?

Gareth

 

[Phil]

No problem at all with mounting the Avigilon cameras in an external camera housing.

We will be adding a range of suitable housings into the web shop shortly (we're particularly awaiting the launch of an entirely POE camera housing - promised next month - which will make adding outdoor network cameras to existing networks even easier - just one network cable!).

In the meantime, if you have a specific application in mind just call or email and we'll gladly help you to determine the most suitable housing to meet your requirement.

The Avigilon solutions are very impressive. They won another award earlier this week. There's a link to a great new presentation either from our site blog or from the announcement within the Avigilon forum section below. For ten minutes of your time it is an excellent summary of what they are able to do.

From capturing fantastic high-resolution images at the camera to leading-edge video handling they seem to be developing it all well, and quickly.

If you watch closely, you'll see mention of a software option for number plate reading coming soon - I had a private demonstration of this at IFSEC and thought I wasn't supposed to talk about it yet

Please don't hesitate to get in touch if you need any further help or would like a demonstration or trial.

 

[Gareth Jones]

Thanks for the reply.

Did next month mean this month or July?

I will contact you to discuss our project but it might not be for a couple of weeks.

 

[Phil]

The "True POE" housing is promised for June.

I'll add it into the webshop and mention it in my blog as soon as they confirm availability.

I look forward to hearing from you again in due course.

Thank you for your interest.

 

[Gareth Jones]

The "True POE" housing is promised for June.

I'll add it into the webshop and mention it in my blog as soon as they confirm availability.

I look forward to hearing from you again in due course.

Thank you for your interest.

Hi Phil,

Are the housing in yet?

Also, At the moment you list the ordinary Avigilon cameras. What are they like in low light levels?
We are looking to put one to cover a vehicle entrance. There is a orange street light near by and I would not mind putting up a infrared light but would rather not put up a white light. That's the trouble with trying to be enviromentally friendly, security lights dont really do it!

Gareth

 

[Phil]

Hello Gareth,

Thanks for coming back for more info - it's pretty fast-moving stuff:
(I've numbered my responses below in case you want to come back for more details on any particular matter)

1. For those not as clued-up as yourself I'll just clarify your use of the term 'ordinary' Avigilon cameras. I'm currently only promoting Avigilon's CMOS-based megapixel cameras. They also produce a Pro range which runs up to 16 megapixel camera models! However, they cost thousands of pounds (approx £5K for the 16MP camera body) and as such are not really ideal for a web shop online purchase. NB open the debate with us about your application and we will always steer you towards the most suitable solution, regardless of whether the products are in our webshop.
2. Great News this morning - new Avigilon CMOS cameras with even better specs and performance for the same prices! All of the models we're showing online have now been upgraded to colour/mono switching with removable IR cut filter.
3. New NVMS software release too - with additional features such as ftp uploads for web connections, and ANPR functionality (for an additional licence fee).
4. These developments are hot off the Press, please allow me a couple of days to update our site with all the latest data - I'll blog a note when the updates are done (subscribe to my blog's RSS Feed to stay informed - get Google Reader here).
5. The Videotec True POE housing has still not yet launched. I'm not sure whether it was my or their confusion at IFSEC in May; they actually released their Analytics box (called Albert - honestly) in June. Last time I checked the True POE housing was scheduled for production in September; of course whether that means I can get UK stock to you in September remains to be seen ... I'll try to get an update from the manufacturer's UK staff today.
6. Low-light performance. I shall have to produce and post on the website a chart to illustrate to lay-men what all this talk of lux actually equates to. If you reckon that street / car park lighting is about 10-15 lux, and this is typically what we'd ask sites to provide for their CCTV cameras to work effectively, then you'll gain an understanding that the specs of modern cameras like the Avigilon units when claiming 0.5 lux or less are really getting down to see-in-the-dark levels. Nothing can actually see in pitch darkness, but you don't need to 'flood light' scenes for night-time coverage. I provided colour/mono cameras to the Port of Dover and found that due to the ambient light levels those cameras never switch to monochrome. It's quite reasonable to select and install your cameras first and see how they perfom. If you need more light then add it. Bear in mind that light travels from the scene to the camera - the light source does not need to be installed along side the camera, it is perfectly acceptable to use low-cost bulkhead lamps in the dark part of the scene, or where the power supply is more convenient - but you should endeavour to keep the light source itself out of the field of view.

Sorry, digressing into other areas as ever ...

Great news on further improvements from Avigilon

 

[Phil]

Avigilon Product Updates

We updated the product pages for the Avigilon Cameras a couple of days back.

All of the HD cameras from 1MP to 5MP are now colour/mono switching with an automatic IR cut filter to provide true day/night performance and infra-red light source sensitivity (if anybody needs a fuller explanation, please just ask).

I wrote about these upgrades in my blog a few days ago:

Avigilon Upgrade Their HD Network Cameras to Colour/Mono

There are some links in that blog post to some impressive new video screen casts and other new downloads on the Avigilon website - take note of their playback software's performance - the Dynamic Auto-Contrast looks very effective.

 

[Gareth Jones]

I got a demo CD from Infosec Show and I would recommend people download the viewer and footage to have a play.
At the show they were showing a clip of a parking lot with a camera covering the car park but also a garage with an open door. It was a bright sunny day so via the analogy camera you could only see the car park but via Avigilon Camera/Software you could see into the dark garage and read the registration number from a car being worked on. You can also manually adjust brightness/contrast on the fly.
This type of thing is important, as is quality of system and installation. If you are going to install it yourself then try a few things first. See what its like during the day

I recently got involved looking at some bad digital CCTV footage.
We own a small part of a larger site, one of our tenants had a car stolen and I went to view the footage from the larger sites CCTV. Our site is great as there is a Canal bridge, which is the only point of vehicular access to the site.
The installer who just so happens to be a tenant too of the larger estate, had installed a camera in a poorly lit area pointing down. When cars went over the bridge and down onto the estate they would brake, all the CCTV would see was big white blobs around where the back of the car should have been. We guessed the thieves’ car to be a Corsa in fact is was a Fiesta. We also did not see the Subaru Estate leave the estate (although it was found 100 miles away!). They had motion detection that somehow either missed the car leaving or it did not record before and after the motion was detected for long enough. This site had lots of cameras, all ip, all allegedly the latest sing and dancing system but none with what I would call a decent picture. The only thing we could confirm was a time and that it was two people.
The power of Avigilon software and cameras is important,, I am sure there are other systems that are good but this was the best I noticed at Infosec. If you are going to install a system then try a few things first. There is no point having a brilliantly clear picture on a sunny (do we get them???) day only to realise that at night someone shines a torch into the camera only to blind it. One of the camera on the site was near a tree, they installed it in winter……..
Sorry for the rant but do try the trial, I am not an expert, I am just an IT Director who has to look after security.

 

[Phil]

That's not a rant, that's the voice of experience speaking, and we thank you for your input

On the theme of day-time / night-time images; playback quality; and buy with your eyes!

You might be interested in the new IP CCTV video clip playback comparison album we have just set up at SmugMug (created last night and blogged this morning).

Take a look at the clips at use-IP's SmugMug album.

We hope that users find it useful to see and compare the video performance of cameras under varying conditions?

More to come ......

 

[Apex]

Hi
Any news on the PoE housings? what sort of price will they be?

Rich

 

[Phil]

Hello Rich,

Last word on the True POE housings from the manufacturer was a September production date, and a promise to keep me informed.

I'll chase them up now and see if I can get availability and prices.

I'll post here as soon as they let me know ...

 

[Phil]

POE camera housings for Network Cameras

Hello Rich,

Apparently 150 of these did reach these shores in September, but sold out immediately.

A further batch of 150 is due mid-October.

Priced at £235 each (+VAT).

I'd be interested in your thoughts .... (open to all)

I can forward you a datasheet by email (just PM your email address to me).