Instituting Security

Atlanta-based technical innovation installs PTZ cameras at institute for advanced research

• By Del V. Salvi
• Aug 08, 2007

THE Institute for Advanced Learning and Research in Danville, Va., is a state-of-the-art facility built in 2005 to serve as a catalyst for economic and community transformation in an area recently impacted by the loss of thousands of manufacturing jobs.

By providing advanced learning programs, strategic research and technology transfer conferences, and outreach and technology programs in the region of south Virginia, IALR is helping the community's workforce to adapt to a changing economy. Another part of IALR's mission of bringing advanced technology and recruiting top-notch talent to the region involves partnering with local colleges and universities, which use the facility as a research hub. IALR also is used as a meeting space, with conference rooms and a convention center available to rent.

At any given time, the population of the facility includes a mix of student and faculty researchers, conference attendees and members of the community. Such heavy traffic necessitates a comprehensive network of security cameras, which are provided by the Morrisville, N.C., regional office of Atlanta-based integrator Technical Innovation. The company, which had previously installed an award-winning A/V system at IALR, chose 37 Canon VB-C50iR network video solutions PTZ camera for the facility's security system.

"Because of its environment—it is open—people come and go all the time, and there are entrances and spaces within the facility that are essentially unsecured, but at the same time are important to be monitored," said Gary Benzine, director of Technical Innovation. "The intent of the system is to provide video monitoring and surveillance for these areas, which include out-of-the-way entrances, frequently unoccupied nooks and crannies in the research area and the education spaces. Clearly, it is necessary to thoroughly monitor the comings and goings at the facility."

One of the schools that IALR is in a consortium with is Virginia Tech. Recent events there underscore the importance of video security. With 12 cameras outside the IALR building in protective weather-tight domes and another 25 cameras located throughout the building, students, professors and visitors have peace of mind, knowing they're in a well-monitored area.

A Reputation of Excellence
Canon's NVS cameras, including the two-way audio-equipped VB-C50iR PTZ, provide the performance and versatility professionals demand for compact, remote video-monitoring solutions. NVS cameras transmit video over IP, allowing users to send high-quality video images through the Internet or a LAN connection. Users have the option of viewing scenes from multiple locations, having many individuals view a single location or a combination of the two. This allows the video feed to be in several places at once.

The camera includes such features as an advanced 26x optical zoom lens, a 12x digital zoom and a 340K effective pixel CCD that delivers crisp 640- x 480-pixel resolution video with up to 30 fps. It also features a pan of +/- 170 degrees and tilt of +10/-90 degrees, which is well-suited for motion tracking. With screen-monitoring software, camera PTZ adjustments can be controlled remotely via the Internet, as well.

With Canon's history of delivering improved images through top-of-the-line optics, the choice was a natural one for Technical Innovation, as was the three-step backlight control of the VB-C50iR, which can increase the brightness of shaded regions without affecting lighter areas.

"Additionally, the cameras had some characteristics that were unique in the marketplace, such as adjusting and compensating for light when shooting at a door or window, so that you can still see the person coming through the door. That was a key factor in this installation," Benzine said.

Software That Isn't Hard
Easy-to-use monitoring software was especially important to Benzine.

"People that are monitoring and using the software are administrative-level individuals, they are not IT professionals," he said. "The software needed to be able to be operated by that level of personnel, so we felt that this particular implementation required intuitiveness and simplicity."

Technical Innovation recently installed Version 1.3 VK-64 network video recording software at IALR. This enables the VB-C50iR PTZ camera to interface over IP with all existing NVS cameras. The software provides the ability to view and record high-quality, full-motion video over IP from as many as 64 network cameras on a single PC storage server. Because this video is nonlinear, archiving and search functions are fast and efficient. Video can be recorded, managed and accessed by computer, simplifying storage and playback. The software also features a wide variety of options, including camera control, which gives viewers an array of camera-adjustment choices such as exposure, white balance and auto panel.

The expandability of an IP network also was vital to the project, as IALR has plans to add more buildings to the campus.

"It was essential that the network be IP-based," Benzine said. "Currently there are three other buildings in the process of being built and a fourth one in the planning stages. We needed to select a system that we really could easily add to."

The installation of the Canon VB-C50iR cameras went smoothly, and IALR has been pleased with the results. The scalability of the cameras and software, combined with the image quality and ease of installation, made an indelible impression on Benzine.

"The quality is outstanding—the simple implementation of the networking infrastructure, and the features and performance of the VB-C50iR cameras," he said.