Combining Technology for Day and Night Vision

Grouped together under the Discoverii product name, Secura Systems provide a range of day/night cameras that meet perimeter surveillance demands of up to 3 km at night and 10 km by day.

Critical assets such as power supply installations, chemical plants and government premises as well as leisure and entertainment venues often require video surveillance over the long distances around their borders. However, the cost of installing dozens of cameras along the boundary would be prohibitive so the answer lies in using cameras that provide sharp images over long ranges, and also at night. This has traditionally been achieved by utilizing general infra-red illumination that can be ‘seen' by conventional cameras. The image clarity though often leaves something to be desired and, at a long range, only shows blobs of movement.

Secura have developed a patent-pending laser illumination system that provides sharp images, even under zero light conditions. These appear close to what the human eye normally sees, with people and faces being recognizable and writing easily readable. The laser works together with a synchronized CCD imaging element and delivers clear grayscale pictures in night mode. Active illumination means that the view in shot is always lit at night, even if glass is in between the camera and the object under scrutiny, without producing any shadows. During the day, the cameras deliver sharp, full-color video over an even longer distance.

One Part of the Solution
But having images to look at is only one part of any comprehensive security concept, which would normally include other sensory elements such as fence or microwave sensors, ground radar, proximity sensors or wide-area thermal systems. The Discoverii camera system can be seamlessly integrated into an existing security infrastructure, interacting with Pelco D, American Dynamics, ICD-1000 and other transmission protocols to provide sensor-to-PTZ response. It can also automatically respond to alerts generated by other devices that provide GPS coordinates or it can be programmed to follow predetermined tours to provide automated area scanning.

Thanks to the sharp images, intelligent video analysis software produces much better results than when it is coupled only with thermal imaging systems. The accompanying Omnii situational awareness software package deals with the potential difficulties of retaining an overview while analyzing close-up images of a particular area. It enables the operator to point and click on a static panoramic image of the entire viewing field and to synchronize the live image with any chosen part of the static picture. The GUI is intuitive and does not require lengthy operator training before being effective.

The Broad View
The Discoverii range includes three camera models to address different detection ranges. The model 1000 enables human detection during the day at a distance of up to 3 km, up to 1.5 km at night. Using this camera it is possible to positively identify a person at 180 m distance. The continuous optical zoom provides a variable angle of daytime view between 2.2° and 55°. This narrows to between 0.6° and 6° to provide pinpoint accuracy during nighttime operation.

The model 2000 extends human detection capability up to 6 km during the day (2 km during the night) with absolute identification possible at up to 400 m away. Here the power of the 22x optical zoom can be effectively increased with a 2x extender to double the image size on the 1/3" CCD.
Top of the range is currently occupied by the model 3000 with an astounding human detection range of 10 km by day and an equally impressive 3 km by night. The 60x optical zoom utilized here enables positive human identification at up to 1,000 m, day or night. The field of view is correspondingly narrow ranging from 0.18° to 2.1° by day and 0.4° to 4° by night.

The effective combination of near infra-red, continuous wave laser illumination with the synchronized CCD of the Discoverii range provides far greater coverage than is usual from cameras of this category. Cost and effort savings can then be made by strategic system planning, with corresponding reductions in cabling and other infrastructure.