Questions and Answers from the Top: with Adam Cohen

• Aug 06, 2009

There are many companies that claim to have designed, assembled and tested their products in the United States, but for most of them, it is not true. DATUSA™ is a qualification created by USAG that certifies a product was fully designed, assembled and tested in the United States. There are many benefits to buying from a DATUSA supplier—and once users realize the benefits, it will be easy for them to spot the box-moving manufacturers.

Q. What is DATUSA, and how does it benefit installers and integrators?

A.DATUSA is an acronym for designed, assembled and tested in the United States. It not only ensures that you have the best made cameras, with the lowest failure rates on the market, but also that various components are assembled in such a way that maximizes performance every time. For example, many cameras with varifocal lenses when zoomed out have black rings around the picture.

The reason users see the black rings is because the camera was poorly assembled and the full potential of the camera's zoom range is lost. The specification sheet says "4 to 9 millimeter," but that is inaccurate.

DATUSA suppliers supplement the wide array of solutions with unique features like WeatherGuard, which seals the inside of the camera with SAE-AS-8660 military specification sealants. End users don't have to seal the cameras themselves or worry whether the cameras were properly sealed.

DATUSA also saves time and money because technologies operate consistently across all models. For example, the ultralow- light solution will have the exact same capabilities, and have the same onscreen display options, whether it is in an indoor dome camera, a bullet camera or some other model.

Q. What should installers and integrators look for in an IP solution?

A. The integration of a CCTV system on an IP network will invariably create design and support issues. Inhouse expertise is required to turn design obstacles into opportunities and discern whether technical support issues arose from the network side, the CCTV side of the equation or both.

There will be times when end users need to bridge the gap between IP and analog systems to lower the customer's total cost of ownership. You need a partner that can deliver a powerful solution that works simultaneously with IP and analog cameras. Hybrid video recorders are both powerful and cost effective, and you can have up to 32 analog and 32 IP cameras connected on the same system.

Setting your customers' expectations is of paramount importance. For example, integrators should communicate the limitations of megapixel IP cameras before installing such a system. There is no doubt they have their uses, but it is important to let customers know of the limitations.

Frame rate is one thing, but you are not going to get real-time display or recording at megapixel-level resolutions without the most costly solutions. The processing power is just not available. Another issue with most megapixel cameras is they perform poorly under low-light conditions.

Q. You believe low noise lowers total cost of ownership. Can you elaborate?

A. Low noise provides many benefits to the customer, including more storage space. Picture noise wastes massive amounts of storage when recording based on motion detection because the changes from frame to frame are actually recorded. Noise introduces a massive amount of change between frames.

DNR3D2 allows users to store far more video data on the hard drive. It also includes faster searches. Customers will not need to spend time searching through the extra noise data recorded in motion detection applications to find the video data they need.

There also is less wear and tear on a DVR/NVR. The more you are recording, the more you are wearing out your video recorder. Finally, there is less bandwidth. On IP systems, noise becomes a bottleneck, taking up bandwidth on the network and bogging down the system.

In addition to lower total cost of ownership, reduced noise allows users to set motion alerts without worrying about false alarms due to picture noise.

Q. Where do you see the future of the industry?

A. You can adapt to change faster by partnering with a reliable provider. When the next generation of sensor technology comes out, a reliable partner will be able to test the technology in-house and implement it in its current models quickly.

IP certainly looms large going forward. This leads to more complex setups and new challenges for the integrator and installer. The best solution under these conditions is to find a partner who can solve their problems. USAG is ahead of the curve in offering support for IP applications. We have experienced technicians available 24/7 who speak many languages and have experience in analog, IP and hybrid CCTV applications.

We think the future is bright as end users begin to realize that CCTV can be applied in applications that increase revenues or reduce costs, such as people counting or point of sale solutions. Delivering the right solutions to your customers will be the key.