Evolutionfrom Closed Circuit TV to Ubiquitous IP Camera Surveillance
By Bob Mesnik
From the early beginnings of Closed Circuit Television (CCTV), it was somewhat controversial. It was designed to increase our security and safety, but does it threaten our privacy? How has video surveillance changed over the years? This article reviews the history of surveillance and how it has evolved into a technology that has become part of our lives.
History
Video surveillance is not new; it has been around for quite a while. One of the first recorded application for closed circuit television system (CCTV) was back in 1942. It was used to view the launch of V2 rockets in Germany.
In the US, commercial surveillance applications began around 1947. In 1957 a number of companies such as General Precision Labs (GPL division), provided CCTV camera systems for education, medical and industrial applications.
How IP Camera Systems and IP Access Control Systems Increase Safety in Hospitals
By Virginia Fair
The following appeared on NBCLA.com, the website of the Los Angeles NBC affiliate station.
“A man who allegedly dressed as a nurse to fool security personnel was arrested for stealing medical supplies from a Fountain Valley Hospital, police announced Monday. The suspect is accused of stealing from Fountain Valley Regional Hospital three separate times since May.”
Fountain Valley Regional Hospital is not alone. According to the 2012 Crime and Security Trends Survey, underwritten by the Foundation of the International Association for Healthcare Security and Safety (IAHSS), the crime rate of hospitals rose by close to 37 percent in just two years, from slightly less than 15,000 in 2010 to over 20,500 in 2012. This increase occurred in all crime categories: larceny, theft, simple assault, vandalism, rape and sexual assault. The highest-ever number of homicides occurred, as well, with 8 reported by responding hospitals.
Interview with Todd Vohs of Holstein AG Services About IP Camera with WDR
by Virginia Fair
In our thirty years of being, Kintronics has had the pleasure of doing business with the armed forces, the education sector, library systems, and businesses of every stripe and niche, not to mention quite a few enterprising individuals intent on monitoring such natural phenomena as:
salmon swimming upstream
seals in underground caves
eagles nesting in trees
Hawks perched in New York City’s famed Washington Square.
However, we rarely get a chance to see any of our IP cameras in action once they leave Kintronics. That was, until we had the pleasure of doing business with Todd Vohs of Holstein AG Services. He’d consulted with Keaton Baker, one of our sales engineers, in February, for suggestions about a camera that would help him overcome lighting problems he was encountering in monitoring his warehouse out in Iowa. Keaton recommended an IQ862, a camera with Wide Dynamic Range.
You can record audio and video but be careful of the law.=
by Virginia Fair
These premises are under video surveillance. Convenience stores post this no nonsense warning at their front doors. Banks who display a height chart at their exit door are indirectly issuing the same warning.
This conversation may be recorded for training purposes. Most if not all companies and utilities issue this warning before connecting a customer to a representative.
IP camera surveillance is a given these days. In most cases the camera warnings are intended to warn the “bad guys”, and the recording notice is for “the rest of us.” The majority of people take these messages as givens and the concept rarely registers.
Once upon a time a major university installed IP cameras throughout its campus in reaction to a wave of violence perpetrated against female students. All went well until a passing thunderstorm brought a lightning strike which just happened to hit an IP camera mounted on the parapet of a dorm. Of course the camera was destroyed, but have you ever heard the phrase “greased lightning”? It’s a very descriptive term for within seconds, the surge created by the lightning traveled through the IP camera system, and the network destroying both the server and the switch, creating havoc right down to the network cards in students’ laptops at the end of the cable runs.
Once upon a time a major university installed IP cameras throughout its campus in reaction to a wave of violence perpetrated against female students. All went well until a passing thunderstorm brought a lightning strike which just happened to hit an IP camera mounted on the parapet of a dorm. Of course the camera was destroyed, but have you ever heard the phrase “greased lightning”? It’s a very descriptive term for within seconds, the surge created by the lightning traveled through the IP camera system, and the network destroying both the server and the switch, creating havoc right down to the network cards in students’ laptops at the end of the cable runs.
How the University of Montana College of Forestry uses the IP camera systemby Virginia Fair
When a customer calls Kintronics seeking information about IP cameras, our sales engineers ask questions such as “What are your objectives? What do you want to monitor?” And “In what type of environment will you be mounting the camera?”
They are accustomed to hearing answers like parking areas, corridors, storerooms, entry areas, rear exits, elevators and so on. But every once in a while, the answer is unique and intriguing.
The other day I was walking down a street in Manhattan and I saw a guy selling watches. There was one watch that looked just like an expensive Rolex but it cost only $50. What a deal, I thought.
I think everyone tries to find the best deal. Unfortunately, we sometimes forget that old maxim, “you get what you pay for”. I know I do. How many times have we gotten burned by this?
I’m not sure how to tell if the watch is worth $50, but I can provide some guidance about what to consider when purchasing an IP camera.
IP Cameras range in price from under $50 to well over $1000. What is the difference? As you may guess it’s the functionality and quality. The low-cost cameras are usually sold to the home consumer market and are not designed for commercial security and surveillance applications. The more expensive camera lasts longer and allows you to see things clearer. So how does this relate to getting the best IP camera for your money?
We have seen more and more incidences on school campuses that involve active shooters. In the wake of this violence many colleges, universities, and elementary schools are searching for ways to respond to this threat.
There has been a lot of discussion about how to react. With the latest tragedy at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, the discussion continues. Emma Gonzalez, a senior at the high school, provided excellent perspective on the situation when she said, “Since the time of the Founding Fathers and since they added the Second Amendment to the Constitution, our guns have developed at a rate that leaves me dizzy. The guns have changed, but our laws have not”.
Of course, the best way to prevent these tragedies is to prevent the gunman from getting the guns. Unfortunately, it is not easy to do. The only thing we can offer is advice on how technology can help.
How do you select the right equipment for your IP camera system? The surveillance system is more than just the IP camera. It also includes the video recording system, lens, lighting, camera enclosures, network switches, and mounting brackets. Everything has to work together so you get the security system you expected.
Selecting the right equipment for your security system can be quite complicated. Sometimes it’s like putting together a puzzle. We need to make sure we have the right camera, but does the camera work with all the other equipment?
We would like to be notified of alarm conditions, but does the video recording system provide alarm notification? We would like to mount the camera on a pole, but does the camera include image stabilization? As we decide on one thing, it can affect other parts of the system.
In this article, we provided a real-life surveillance example and then defined a complete surveillance system.
Back in 1927 audiences were amazed by the latest motion picture technology. The “Jazz Singer” was the first full-length motion picture to incorporate synchronized dialogue. The new “talkies” had come of age. Today we are seeing the introduction of audio into our video security systems. The confluence of IP cameras, IP intercoms, and IP paging systems are enabling more versatile security and control systems.
IP camera systems have been around since 1996. They changed the way CCTV surveillance cameras transported and recorded the video. IP cameras have included two-way audio for many years, but this capability was not used effectively. Adding audio was not as easy as it appeared. There were many problems to be solved, including audio feedback, background noise, and microphone sensitivity. The addition of special audio filters and feedback control made this technology more viable. Today we see new opportunities created by adding intercoms to IP camera systems. Intercoms can also be integrated with IP door access control readers, providing a complete door control system.
