PSISeptember2018

TEST
The camera gives a
high level of detail
and good colour
rendition. The 2592 x
1944 pixels array
produces a 4:3
format image
7.5 out of 10
NOTE: This PSI Product
Test was carried out by an
independent third party,
not editorial staff. The
manufacturer had no input in
the review or the final result
(continued from p14)
Up to eight lines of on-screen text can be
enabled for such messages as T&D, Title or
location text. These can be individually placed
by X & Y screen coordinates and font size and
colour can be set.
Up to eight Privacy masking zones can be
added to the screen, these are simple black
rectangles but can be moved and resized to suit
the scene.
“Advanced Settings” under “Intelligent” sets
Original and Thumbnail clarity and allows some
detection parameters such as filtering of
repeated motion to be modified.
A Smoothing “Clear to Smooth” slider is
available in the Video settings but appeared to
have little effect on the overall image or the
bandwidth of the video stream. The manual
states this is to improve “fluency” in a “poor
network environment”.
Hardware
Although the RJ45 socket connector appeared to
be reasonably water resistant, no mating shroud
was provided for the installer’s plug so this
would need to be suitably protected along with
the optional 12v input power jack. The
instructions do suggest that this is normally
supplied as standard though.
The casing is a well constructed casting with
the lens viewing through a clear flat window
ensuring no optical distortion. The infrared LED
source is sited just below the lens and is
screened to prevent reflections. Two small
emitters are used with one appearing to have a
small lens formed in the surround. These can be
left at Global mode or manually controlled to a
level between 0 and 1000. A small aperture in
the surround to the right of the lens feeds the
microphone.
A small cover in the top of the globe section
can be unscrewed to access a micro SD card slot
for edge recording. This accepts up to 128GB
devices. Alongside the card slot is a reset switch
for hard system reset if necessary.
Performance
The camera gives a high level of detail and good
colour rendition. The 2592 x 1944 pixels array
produces a 4:3 format image. The camera
supports up to three video streams at up to 25
fps; Main stream is always the maximum 5MP,
Sub Stream is by default D1 and has a maximum
of 1080p while the Third stream is CIF default
with a maximum of D1. Oddly the Sub and Third
streams support a 640 x 360 pixel resolution
image rather than 640 x 480. This is presented
as a 16:9 format rather than the sensor’s 4:3
layout. When selected in the browser view the
1080p and 640 x 360 pixel images show a lower
resolution representation of the full sensor
image but horizontally stretched to form a 16:9
image therefore both showing an incorrect
geometry.
The camera performs well in the majority of
situations; however, it was found to show a
slight level of pulsing of peak resolution when
viewing some outdoor scenes. This appeared to
relate to the I frame generation rate so could be
varied but not removed. It occurred on the
browser and NVR live and replayed images and
was most noticeable on highly detailed scenes.
A microphone is included in the camera and
proved reasonably sensitive in outdoor testing,
though recording of audio is generally not
acceptable from a UK privacy perspective so
should be used advisably.
Night time performance was reasonably good
with colour images below 1 Lux. At very low light
levels some focus “hunting” was observed. As is
often the case, the manufacturer states a
sensitivity of 0.002 Lux colour (F1.2, AGC on) and
0 Lux with IR. While the specification states an
IR range of up to 30 metres the small IR sources
did not provide much illumination beyond 25
metres but IR reflective surfaces and clothing
entering the scene could be observed. No details
are given to support the colour figure, such as
shutter time so it is assumed that the camera
was working towards the 1 second figure. For
lens control the browser has just Zoom In, Out
and Focus + and – buttons; no one-shot autofocus.
The camera finds focus once a zoom
operation is completed. The Focus controls
worked reasonably well but Far and Near would
be a more conventional description of the
controls.
A range of analytic functions are provided
such as Line Crossing and Intrusion detection for
perimeter protection. Defocus and Scene change
for exception detection. Face detection and
People Counting are also supported. The Face
and Counting functions cannot be used with the
other detection modes. A sound level detection
mode can be set with a histogram display for
setting the audio trigger level.
Conclusion
A small high sensitivity eyeball style camera
allowing simple installation and configuration.
Ideally would be used with a matching recorder
or Video Management System to gain maximum
benefit from the Smart detection settings.
14
www.psimagazine.co.uk