With the launch of its new retrofit IP modules, Siemens Building Technologies has made it easy and inexpensive, the firm claims, to use analogue CCTV cameras in digital installations based on IP (Internet Protocol) technology.
Benefits, according to the manufacturer, are that analogue cameras typically provide better picture quality than their digital counterparts and, in many applications, they also offer extra versatility.
The new IP modules are available in two versions. One is for use with internal fixed and varifocal cameras, the other is for use with cameras in the IP66 vandal-resistant monochrome, colour and day-night range.
Both types feature an integrated web server, which allows images to be viewed with an ordinary web browser, such as Internet Explorer with Java plug-in. Live video images can be embedded in HTML pages, and video streams from the new modules can be saved using a SISTORE MX digital video recorder, made by the firm.
The introduction of these modules means, Siemens Building Technologies says, that it can now offer its customers a choice of ten cameras for use in IP-based solutions. Design of the modules makes them easy, it is claimed, to fit in existing dome-camera installations, allowing older analogue systems to be upgraded to the latest digital standards. The new IP modules allow the connection of a local monitor for picture adjustment. They also provide options for the camera functions (BLC, etc) to be set up using either DIP switches or a PC connected via a cable which is supplied with the module. Siemens Building Technologies adds that it will, in the near future, be releasing an IP day/night box camera for use in infra-red applications.
