The IP Camera and IP CCTV Blog

From today both our online stores, one for IP camera sales in the USA and one for IP camera sales in the UK and Europe, have a fixed-width in your browser window.

We know it’s only a small change, and perhaps it doesn’t make that much of a difference to our customers, but we think it’s made our websites that little bit easier on the eye. And what’s easier on the eye is easier to navigate around, we think.

We hope it makes a difference to the experience you might have buying CCTV equipment through those websites.

Greg, in our technical team has made a comprehensive evaluation of Panasonic’s newest IP Camera in the BL range - the BL-C160.

Greg’s thorough write-up talks about the camera’s unique features such as the built-in light and its Power over Ethernet capability, as well as going some day and night comparison shots for image quality analysis.

Read the BL-C160 IP Camera Evaluation here >>

Milestone has just announced the release of version 6.5 of their XProtect Professional and XProtect Basis+ IP video software.

Some of the exciting new features are:

Two-way Audio (XProtect Professional)

Now the XProtect Professional Server is capable of transmitting audio to remote speakers using the Smart Client’s microphone feature.

Optimised Storage and Bandwidth Usage (XProtect Professional)

Bandwidth optimised multi-streaming only opens a single video stream from the camera and is able to split it into 2. One stream for live viewing and one for recording. This allows you to save valuable storage space by reducing the frame rate of recorded video while maintaining a fast, smooth frame rate for live monitoring.

Improved Archiving (XProtect Professional)

Archiving has been improved with hourly archiving which addresses the greater storage needs for megapixel cameras. Dynamic archiving enables spanning across several disks as an alternative to direct assignment of drive and path for each database. Archive retention time can now be set on a per camera basis and a forced archive is possible if the database is close to full.

Megapixel cameras and H.264 support (XProtect Professional and Basis+)

New compression formats are now supported in both XProtect Professional and XProtect Basis+. This sees the introduction of MxPEG (which is a format unique to the Mobotix range of cameras) and H.264, the emerging standard which introduces more efficient compression giving a significant reduction in bandwidth and storage requirements. It also supports the MPEG-4 ASP standard which includes a number of technical features designed to reduce bandwidth.

Multi-lingual XProtect Smart Client Interface (XProtect Professional and Basis+)

New features:

• Two-way audio ‘press-to-talk’ button (two-way audio not available on Basis+)
• Controllable carousel windows
• Start recording by simply right-clicking in a camera view
• Dynamic actions - assign outputs, PTZ presets, events and views as actions to joystick buttons and keyboard shortcuts
• Wash and wipe equipment is now supported for PTZ cameras and be activated from the smart client
• AVI export with audio automatically included in evidence extraction
• Digital zoom within images is now a default for fixed cameras to improve viewing details
• Choose from 17 languages in the Smart Client GUI and help system

Availability

We are selling these products right now. For more information see:

Milestone XProtect Professional

Milestone XProtect Basis+

Network Webcams, recognising the need for businesses to make cost savings but to retain control over their CCTV and video surveillance needs, has launched its CCTV Deal of the Week available on purchases made from its IP camera store.

The Deal of the Week is currently available to UK and European customers and will shortly become available to customers within the USA. Customers elsewhere can still take advantage of these great value deals by calling 0151 633 2111 (+44 151 633 2111 from outside the United Kingdom).

The company’s first Deal of the Week is MILESTONE RECORDING SOFTWARE - GET A 6 CAMERA LICENSE FOR THE PRICE OF 4.

Axis have just announced that they have increased their global market share from 32% to 33.5%.

The data comes from IMS Research’s latest report on the state of the CCTV and Video Surveillance market and covers sales in 2007.

Network Webcams supplies Axis CCTV equipment in both direct sales and CCTV system installation capacities.

Network Webcams’ head office in Wirral, UK, is moving to bigger premises to accommodate continuing growth. The new office is located only 5 minutes from Network Webcams’ previous base, keeping travel times for staff the same. The move is taking place during week commencing 3rd November 2008 and the company expects their head office to be back to normal operation by Monday 10th November. During the move, all customers are served from Network Webcams’ technical department based near Edinburgh, Scotland.

The new address for Network Webcams’ head office is:

124E Market Street
Hoylake
Wirral
CH47 3BH
United Kingdom

All telephone and fax numbers remain unchanged.

Network Webcams is a specialist firm in IP video, providing Networked CCTV and Remote Monitoring solutions as well as Construction Webcam Systems, Webcam Hosting and Video Streaming services.

It’s been a long time coming but ONVIF, the IP Video standards-setting collaboration between Axis, Bosch and Sony, is finally running and available to join. We’ll be following and, hopefully, contributing to the project and we fully support the standardisation of network video.

Read more

Axis recently announced they have started to ship an alternative lens with their Axis 211M megapixel IP camera. The new lens is by Tamron and is a designed specifically for megapixel use.

The specification of the lens is almost identical to the previous one: CS-mount, 3.0-8.0mm, vari-focal, DC-iris, F1.0, horizontal viewing angle: 37 degrees (tele) - 90 degrees (wide) and the lens itself it slightly longer by about 15mm but should still fit any any standard outdoor enclosure.

As the new lens is designed for megapixel use it offers higher image quality with more detail and sharpness than before. This is especially suited to IP CCTV monitoring and recording applications where high levels of detail are required. Take a look at an example image taken from the new lens:

We have written a full evaluation which is available from our online IP Camera Learning and Resource Center:

Evaluation: Axis 211M Static Megapixel IP Camera, Now Supplied With New Megapixel Lens

For more information about the Axis 211M:

Axis 211M Static Megapixel IP Camera