Many IP cameras include motion detection capability. It is also available using video management software (VMS) or a network video recorder (NVR). This is a very important analytic function because it controls when an alarm is triggered and when the video is recorded.
Motion detection seems to be a simple concept. All we do is compare one frame to another and look for things that change. For example, a moving white ball can trigger an alarm by comparing two frames.
Well, it isn’t that simple. The early engineers who worked on motion detection discovered that this was a difficult engineering problem. Back in the 1970’s, I worked on a project to detect moving particles in fluids. What I discovered was that it is sometimes difficult to discern the difference between a moving object and signal noise.
Whether it’s an emergency announcement or page in a school, how do you determine the speaker and amplifier required for a specific location? IP paging systems can provide exactly the right sound level to exactly the right location, but what is the right sound level?
How loud does the emergency paging system need to be? How much sound is needed to hear an announcement in a classroom or in a sports field where there is a lot of background noise?
This article provides the technical background and practical information needed to help you determine the right power and speakers required.
“Lexophile” is a word used to describe those who have a love for words, such as “you can tune a piano, but you can’t tuna fish”, or “to write with a broken pencil is pointless.” Here are some examples:
When fish are in schools, they sometimes take debate.
A thief who stole a calendar got twelve months.
When the smog lifts in Los Angeles U.C.L.A.
The batteries were given out free of charge.
A dentist and a manicurist married. They fought tooth and nail.
A will is a dead giveaway.
With her marriage, she got a new name and a dress.
A boiled egg is hard to beat.
When you’ve seen one shopping center you’ve seen a mall.
Police were called to a daycare center where a three-year-old was resisting a rest.
A physical security system is a collection of equipment and software that provides security and safety. It can use a variety of network-attached devices as well as a number of software products that can be integrated to provide a unified solution.
Safety and Security banner
To be more specific, the integration of the latest video management software (VMS), with door access control software, and emergency paging software along with IP cameras, IP sensors, IP door readers, and IP paging amplifiers can provide a very complete physical security system. These IP based security systems provide similar capability to Physical Security Information Management (PSIM) software at much less cost.
Why should I use an IP camera when the analog cameras are so much cheaper?
That’s a question we get especially from those people who have been using analog CCTV (closed-circuit TV) systems for many years. Actually CCTV has been around for over 45 years. Olean, NY was the first municipality in the US to use cameras on its main street to help reduce crime (according to Wikipedia this was back in 1968).
Not only have the analog CCTV systems been around for a very long time, but they also haven’t really changed from their original capability. Well yes, they have gotten much cheaper, and there are efforts to use higher resolution cameras, but their capability hasn’t changed. The first systems were based on the TV standards established by the National Television System Committee (NTSC). The standard indicated that there should be 525 vertical TV lines, with a frame rate of 30 frames per second. Take a look at our video, How the Video Camera Works.
We included the latest technical topics as well as some classic jokes from Henny Youngman, a comedian who was popular years ago. He was known for his “one-liners”. for example,
I’ve been in love with the same woman for forty-one years. If my wife finds out, she’ll kill me. Henny Youngman
Remember when door readers were connected to the central control panel and how difficult it was to run all the connections?
Oh wait, people are still doing that. The new IP connected readers have been available for a number of years and it’s surprising that they haven’t made more of an impact in the market. I talked to a number of people about this and the conclusion is that security dealers like to do what they know and find it difficult to work with computers and networks.
Are the IP door readers actually better, or as some people say, too expensive?
In this article, we reviewed the cost of the two technologies for an 8 door system.