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.

more about CeBIT 2009

Website of the CeBIT.
Opening of the fair was visited by Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Video from the opening.

CeBIT 2009

The world's leading trade fair for IT and telecommunications, or ICT industry - CeBIT 2009 in Hanover - took place from March 3 to 8. This year there were about 4300 companies from 69 countries, exhibiting their products, and about 400,000 visitors. However, these numbers showing the scale of the event are much smaller than that of the peak 2001 year with 8100 exhibitors.



IBM, MSI, Panasonic, Comarch, Intel, ASUS, Microsoft and... beautiful women at CeBIT fair 2009:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAhq9YjEbu8&fmt=18

The absence of many traditional leaders of telecommunications market, both in the case of manufacturers and telecoms, and a very weak representation of companies supplying products for banking industry - were the main symptoms of the crisis. Among German operators we saw Deutsche Telekom and Vodafone, but couldn't find E-Plus and so blatant before O2 stand.

But the greatest sensation was caused by Samsung, not having its own stand but only being represented by distributors. It was a stark contrast in comparison with last year, when the corporation fascinated everyone with a grand scale, as well as with the number of new products. The sponsorship of World Cyber Games (WCG), with thousands of StarCraft, Counter-Strike, and Warcraft III gamers, was a thing of the past. It raised questions about the corporation's financial condition - the end of the sponsoring "e-sports" could be a real blow to the image of the tycoon among young people.

Japanese companies were modestly represented by NEC and Sony Ericsson; Toshiba, DoCoMo, Motorola failed to show up. There were no stands outside - last year's AMD show with off-road vehicles promoting new AMD processors was just a memory - the company was absent as well.

We couldn't find exhibitors presenting new technologies, probably the manufacturers didn't believe in possibility of profitable implementations in the near future (for example - lack of promising LTE technology). There was only one word for the pavilions promoting Green IT - boredom.

Was the fair a failure? - No !!!
More about CeBIT.

Photo Contest 2009

Subject of the photo contest is a challenge that, at first, seems to be difficult to be up to. What can be interesting in antennas? Can they really inspire and become the focus of artistic interest?

DIPOL organizes this photographic competition for the eight time. The seven previous editions showed that antennas can be interesting subjects of the environment we live in, and - besides useful functions - they can bring artistic inspiration. We hope the competitors will again take up the task that, apart from having aesthetic qualities, requires dash of imagination, grain of wit, and sometimes a certain measure of risk.

Antennas constitute a part of our everyday landscape. Many of us can remember all of these past "forests" of traditional TV antennas that disappear from our lives being replaced by "dishes" of satellite antennas, and "tubes" or "columns" of communications devices.

Some of them irritate our sense of beauty and ruin the looks of even the most architecturally-advanced buildings, but others may have just an opposite effect, creating a sort of unity and harmony with their surroundings.

Works can be submitted from June 1st, 2009 to September 30, 2009. The works will be adjudicated by photographer and designer from Krakow, Mr. Pawel Zechenter (I and II prize).
III prize will be awarded by our technical department - the main criterion is ability of communicating technical ideas in an interesting way.

The results of the previous editions are available at DIPOL website.
In 2008 the first prize went to Mr. Dariusz Mączynski for the aesthetic values of the series "In a distorting mirror".

Photo Contest 2009

Subject of the photo contest is a challenge that, at first, seems to be difficult to be up to. What can be interesting in antennas? Can they really inspire and become the focus of artistic interest?

DIPOL organizes this photographic competition for the eight time. The seven previous editions showed that antennas can be interesting subjects of the environment we live in, and - besides useful functions - they can bring artistic inspiration. We hope the competitors will again take up the task that, apart from having aesthetic qualities, requires dash of imagination, grain of wit, and sometimes a certain measure of risk.

Antennas constitute a part of our everyday landscape. Many of us can remember all of these past "forests" of traditional TV antennas that disappear from our lives being replaced by "dishes" of satellite antennas, and "tubes" or "columns" of communications devices.

Some of them irritate our sense of beauty and ruin the looks of even the most architecturally-advanced buildings, but others may have just an opposite effect, creating a sort of unity and harmony with their surroundings.

Works can be submitted from June 1st, 2009 to September 30, 2009. The works will be adjudicated by photographer and designer from Krakow, Mr. Pawel Zechenter (I and II prize).
III prize will be awarded by our technical department - the main criterion is ability of communicating technical ideas in an interesting way.

The results of the previous editions are available at DIPOL website.

In 2008 the first prize went to Mr. Dariusz Mączynski for the aesthetic values of the series"In a distorting mirror".

CCTV monitoring in automotive wholesale center

GAZELO deals with import and distribution of spare parts for cars. In Poland, it is the sole representative of several manufacturers of electric fuel pumps and lambda sensors from Korea, Taiwan, and China.

To increase security and improve the organization of work in the new wholesale store, the investor decided to install CCTV monitoring. In the construction process the contractor made cabling to all planned outdoor camera points, using gel-filled cat 5e UTP cable, prepared for CCTV cameras placed in housings equipped with video transformers with BNC sockets - TR-1Q. Video signals from four cameras are received by video transformer TR-4P placed in the building and providing its output signals to the DVR. If needed in the future, the installation allows to transmit audio, e.g. for transmitting some orders. Indoor CCTV cabling has been based on CCTV YAR cable with two power wires.

The employed outdoor day/night SUNELL cameras have on board 1/3" SONY EX-View CCDs. Thanks to high parameters, the cameras can work even in extreme lighting conditions (e.g. they can be used for monitoring of roads). Some places, very dark at night, required to use compact cameras with IR illuminators. Outdoor color cameras (with 4-9 mm varifocal lens and IR illuminator)">VF-515 IR/B, with SONY Super HAD sensors, 550 TVL resolution, equipped with 4-9 mm varifocal lenses and IR illuminators seemed to be the best choice. They were easy to mount and adjust, providing quality images with increased resolution. The inside parts of the building and the rooms are monitored with the vandal proof cameras VC-412. This model of universal (ceiling / wall) color vandal-proof camera is equipped with built-in 3.6 mm lens and IR illuminator.

Images from the set of cameras are recorded by 16-channel DVR - CPD-507 and 4-channel DVR - CPD-560. Some selected images are also available via RF system (due to use of TERRA modulators MT27P) and can be viewed on TV sets located in administrative part of the building.

There are plans for future development of the system. The key cameras will be connected to ULTIMAX DVR that allows live monitoring, preview of archives, and configuration of the system via LAN or the Internet. H.264/AVC compression is 50% more efficient compared with the previous kind of MPEG-4 algorithms, saving disc space and available bandwidth of IP networks.

ULTIAIR employed by a city's ISP

The investor, Internet service provider in Krakow, required high performance and reliability of radio links, with high throughput in the whole backbone network. The main goal was broadband (30 Mbps) wireless connectivity to the central node and between the root node and branch nodes scattered in Nowa Huta district.

The contractor, Zax.pl, has chosen ULTIAIR devices. The family of professional outdoor access points is characterized by short delays and high throughput. The devices have been designed to create efficient wireless IP CCTV and ISP networks.
They operate in unlicensed 5GHz band. Integration of the transceiver (RouterBoard with Mikrotik system) and antenna into one weather-resistant housing enables the installer to perform the job quickly, without additional operations. The outdoor housing of IP 66 class guarantees full protection against adverse weather conditions and corrosive environments.

The wireless network allows to integrate the nodes of the system and ensures easy development of the infrastructure in the future. Everyday operation of the network confirms the guidelines - high throughput and stable work.