PSIApril2017

TEST
This camera performs
well and is capable of
covering a very wide
area with a good level
of image detail
9.0 out of 10
(continued from p12)
A reset button is provided between the power
and alarm/audio connectors. This restores factory
settings and returns the DHCP setting to ‘On’ if
held down for more than 5 seconds.
Menu options
There are just six top level menu options arranged
down the left-hand side of the Setup window,
these are:
Basic – Video profiles, User management, Date &
Time, IP & Port settings and Event setup.
Audio & Video – Orientation, Privacy, ROI,
WiseStream and Image Alignment.
Network – DDNS, IP Filtering, Connection security
settings, SNMP and IP Auto-configuration.
Event – FTP/E-mail, Storage, Alarms, Scheduling
and Event types.
Heatmap – Statistics and Setup.
System – Information, Upgrade/Reboot, Logs,
Status and Open SDK.
WiseStream is Hanwha’s compression process
that they say improves on both H.264 and H.265
streams by dynamically managing the GOP or
GOV (Group of Pictures / Video) rate.
Image Alignment allows major and minor
horizontal and vertical adjustments to be made to
each of the four sensor images to alleviate some
of the inevitable stitching effects that can occur
when viewing some scenes. This may appear as a
blurring of subjects or edges as they pass across
the image join.
The Event menu provides setup commands for
Tampering and Defocus detection, Motion
Detection / Video Analysis, Audio level detection
and Network disconnection actions.
The Heatmap gives a colour overlay of areas of
regular movement within the scene with
maximum movement shown in red. There are
facilities for searching by date and time, resultant
images can be saved as .png files.
Performance
The camera performs well and is relatively easy to
install and operate. The engineer-friendly browser
access reduces the time often spent trying to get
drivers or Plug-ins loaded.
The full picture is made up of 4096 x 1800
pixels with 4 x 3.6mm lenses giving a viewing
angle of 180° H x 84° V (45° H x 84° V per sensor).
Sensitivity is stated as 0.3 lux at F 2.0. A range of
settings allow the sensitivity to be optimised with
exposure settings from 2 seconds to 1/12,000
with a default of 1/5 second maximum.
Seven image presets are available to provide
emphasis on such things as Motion, Noise
reduction and Definition or custom user values
can be entered to suit the local conditions.
There is no built-in infrared lighting due to the
wide-angle nature of the sensor arrangement but
the camera is true day/night with filter switching
that can be manually controlled, scheduled,
automated or triggered via the alarm input.
External IR illuminators can be used and in testing
no ‘hunting’ was observed.
While the alarm input can be triggered via a
simple closing contact, the alarm output is of the
‘Open Collector’ variety so must feed a
transistorised relay or similar circuit. Diagrams
are provided in the user manual.
The motion detection, tamper and defocus
detection features all worked well and as
expected, but the video analytic features proved
more problematic. The manual provides basic
details on setting the camera for analytic features
such as directional line crossing, area entering /
exiting and objects appearing / disappearing
which would not initially generate an alert, record
images or activate the alarm output signal in spite
of multiple attempts.
Eventually it was found that the Size, Area and
crossing line had to be very carefully coordinated
in order to get it running. A more detailed or
diagrammatic section in the manual would be
helpful coupled with a triggering indicator as at
present it is necessary to return to the live view to
confirm the activations. However, once correctly
set the system worked very well.
Activation clips can be recorded to the Micro
SD card in either AVI or STW video formats. The
STW being a proprietary Hanwha format and
therefore providing a level of evidential
traceability.
Privacy zones are set within the Video Setup
sub menu. These are entered as four points on the
screen to enclose the privacy area with 6
obscuring colour options to choose from and freetext
names can be given. The enclosed area does
not have to be rectangular so there is good
flexibility for zone positioning. Though not stated
in the manual, it was found that up to 16 zones
could be allocated; this should be more than
enough for the majority of applications.
Conclusion
This camera performs well and is capable of
covering a very wide area with a good level of
image detail. The high pixel rate means that
digital zooming can be used with reasonable
effect. The hardware is robust and provides easy
access to internal connections and the memory
card slot. Being IP66 rated with an IK10 impact
rating means that this dome will be suitable for
harsh environments.
14
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