Posts with the tag ‘IQeye’
Heather Klotz, Associate Editor at SDM Magazine, has a good overview of the IP interoperability demo at ASIS 2009 last month with Exacq, Firetide, IQeye and Pivot3:
Exacq Technologies, Firetide, IQinVision and Pivot3, all open-system vendors, participated in a joint live demonstration of IP technology interoperability at ASIS 2009. Wireless connectivity, megapixel cameras, Smartphone viewing, and smart storage were all on display in an interoperability demo that had one message: It’s easy.
“As open systems vendors, we had several goals for the demonstration. In addition to promoting how open the industry has become and the benefits of being open, another important goal we all had was to demonstrate that this is not intimidating,” explained Roger Shuman, marketing manager for Exacq, Indianapolis. “We didn’t cross-train our technicians or prep them months in advance to set up this system here at ASIS. We did this in addition to setting up all our booths at the same time, and it was fine. We just all showed up at the show floor and set it up, and it was easy – even with the limitations that a show floor can bring.”
What did the companies set up? The live demonstration featured wireless distribution, storage and playback of HD/megapixel video over wireless networks across separate booths on the ASIS show floor. High-resolution video from IQeye megapixel cameras was streamed from vendor booths over Firetide wireless network links. The video was subsequently captured and displayed remotely using the exacqVision video management system running on Pivot3 iSCSI SAN storage with embedded virtual servers. Centrally captured video was then viewable and searchable from remote computers in each of the partner booths and on smart phones.
The open architecture demonstrated by the companies allows customers the ability to select the highest quality components from a wide variety of manufacturers instead of being limited to offerings from one vendor. How is the interoperability between these four specific companies possible? “We are all non-proprietary companies and we are all IP-based, which means the products are essentially plug-and-play,” Bodell explained.
By demonstrating the ease of set-up on the ASIS show floor, the companies hoped to reduce the “perceived risk” or difficulty in setting up systems like this.
“Traditionally, I think integrators tended to be wary of IP things because it looked like it would be complicated,” said Lee Caswell, chief marketing officer, Pivot 3, Palo Alto, Calif. “We are finding by reducing the perceived risk of making this work in the field, people have more of a chance to get excited about it and embrace what it could mean for their company.”
The full article can be read at the SDM Magazine site here. Our thanks again to everyone at Pivot3, Firetide and IQinVision for making this a successful demo.
October 15th, 2009
Version 3.6 of exacqVision Video Management Software has just been released. This latest release, compatible with all exacqVision Hybrid and IP video surveillance systems, incorporates new features and enhancements, and continues our quest for rapid, incremental updates.
Version 3.6 is available for download here. Key features in the 3.6 Release:
- Enhanced Smart Search
- Multi-System User Configuration
- Basler IP camera support
- IQeye 4-series IP camera support
- PCSC Access Control integration
Here are some of the features in detail:
Enhanced Smart Search
Smart Search, sometimes referred to as ‘museum search’ functionality, has been substantially enhanced in version 3.6. Smart Search adds quick and detailed granularity to a search result, enabling the viewing, scrubbing, saving and exporting of just the video search information desired. Smart Search works on all cameras: analog or IP, standard or Megapixel.
On the search page, a new “Brain” icon has been added to the toolbar:
With any camera, when Smart Search is selected, a grid appears. Simply use the mouse to fill in the grid of the desired area of the camera view, and Smart Search will quickly find just the video that has changed within the grid area.
The results of the Smart Search then appear as orange in the timeline:
Timeline after standard search, with blue bars showing areas of motion:
Timeline after Smart Search, with orange bars showing motion within the selected grid:
While the Smart Search function is selected, the user can scrub, play forward and reverse, save, and export just the Smart Searched (orange bar) video. Fast and easy, this enhanced functionality enables rapid searching and exporting of just the video information desired.
Here is the exacqVision tutorial on using Smart Search:
Multi-System User Configuration
New to Version 3.6 is the Enterprise Server option. This new option, enabled per-server, adds functionality unique to user and server management across an enterprise deployment. Multi-System User Configuration is available in Version 3.6 and is the first of several features to be added to the Enterprise Server option. Multi-System User Config enables fast and easy user account management across any number of exacqVision servers.
With the Version 3.6 release a new item, Multi-System User Config, has been included in the server tree on the Configuration page:
Creating a new account, deleting an account or changing an existing account is done quickly just once, and then applied to all selected servers with a single push of a button. This feature works in all enterprise deployments without the need for existing LDAP or Active Directory implementation.
New - Basler IP camera support
Support has been added for the entire line of Basler IP cameras. Basler IP cameras range in resolution from VGA to 2 Mpixel, all with day/night models available, and are distinguished by their compact physical size. All Basler IP cameras utilize H.264 compression.
The Basler IP camera models supported in exacqVision Version 3.6 are the BIP-640c/c-dn, BIP-1000c/c-dn, BIP-1300c/c-dn, and BIP-1600c/c-dn. The press release on the exacqVision-Basler IP camera support is here.
New - IQeye 4-Series IP camera support
Adding to our existing support of IQeye cameras, Version 3.6 adds support for the new 4-Series line of low-cost IP cameras from IQeye.
The IQeye 4-Series provides IQeye-quality video, resolutions from VGA to 2 Mpixel, compact, sturdy housings (both standard and dome), Power-Over Ethernet, and a low price point. The 4-Series models supported in exacqVision Version 3.6 include the IQeye 4-Series Standard cameras and the IQeye 4-Series Dome cameras.
PCSC Access Control Integration
exacqVision Version 3.6 adds integration support for PCSC Access Control systems. PCSC’s access control system is distinguished by their Fault Tolerant Technology, with redundant host, controllers, and communication. When combined with exacqVision VMS software it makes for a unique, fault tolerant access control and IP video surveillance system under a single user interface. Details on the PCSC LiNC-VIEW integration are here. The press release on the exacqVision-PCSC integration is here.
Recent Releases
With this release we continue to make rapid progress with exacqVision, and incremental releases have hit about every 2 months. A large number of new features have been added in a short period of time. You can see the full release history of exacqVision here:
exacqVision Release History
Download and Installation
As always, the latest versions of exacqVision client and server software can easily and quickly be copied over existing versions while retaining all user settings. The latest versions can always be downloaded from the exacqVision Downloads page, or you can click on ‘Check for Updates‘ within the ‘About‘ box in the exacqVision software.
exacqVision Server software is available in both Windows and Linux versions, and the exacqVision client software is available in Windows, Linux and Macintosh native versions. Any version of exacqVision client can connect to any version of exacqVision server.
October 6th, 2009
At ASIS 2009 next week (Sept 21-23) we’re participating in a four-booth live demonstration of IP technology interoperability.
Exacq (booth #347), Firetide (booth #447), IQinVision (booth #353) and Pivot3 (booth #453) will be showing a real-world example of how easily standards-based solutions from open-system vendors can be integrated and supported from the field.
The live demonstration will feature wireless distribution, storage, and playback of HD/megapixel video over a wireless network across these four separate booths on the ASIS show floor.
Video from IQeye megapixel cameras in each booth will be streamed over a Firetide wireless mesh network connecting the four booths. The video will be subsequently captured and displayed remotely using the exacqVision Video Management System (VMS) running on Pivot3 iSCSI SAN storage with embedded virtual servers. Centrally captured video will then be viewable and searchable from remote computers in each of the partner booths and on smartphones.
A detailed description of the demo is in this flyer. The press release for the demo is here.
September 16th, 2009
A couple of months back we blogged about an amazing sleight-of-hand jewelry store theft in Philadelphia in March of a $47,000 engagement ring. The theft was discovered and the perpetrator caught because of sharp, clear video surveillance footage from a recently-installed exacqVision system and IQeye megapixel IP cameras.
The November issue of Security Products magazine has devoted a rather in-depth look at the theft. Sherleen Mahoney, associate editor for the magazine, starts out:
Love often drives people to do some crazy things. One man, Larry J. Hopkins, tried to steal his way into a woman’s heart. On March 14, he entered Carroll’s Jewelers in Doylestown, Penn. After more than two hours of looking at various engagement rings (i.e., waiting for the right moment), he palmed a $47,000 three-carat diamond solitaire ring in a platinum setting, one of the most expensive rings in the store, when the salesperson’s back was turned. Within two minutes, he was gone—and the salesperson didn’t realize the theft until a few minutes later.
We previously posted the frame-by-frame, digitally zoomed-in images of the actual theft here. Ms. Mahoney continues on:
In a lucky twist of fate, a few months prior to the incident, Access Security Corp. of Warminster, Penn., a provider of integrated security systems, had upgraded the jewelry store’s legacy CCTV system, which consisted of a 10-year-old time-lapse VCR system linked to four analog cameras. The system had been replaced with an Exacq Technologies hybrid NVR and two megapixel cameras from IQinVision.
Dan Cogan, president of Access Security, was called in to bring the surveillance system up-to-date with the latest IP cameras. The store also wanted to continue to use their analog cameras:
“Using existing infrastructure was important to the client,” Cogan said. “The exacqVision hybrid NVR system was chosen because it allowed us to integrate the existing analog cameras with the new high-resolution megapixel cameras from IQinVision.”
After realizing the theft had occurred, retrieving the video evidence and exporting it for law enforcement was easy:
A powerful feature of exacqVision is exacqReplay, which provides instant playback of video from any camera simply by right-clicking in that camera’s window panel and selecting the desired time segment, up to the last 15 minutes. This is a useful tool to assess alarms, as well as to quickly review something that just happened. The video or individual images can be easily exported for e-mailing, printing or burning to a CD or DVD.
It was the IQeye 753 that provided the critical surveillance video that led to Hopkins’ arrest. The video clearly shows a white man in his 50s with salt-and-pepper hair, wearing a navy baseball cap with a tan trim, a black leather jacket, blue jeans, a polo shirt and wireless glasses, holding the ring and quickly covering it with his fingers. Access Security exported approximately 10 minutes of video and still images to a CD for the police and media.
The thief, Larry Hopkins, was caught in two days, and was sentenced to up to 23 months in the county jail. And he did it all for love:
According to a local newspaper, when the prosecutor asked Hopkins why he did it, Hopkins answered, “For love. I loved her so much that I went out of my mind.”
- The complete Security Products story is here.
- The original blog post with frame-by-frame images of the theft is here.
The original, high-resolution video clip is available to all exacqVision resellers. It makes for an amazing demo of the capabilities of the product. If you do not already have this clip, contact us here.
November 11th, 2008
A recent article in Government Security News entitled Success Story: Megapixel cameras lead to quick arrests highlights the advantages of megapixel IP cameras. The article explains:
The installation of IQinVision megapixel cameras at a jewelry store in Pennsylvania by Access Security Corp., an integrator based in Warminster, PA, was more successful. In a recent incident, a man allegedly stole a $47,000 engagement ring from the jewelry store. The man, who spent more than two hours in the store, was able to palm an engagement ring while the salesperson was busy putting away multiple rings he had already viewed.
A few months prior to the incident, Access Security had upgraded the jewelry store’s standard resolution camera system with IQeye megapixel cameras and an Exacq Technologies DVR.
The upgraded surveillance system caught the entire crime on video. That evening, Access Security was called to help retrieve the video. After positively identifying the man stealing the ring, Access Security exported the video to a CD for the police department and created a still photo for the local newspapers. After the picture appeared in the local papers, it took only two days for the police to apprehend the suspect. The owner of the jewelry store was impressed. “With our old CCTV system, we would not have been able to catch this guy and our ring would be gone,” the store owner said.
The chief deputy district attorney was quoted saying the video was “critical” to the arrest.
The customer enthusiastically shared the video clip with IQeye and us, and the pictures tell the whole story. The image detail and clarity from the IQeye 703 megapixel camera is simply astonishing. The video clip of the incident was exported from the exacqVision NVR system. The exacqVision player allows anyone to then view the exported video, step frame by frame forward and backward, digitally zoom and pan around the video, save off specific images as JPEG files, save off clip segments as AVI files, and so forth.
Here is a scaled-down image of the full camera view (click to view the full original 2048×1536 image):
Using the exacqVision Player, we used the digital zoom to look at six successive frames where the actual theft occurs. In this first frame the alleged thief is looking at the ring; the clerk is distracted throughout.
In the next frame he is getting ready to palm the ring in his left hand.
The next frame shows the ring actually being palmed in his left hand:
The next frame shows him getting ready to grab another ring to look at:
And the next frame, with the three smaller fingers in his left hand concealing the palmed ring:
And the next frame. When the clerk finally looks back up, he appeared to be still holding the original ring, and the clerk was not aware one was missing.
A low-res version of the video clip is here. The frames above occur at 1:54 in:
Our thanks to both IQeye and Access Security Corp for this successful exacqVision NVR installation. They can be reached as follows:
August 20th, 2008
One of the key benefits of IP video surveillance is the ability to take advantage of unique features embedded in the IP camera processor. Motion detection, region of interest, cropping and masking zones, network auto-discovery, and analytics, are all examples of features being added to the processors in various IP cameras. Utilizing these features at the edge results in higher optimization and system performance than with the old method of handling all of that functionality in the computer’s CPU.
The exacqVision architecture maximizes use of IP camera features at the edge. By utilizing motion detection at the camera end, the exacqVision software gets the most optimized and accurate algorithms for motion detection for a given camera. By offloading that processing work to the camera edge, the server CPU requirements are minimal. This enables us to connect large numbers of megapixel cameras while still maintaining very low processor usage. That means less expensive systems, higher reliability, greater performance, and vast scalability.
IQinvision makes a full line of megapixel IP cameras and have been a leader in implementing unique features at the camera end. To promote those features, IQinvision recently did their own evaluation of several NVR software packages and assembled a Supported Features Matrix. Of the seven major NVR software products they reviewed, exacqVision lead the list by supporting 14 unique IQinvision camera features. Down the list was Milestone/OnSSI with 11 features supported, and Genetec’s Omnicast with only 5 features supported.
Our thanks to IQinvision for assembling this data. You can view the IQeye Supported Features Matrix here, or click on the image below.
May 23rd, 2008
On Thursday we joined our Erlanger, KY-based reseller Emerge IT Solutions and forty of their customers for product demonstrations and a baseball game at the Great American Ballpark - home of the Cincinnati Reds. In addition to having a beautiful day to watch the Reds play the Astros, the guests got to see the latest technology offered by Emerge: data storage, structured cabling and wireless infrastructure, and physical security solutions with the exacqVision VMS software.
Emerge is a leading IT provider in the Ohio and Kentucky area, and has recently begun offering physical security to their clients as part of the overall IT mix. It’s a perfect fit for them. They already supply their customers with audiovisual solutions and IT systems infrastructure. In many cases, they built these networks from the ground up. Adding physical security to the network is the next logical step, with IP cameras and exacqVision IP video management software.
Several products were on display in the suite. Connected to the exacqVision system were two Axis 207MW IP cameras inside the suite, and one IQeye 855 5-Mpixel Sentinel Series mounted outside the suite to provide a detailed view of the stadium.
Our thanks to Emerge for putting on such a great customer-oriented event. Emerge can be reached as follows:
Web: www.emergeits.com
e-mail: sales@emergeits.com
April 27th, 2008
Our friends at Earth Security Electronics, an exacqVision integrator in Glen Burnie, MD, sent along some impressive images of license plate captures from an exacqVision video surveillance system they recently installed. Among other things, the customer wanted clear shots of the license plates of all cars leaving his business, which was open 24 hours. The challenge was getting a clear shot of the plates under both day and night conditions. Compounding that, the cars are moving as the images are taken.
For each of the entrances, Earth Security used two IQeye 755 5-Megapixel IP cameras from IQinvision, each pointing at the same location. They attached high-quality Fujinon lenses to the cameras, and tuned one camera for optimized daytime capture, and tuned the other camera for optimized nighttime capture. The results are spectacular. These cameras were part of a larger network of surveillance cameras connected to exacqVision VMS Hybrid servers. The images below were exported from the exacqVision system.
Earth Security can be reached via the web here, or by phone at 1-410-766-1993. IQinvision can be reached via the web here.
Click on each of the images below for the full 2560×1920 resolution image.
April 1st, 2008
Continuing the exacqVision Version 2.9 new feature preview: Another of the major new features in Version 2.9 is Megapixel Camera Cropping.
The IP megapixel cameras from IQeye and Arecont Vision can produce spectacular images with great detail. With those increased-resolution images also comes increased file sizes and increased network bandwidth usage.
In many cases, there are areas in each megapixel camera image that are not necessary to view or record. For example, an exterior camera aimed at a parking lot may also include sky or buildings or landscaping in the view, which you do not need to record. With the new Cropping feature of exacqVision, you can crop out those areas you don’t wish to record, thereby maintaining the high-resolution for the areas you do want to see, but reducing file sizes and network bandwidth usage.
This feature is particularly useful for systems that may have a large number of IP megapixel cameras connected.
Dan and Roger created a YouTube video for this feature as well:
A full Blog post on all of the Version 2.9 features will hit when we release the new version.
December 31st, 2007
We have just released Version 2.8 of the exacqVision video surveillance software, for all exacqVision Hybrid and IP NVR systems. This latest release, compatible with all exacqVision systems, continues our quest to issue incremental releases (about every six weeks) in response to customer-requested features and enhancements.
Version 2.8 can be downloaded here.
Key features in the Version 2.8 Release:
- Multi-Monitor Drag-and-Drop – drag any video camera into any monitor in a multi-monitor client
- Instant Zoom Box – instantly zoom in on any selected area of the screen on both live and playback
- New IP Camera Support - support added for Vivotek IP cameras, as well as the new Sentinel Series of external IP cameras from IQinvision
- Exhanced Axis IP Camera Features - support for Axis’ new HTTP Digest Authentication
- Expanded PTZ Procols - Bosch, GE-Impac, GE-ASCII PTZ protocols added
- Searched Image Export Enhancements - quick copy searched image to clipboard
Here are some of these features in detail:
Enhanced Multi-Monitor Mode
Drag-and-Drop videos between monitors
Version 2.8 has significant enhancements for running multiple monitors on a client station. Perhaps the most significant is the ability to drag any video camera - either the video window or the camera name from the camera tree - into any other viewing pane of any other monitor.
Creating video walls, or having specific functions in each monitor: viewing in one, search in another, event monitoring in another, the multi-monitor mode of the exacqVision client is very powerful.
Video Demo - We’ve created a video demonstrating the capabilities of the exacqVision multi-monitor mode, which you can view here:
Instant Zoom Box
Press Control-Z in the exacqVision client, and use the mouse to draw a rectangle around any area of an image for instant zooming to that section of the image.
Enhanced Axis IP Camera Support
Security - To further strengthen the security of their video products, Axis added support for HTTP Digest Authentication in most of their products. HTTP Digest Authentication is used for more secure authentication over both HTTP and RTSP. exacqVision Version 2.8 now supports Digest Authentication in Axis cameras.
Enhanced PTZ Presets - Version 2.8 adds more robust PTZ preset modes for the Axis 212, 215 and 233D cameras.
New IP Camera Models Supported
Vivotek - Added support for the entire line of 6000-series and 7000-series Vivotek IP cameras.
IQinvision - Added support for the new Sentinel Series of all-weather outdoor POE IP cameras.
The complete list of exacqVision supported IP cameras is available here
New PTZ Protocols Supported
Additional PTZ protocols for analog PTZ cameras for use on exacqVision Hybrid Servers have been added. These new protocols include Bosch, GE-Impac, and GE-ASCII.
exacqVision Linux Status
We are getting closer to officially releasing the Linux version of exacqVision. For our current Linux Beta Testers, we have updated the exacqVision Linux release to Version 2.8 as well, and you can download that using the same download links we provided you initially.
The first release of exacqVision Linux will be based on the Ubuntu 6.06 distribution, and will be identical in form and function in every way to our Windows version of exacqVision. Both client and server will be available in Linux versions across our product line. You can freely mix and match: Windows clients can be connected to Linux servers, and vice-versa.
We anticipate releasing exacqVision Linux by the end of November, 2007.
We continue to make a great deal of progress with our feature set. We released Version 2.0 in December of 2006, and have had steady releases every few weeks since then. Here’s our growing list recapping some of the recent release highlights:
Version 2.7 Release, August 8, 2007
- Virtual Matrix Switching & Event Monitoring
- Increased Data Authentication
- Playback Enhancements
- Panoramic Camera Support
Version 2.6 Release, June 19, 2007
- exacqReplay
- Joystick Support
- Shortcut Function Key Support
- New Wide-Screen Modes
Version 2.5 Release, May 7, 2007
- Bandwidth Throttling
- View Tour & Enhancements
- Enhanced exacqRecall
Version 2.4 Release, March 27, 2007
- Arecont & Panasonic IP Camera Support
- Audio support on Axis Cameras
- Time-Lapse Mode
- Pre-Motion Recording
Going back further, we had IP Camera Finder in Version 2.3 (Feb 07), Multi-Monitor support in Version 2.2 (Jan 07), and many, many other enhancements and bug fixes.
As always, the latest versions of exacqVision client and server software can easily and quickly be copied over existing versions while retaining all user settings. Version 2.8 of exacqVision is available on our Downloads page.
October 31st, 2007
