IP Products

South African mall

by Mark Rowe

A case study of Somerset Mall in South Africa’s Western Cape Province which has made the transition to IP CCTV surveillance.

Working with local systems-integrator, SSC Infrasek, Somerset Mall has installed 130 Hikvision network cameras.

Western Cape’s third largest shopping centre, opened in 1993, Somerset Mall is on the N2 Freeway that connects Cape Town to Port Elizabeth and Durban. The mall now houses 204 stores extending over more than 1.3 km, all with single level access. Ofh a total of 4,500 parking bays, 700 are under cover. An Adventure Arena includes a ten-pin bowling alley, a games arcade and an eight-screen movie complex.

The complex now attracts an average of 200,000 visitors a week. However, the CCTV security system had not kept pace with the growing numbers of visitors and shoppers.

Mario Groenewald, technical manager at SSC Infrasek, says: “When we looked at the entirety of the security challenges facing the mall, we quickly realised that simply supplementing the existing analogue system was not going to work. The expansion of the shopping precinct to 1.3 km of storefronts together with the new Arena and extensive car parks had stretched the old system almost to its limits. Increasing levels of surveillance in the pedestrian areas and in the extensive car parks was a priority and we were also conscious that the mall is very innovative and successful in attracting visitors to its unique blend of attractions. Therefore, further expansion of the site is quite likely and any proposed CCTV system would have to be capable of coping with this expansion.

“Having been tasked with implementing a comprehensive CCTV system to maintain security throughout the whole complex, we decided that the only realistic solution was to replace the whole of the existing analogue system with a fully IP CCTV system, based upon 130 Hikvision network cameras supplied through their local distributor, Sensor Limited.”

According to Mario, the choice of Hikvision technology was based on a number of factors. “The wide range of cameras and options available to us meant that we could select the right camera for the job without compromising the design objectives. We had also used Hikvision products in other projects and found them to be robust and reliable, delivering very high quality images whilst remaining cost-effective. Finally, Hikvision has successfully delivered many similar projects around the world and offered us great support all the way from system design through to implementation.”

Pictured is a view of part of the mall from the inside through a Hikvision CCTV camera.

Inside

For the inside of the mall, SSC Infrasek chose the DS-2CD7153-E network mini dome.

Inside the vandal proof IP66 rated housing, the camera is based around a one-third inch progressive scan CMOS image sensor, offering 2 megapixel HD resolution (1600 x 1200 pixels), dual real-time video streams of up to 720p, and offers a choice of H.264, MPEG4 and MJPEG video compression. The DS-2CD7153-E model is fitted with a 4 mm F1.8 lens – 2.8, 6 and 8 mm versions are also available – and offers a wide 68 degree viewing angle. The unit also offers three axis adjustment at installation and Hikvision’s ePTZ capability for viewing control.

A total of 100 DS-2CD7153-E models were installed around the interior of the mall.

SSC Infrasek opted to install 30 Hikvision DS-2DF1-518 PTZ network high speed domes to protect the outside of the mall and the 3800 outside parking spaces.

At the heart of the DS-2DF1-518 is a 36x F1.8 zoom lens that takes 5.4 seconds to go from wide open to fully zoomed. With 16x digital zoom, this 3.4 – 122.4 mm lens is backed up with a quarter-inch” Sony Super HAD CCD image sensor inside a weatherproof IP66 housing.

This combination of 36x zoom, 3D intelligent positioning and the built-in PTZ control means that operators can maintain surveillance over large panoramas whilst retaining the ability to focus on any area of interest. The camera also has an IR cut filter, for seamless day and night operation down to a minimum 0.2 lux in colour and 0.02 lux in black and white.

Mario Groenewald says: “The successful implementation of South Africa’s first IP surveillance solution in a shopping centre environment is an impressive demonstration of SSC Infrasek’s design and implementation expertise that is set to bring in more IP projects in the coming months. It is also an expression of Hikvision’s commitment to producing the most technologically advanced cameras and making them available to every market in the world.”

Visit – www.hikvision.com.

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