Ultra-Wide Lenses Powering Security System For California School District
The Murrieta Valley Unified School District in southern California has awarded a contract to upgrade its security system at 18 schools and an administration facility. The system specified Theia’s ultra-wide lenses.
At one of the district’s high schools a security system upgrade will replace 170 existing analog cameras with just 43 IQinVision megapixel cameras using ultra wide lenses from Theia Technologies. Datatel Wiring Products of Riverside, Calif. won the competitive bid to install the $1 million system which will be completed by March 2009.
“What’s remarkable about the system we’ve designed is that with Theia’s wide- angle high resolution lens, we can cover the same area more cost effectively,” said John Frisbie, vice president of Johnson Consulting Engineers of Poway, Calif., the company hired to design the security system for the school district.
The lens, which provides a 135 degree horizontal field of view, uses Theia’s Linear Optical Technology to optically correct the barrel (fisheye) distortion found in other wide angles lenses, without any software.
“Theia’s lens allows you to consistently cover a very large area, and digitally zoom in 60 to 70 feet to get an image that allows a legal description” Frisbie said. “No other lens can do this.”
“Economy wasn’t the biggest driver in specifying our security system; student and staff safety was,” said Murrieta district Assistant Superintendent Bill Olien. “With Theia’s lens and megapixel camera technology we accomplish that -our new system will provide greater visibility by covering a greater area, with better clarity, definition and detail. With that said, system reliability and up time is very important. Using Theia’s lens will enable us to have far fewer megapixel cameras in the new system making for a much simpler and less costly system to maintain.”