Tvrdosin in Slovakia - the sign of a new trend in video surveillance

In the evening, a woman returns home along a sidewalk in the housing area. She is followed by two young men with hoods pulled over their heads. They look around, run up to the woman and snatch the purse, then join three other people, also identified as offenders... The perpetrators were caught several days after running a new video surveillance system in Tvrdosin.

Tvrdosin is a town with over 10,000 inhabitants, located 12 km from the Polish border (on the Chyzne - Ruzomberk route). The region is full of tourist attractions - Meander Park Thermal in Oravice (thermal watering place), Orava reservoir (large artificial lake), and ski areas. The city authorities decided to build video surveillance system to prevent acts of vandalism and other offenses. The system should be cost-effective, also in long-term perspective (low operational costs of monitoring center).

Traditional monitoring based on PTZ cameras can be effective only when is operated around the clock by a qualified staff. In the case of the small town the costs would be unacceptable.

DIPOL Slovakia proposed to build a system based on fixed megapixel cameras. It is the sign of a new era in video monitoring - use of a combination of megapixel cameras with wide-angle lenses instead of PTZ devices.

The system employs eight 2.0 Mpix IP cameras ULTICAM DS-852MF-E K1441. Three of these cameras have been installed on the walls of the town hall, the rest are deployed in the housing area, called Medvedzie. This district is 680 m away from the monitoring center. The video is transmitted wirelessly with Access Point integrated with antenna - ULTIAIR.

Each of the five video streams is sent at data rate of 4 Mbps, which is sufficient for high quality of the images (1600 x 1200 @ 12.5 fps). The monitoring center is located in the town hall. The system is managed (monitoring and recording) by ULTISYSTEM software. High-resolution images, both live and played back from the archive, can be digitally enlarged many times enabling identification of people who do not respect the law.

IP megapixel camera ULTICAM DS-852MF-E (code: K1441) is equipped with 1/3" CMOS sensor. It provides MPEG-4 video stream. The camera can send images of UXGA resolution at 12.5 fps, or HD720p, SVGA (800x600) and lower-resolution video at 25 fps. It allows to define 15 levels of access rights and adjust many parameters:

• image quality,
• kind of frame,
• type of stream,
• bitrate parameters,
• repeatability of "I" frames,
• maximum bitrate - aside from the preset values, it can be set freely, up to 8 Mbps.

ULTISYSTEM surveillance suite (K3216) is professional surveillance software allowing to integrate IP monitoring systems based on transmission of digital video streams in Ethernet networks.
The system based on the software is able to integrate IP cameras, video servers, modern DVRs. The software does not impose restrictions on the resolution of the cameras - it supports megapixel cameras, too. It allows simultaneous viewing of images from cameras, monitoring of the status of alarm inputs, switching between cameras, capturing pictures, etc.

The flexibility of the system based on ULTISYSTEM software allows for its expansion by adding next surveillance cameras and recording servers. The software enables full support for any number of remote users. VDRS application allows to program a schedule, record sound, responses to alarms and system events. Thanks to many options, the system may react in different ways, e.g. depending on the day of the week, day or night time etc. This is a very powerful and versatile tool, providing the possibility of precise tuning of the system to specific needs.

ULTIAIR is a family of professional Access Points, designed for efficient long-term outdoor operation. Integration of the transceiver and Technologic antenna into one weather-resistant housing enables the installer to perform the job quickly, without additional operations. ULTIAIR devices are characterized by short delays and high throughput. Outdoor housing of IP 66 class guarantees full protection against adverse weather conditions as well as corrosive environments (industry).

ULTIAIR devices are perfect for creating effective systems of city monitoring. ULTIAIR family allows to build both the backbones of the systems and wireless access networks. The unique versatility of the devices is based on the implemented Linux software that allows different applications, from simple point-to-point links, indispensable in extensive IP video surveillance systems, to very sophisticated systems of data transmission. They can be managed via WinBox utility or telnet. They operate in unlicensed 5GHz band - no special permissions are needed.

ULTICAM cameras, ULTISYSTEM software, and ULTIAIR devices are flagship brands of DIPOL company.