The IP Camera and IP CCTV Blog

Another new product from Axis launches with H.264 and PoE support. The Axis M3011 is an ultra-compact fixed dome IP camera designed for security installations in shops, department stores, shopping centres, hotels, schools etc.

With an innovative design it has been developed purely for easy recessed fitting into drop-ceilings. The camera is inserted into a 70mm recess where spring loaded clips hold it in place. To finish, the dome cover is placed over the lens and held on by magnets. For more information see the below video:

Features include H.264 compression which allows the camera to operate at vastly reduced bit-rates making up to 80% saving compared to MJPEG or 30-50% saving against MPEG-4 with no loss of image quality. This makes savings on network bandwidth and storage requirements. The camera is also IEEE802.3af Power over Ethernet compliant so it can be installed using a single standard Ethernet cable in almost any location with no need for expensive power cabling to be run to the camera position.

For more information:

Axis M3011 Compact Fixed Dome IP Camera

Today Axis launch the M7001 which is an ultra compact video encoder with PoE and H.264 support.

In the current economic climate it wouldn’t be surprising to us if companies and organisations decide to upgrade their aging analogue CCTV equipment at their own pace, migrating to digital IP in stages rather than purchasing a completely new IP CCTV system all at once.

This is where a device such as the M7001 is useful.  It will allow one existing analogue CCTV camera to be converted for broadcast over IP-based networks (such as a local area network or the Internet).  This provides a cost-effective way of migrating an existing analogue CCTV system to a fully digital IP CCTV system, one step at a time.

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Panasonic have announced details of 2 new cameras which will supersede their BL-C1 and BL-C20 home security/pet cams.

The BL-C101 and BL-C121 have the same overall appearance as the previous models.  They retain the stylish design of their predecessors and still sport a sleek white finish enabling them to be positioned in any contemporary home or office space without standing out.  The antenna for the wireless model (BL-C121) has been also removed and positioned internally to give a better, less obtrusive finish.

We’re not just interested in their looks though, they also have more features to offer than the previous models.

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We’ve updated our product listing to reflect the recent upgrade to Milestone XProtect Corporate 2.0b.

The upgrade contains the following new features:

• Added support for Microsoft Windows Vista Business, Enterprise and Ultimate (32-bit) and Windows Server 2008 (32-bit).
• Added H.264 support for selected devices. See the device pack release notes for information about the supported devices.
• Added IPv6 support.  See the device pack release notes for information about the supported devices.
• Download Manager is a new feature for managing which clients and other tools are available to users on the welcome page on the server.
• Server side installers for language packs lets an admin place different language options on the welcome page.
• Default preset feature.  It is now possible to mark a preset on a device as a default preset and create a rule to make the device move to the default preset based on a condition

For a full list of changes and improvements see the release notes:

Service Release Notes - Milestone XProtect Corporate 2.0b

For more information: 

Milestone XProtect Corporate 2.0b Base Server License

Milestone XProtect Corporate 2.0b Device Channel License

With the launch of Sony’s first Megapixel IP CCTV security cameras last year came the introduction of their new sensor technology, ExwavePRO.

ExwavePRO

The ExwavePRO sensor is a new CCD imaging sensor which is designed specifically for IP cameras. It benefits from progressive scan technology which eliminates the blurring caused by moving objects you would find when using interlace sensors.  It also uses a CMYG complimentary colour filter which provides greater levels of sensitivity when compared to RGB primary colour filters.

Image on the left is taken from a Sony SNC-DS10 with an ExwavePRO sensor, image on the right is taken from a conventional camera (progressive scan sensor with RGB filter).  Both at 0.7 lux illumination.

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