The superbikes and other assets of the Samsung Crescent Racing team are kept secure with high resolution CCTV….
During the racing season the team transports its motorcycles and equipment around the UK in a DAF XF truck, more than 30 tons when fully laden. The team manager, Jack Valentine was concerned that the more successful the team became, the more attention it would attract from souvenir hunters, or the more malicious. Hence the priority to protect the truck from unwanted visitors. Valentine said: “The truck itself is an extremely valuable asset and during the racing season we cannot afford for it to be unavailable at anytime. More importantly we need to ensure the security of its contents and at race meetings, before we have had the opportunity to unload, that could include the superbikes as well as essential high tech equipment. Although not irreplaceable, we would suffer a major disruption to our race preparations if any of the equipment went missing or was damaged,” With Samsung’s Mobile division, the main sponsor of the team, Jack Valentine sought the advice of Tim Biddulph, Project Support Manager at Samsung Techwin Europe Ltd, who said: “It was quite an interesting challenge to specify the correct cameras for this particular application. Clearly the cameras had to be capable of capturing very high resolution images so that usable video evidence could be passed onto the police if necessary. The cameras also had to be small so that they would not spoil the aesthetics of the truck and sufficiently robust to withstand vibrations when the truck was on the move and the cameras on the outside of the truck also of course needed to be vandal-resistant.”
Tim recommended use of four SCV-2010F vandal resistant flat domes to cover inside and outside of the truck. The SCV-2010F domes incorporate Samsung Techwin’s W-5 DSP chipset which delivers high resolution image capture of 600 TV lines. Supplied with a 3.0mm lens to capture just under a 90 degree angle of view, the SCV-2010F is able to see a wide area and can be installed on a ceiling or wall. The recorder, a Samsung SRD-850DC, has eight input channels so more cameras can be added to the system if required.
The SRD-850DC uses Samsung’s high level H.264 compression to ensure superb picture quality, whilst minimising hard drive space and bandwidth requirements. It also features Virtual Progressive Scan (VPS) which eliminates the problem of blurred edges on moving objects to provide picture-perfect still frames. Other features include a fully removable back panel so that hard drives can be swapped or the unit upgraded.
“During a year which has seen our two riders John Hopkins and Jon Kirkham put in brilliant performances at the various British Superbike Championship races, we have been delighted with the performance of the Samsung CCTV system and how easy it has been to operate,” said Jack Valentine. “As you would expect, we are constantly vigilant with regard to the safe keeping of the truck and its contents and in this respect the CCTV system is proving to be an invaluable member of our successful team!”
