Sony ISSUE 3 User Manual

The Sony Guide to

CCTV

Issue

3

this is not a rehearsal.

Contents

Introduction

1

Case Studies

2

What is Closed Circuit Television?

6

When and Where should it be used?

7

Light

8

Choosing a Camera

11

Selecting the Correct Lens

15

Which Monitor?

18

Transmission of Video Signals

20

Video Switching and Multiplexing

23

CCTV Systems Control

25

Recording

26

Sony CCTV Products

28

Basic CCTV Terminology

32

Introduction

In recent years...

there has been no shortage of innovations in the CCTV
industry with manufacturers competing to better meet
the needs of crime prevention. Most visibly,more
surveillance cameras have appeared in more public areas
than ever before, proving their effectiveness and generating
interest in maximising the benefits of operating a surveillance
system.

The bewildering choice of different equipment and the desire for practical
knowledge in this area demonstrates that, as with most disciplines, a little research
into the subject will yield higher quality decisions and an improved cost/benefit
ratio. It is intended that this Guide should assist you to ask the right questions and
direct you towards the best possible solution.

The generalised use of crime statistics, of which there are many varieties, conceal
the fact that every situation is different and requires a tailored approach. Most
businesses, for example, take an economic approach to the use of security measures
– how much will a system cost and how much loss will it prevent? An often quoted
but nevertheless true precept is that businesses, particularly retail, often
underestimate the true extent of losses.The importance of conducting a detailed audit
and survey before even considering technology cannot be over-emphasised.

Where CCTV is used in town centre schemes, the principal objective is to
improve the quality of life for the inhabitants by reducing actual and perceived
crime. Continuing Government support for video surveillance in public areas reflects
the value of a properly specified scheme and its place in providing information for a
measured police response.

To be an effective deterrent,the system must provide actual as well as
theoretical results and be introduced as one part of an overall crime prevention
initiative.Where this ‘system credibility’ has been established,the greatest benefits
have been derived.

Included in this Guide are some examples of highly credible surveillance
schemes where the users have achieved the maximum benefit from their systems,
together with detailed background information on the selection and operation of
CCTV.We have also included information about how new technology is offering
higher levels of performance in video surveillance than ever before.

Brian Kelly,

Marketing Manager,CCTV & Components
Sony Broadcast & Professional UK

1

case study

Sony gives Newham

a clearer picture

Newham District Council has the largest local authority CCTV control room in
the country,monitoring over 200 cameras in the heart of London’s East End.

Recently,it has installed additional Sony Trinitron colour video monitors,bringing
the total in the system to 73 screens.As well as fighting crime,the system is used
for traffic surveillance, including monitoring a new bus lane system, controlling
vandalism, general council activity and ensuring local authority response to
maintenance problems.

The Newham Control Room is also the first in the country to use facial
recognition technology and has recently acquired a Sony Mavica digital camera.
The camera is being used in the prevention of doorstep fraud to build up a
database of employees for the production of ID cards.

The new colour video monitors – nine SSM-20N5E

and two SSM-14N5E – were chosen for their

clarity and sharpness of picture – particularly

suited to surveillance monitoring.The

Trinitron CRT (Cathode Ray Tube), which

has upgraded resolution from a typical

250 to 600 lines, gives a markedly
crisper and more stable image.The
face of the Trinitron is based on the

shape of a cylinder rather than a sphere

ensuring that not only is the geometry of

the image more accurate, but operator

eye-fatigue is reduced.

Operations Manager Bob Lack explains:“The
Council has a policy of making the best use of the technology currently available
and with the help of optimum funding obtained through the CCTV Challenge
scheme and support from local businesses, we have invested £2 million in the last
four years.

“We already had 54 Sony SSM-20 and eight SSM-14 monitors in the system,
some of which were installed when the control room was first set up five years
ago.As the control room monitors are never switched off,durability has also been
an important factor.”

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The Sony Guide to CCTV .Issue 3

case study

Underground

Security

Expanded

The latest phase in London Underground’s
multi-million pound refurbishment programme
includes the installation of 60 Sony CCTV
cameras at three of South London's busiest
central stations: Brixton, Pimlico and Vauxhall.

Part of an integrated passenger security system, pictures from the cameras at all
three stations can be selected and received at a specially built control room at the
Brixton station where Sony S-VHS time-lapse VCRs are located, providing real-time
recording when necessary.

At Vauxhall and Pimlico,individual control rooms are also equipped with two
Sony recorders set in real-time mode, which receive pictures from their own
station cameras.

The SSC-DC50P CCD colour cameras are line-fed, simplifying installation by using
a single coaxial cable to send both video and sync signals. Chosen for their high
degree of resolution and identification capability,the cameras are located on
platforms, in passages and ticket halls as well as close to the new Help Points where
customers can communicate with London Underground staff (or with British
Transport Police).

As British Transport Police Public Affairs Manager,Simon Lubin explains,crime on
the Underground has reduced by 22 per cent since 1990 with one important
contributing factor being the installation of CCTV throughout the system.

“CCTV is a vital weapon in the police armoury helping to prevent and deter crime,
as well as to detect it. Our customer surveys show that CCTV also reassures people
travelling and is an important investment by London Underground in passenger and
staff security.

“Officers are using CCTV daily as a key investigative tool to trace and confirm
identities of suspects, as well as to obtain evidence for presentation in court. If it is
to perform those functions effectively,picture quality has to be as high as possible.”

The SSC-DC50P cameras use digital signal processing and Sony HyperHAD
technology to achieve high quality pictures in the most demanding circumstances.

For more information contact the Sony Business Information Centre: 01932 816340

3

case study

Daewoo savings

with Sony PMS

In the face of rising manned guarding costs, Daewoo Cars has installed a new
remote surveillance alternative – a monitoring codec from Sony.

Daewoo was spending over £1 million a year on manned guarding services for its
25 forecourt and showroom sites until a remote video monitoring service
introduced a complete design, commissioning and monitoring package based

around remote CCTV surveillance.

Daewoo's brief was to protect
vehicles and premises while
allowing customers free access to
the forecourt even after showroom
hours.At the same time there had
to be an obvious deterrent and the
means to identify criminal activity
and summon assistance.

Key to the effective running of
the system has been a pilot of the
Sony PMS 400/500 at Daewoo’s
Slough showroom.

The Sony Codec is designed to
control CCTV equipment and
transmit information from any
number of remote sites, in the form
of high quality pictures and audio,
to a central point using a dial-up
ISDN telephone line.The use of the
ISDN line eliminates the
considerable costs associated with
the laying of cables for
transmission, such as fibre optics.

Any suspicious activity on a
Daewoo forecourt or in the

showroom, such as attempts to steal car radios, trim or wheels, can now be quickly
identified, confirmed and acted upon from the central monitoring station.

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The Sony Guide to CCTV .Issue 3

case study

Farsight Chooses

the HSR-1P

One of the UK’s largest remote video monitoring
companies has chosen the Sony HSR-1P to replace
its existing complement of time-lapse video recorders and multiplexers.

On a weekly basis Farsight (UK) Ltd, based in Peterborough,makes and receives in
excess of 20,000 video patrols/alarms from its diverse mix of clients situated
throughout the UK.

Farsight is currently using two HSR-1P digital surveillance recorders and 40
DV270 tapes to meet all its recording requirements. Farsight Operations Manager,
Paul Dadford,explains:“Traditionally, all video was recorded to VCR.However, as
each video receiver requires a VCR and at least 30 tapes, retrieving video data from
archive was a time-consuming, inefficient and labour-intensive task.”

Farsight’s R&D department was therefore tasked to provide a recording solution
that would reduce the time taken to retrieve archive video and reduce the overall
effort required to manage video recording across 14 video receivers.

Four digital surveillance recorders were chosen for evaluation. Only the HSR-1P
provided a complete integrated solution with the digital recording cached to hard
disk and then copied to the integral DV tape.

Paul Bromley,Farsight IT Manager,says the HSR can be linked with Sony’s PMS
video transmission system, allowing both units to be controlled from one software
platform giving a totally integrated solution. “The use of DV technology gives the
HSR-1P an impressive storage capability.The system is easy to use,compact and
extremely robust.”

The integration of the DV tape also had unexpected benefits, in that software
written at Farsight to log the incoming and outgoing video patrols, now controls the
HSR-1P directly,enabling retrieval of archive video footage in minutes instead of
hours as was the case with the old VCR recording system.

“Instead of wading through banks and banks of video cassette tapes, I only have
to enter the time and date in search mode and the incident is immediately retrieved.
Additionally,the unique Sony water-mark on every recorded frame gives our client
base a guarantee that no digitally stored information has been tampered with.

“The introduction of the HSR-1P has enabled us to provide better quality video
recording for our clients while at the same time reduce the overall work required to
administer a complex video recording system.”

For more information contact the Sony Business Information Centre: 01932 816340

5

What is Closed Circuit

Television?

Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) is a television system which operates on a
‘closed loop’ basis. Unlike broadcast television, which is available to anyone
with a suitable receiver,CCTV pictures are only available to those directly
connected to the loop.

Colour Video Monitor

Video Out
(Coaxial cable)

DC12 V

DC12 V
power supply

CCTV was first used in the 1950s and has since become an essential element in
any professional security system.

In most installations, the loop is a physical link – a cable which carries the
picture from the camera to the viewer.With very few exceptions, the pictures are
transmitted as a composite video signal at 75ohms, 1 volt peak-to-peak.Where
very high resolution (>400TV lines) is required, some equipment offers a Y/C facility
where the luminance signal (Y) and the chrominance (C) is divided. Over long
distances, for example in Town Centre systems, fibre optic transmission has
become popular.Where this option is too expensive, ISDN offers a cost-effective
alternative for event-driven surveillance systems.

As well as the full range of property protection and control applications, CCTV
offers benefits in many other areas, for example:

■ Assisting police authorities in the monitoring of traffic flow and the

implementation of prompt action in case of accidents and other emergencies

■ Supporting process industry managers as they control the flow of work, identify

production bottlenecks and take corrective action

■ Monitoring of hostile environments that are not accessible to man, i.e. nuclear

reactors, furnaces, etc.

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The Sony Guide to CCTV .Issue 3

AC outlet

When and where

should it be used?

Security and surveillance are the most accepted applications for CCTV
systems. With the use of CCTV, managers and supervisors can control risks
and minimise costs efficiently and with the minimum of disruption.

Security applications

As well as acting as an effective deterrent, CCTV helps managers to monitor:

■ Access to secure areas

■ Unauthorised activities

■ Theft or criminal damage

■ Personal safety

Surveillance applications

CCTV has many applications in public safety:

■ Traffic control

■ Alarm Verification

■ Crowd control

■ Insurance claim assessment

■ Public access

■ Staff control

■ Car park security

■ Shopping precinct security

■ Industrial process control

Benefits

CCTV offers increased efficiency and the faster
detection of problems.As a result, its benefits include:

■ Reduced security running costs

■ Faster response to problems

■ Increased peace of mind

■ Simplicity and reliability

■ Improved quality of environment for owners, operators and the public

■ Easier identification of suspects

■ Increased management control

For more information contact the Sony Business Information Centre: 01932 816340

7

Light

The human eye and the camera lens operate on completely different lines.
Although the human eye adjusts automatically to various light conditions,
the camera is inherently less flexible.

In a CCTV system, lighting has to be ‘designed in’ from the beginning if the best
results are to be obtained.The type of lighting used, and the correct positioning, are
vital to maximum security.

Everyday ‘white light’ is actually a mixture of colours of different frequencies.
CCTV is more receptive to certain colour combinations than others.The best results
are usually obtained by matching the spectral response of the camera to the light
illuminating the scene.

The amount of light reflected from an object determines how ‘bright’ it appears.
Here are some typical reflective figures:

Asphalt 5%

Foliage 10-20%

Concrete 25-30%

Red Brick 35%

Snow 95%

These figures relate to the minimum level of lighting required for security purposes
to everyday light. It can easily be seen that today’s CCTV technology will give good
results under very low light levels. Sony ‘Exwave’ cameras can operate in colour as
low as 0.8Lux (F1.2) without switching to monochrome or reducing frame rate.

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The Sony Guide to CCTV .Issue 3

LUX* DESCRIPTION

50,000 British summer sunshine

5,000 Overcast sky

500 Well lit office

300 Minimum for easy reading

50 Passageway/outside working area

15 Good main road lighting

10 Sunset

5 Typical side road lighting

2 Minimum security risk lighting

Light

1 Twilight

0.3 Clear full moon

0.1 Typical moonlight/cloudy sky

0.001 Typical starlight

0.0001 Poor starlight

*Metric unit of measurement of light.

For more information contact the Sony Business Information Centre: 01932 816340

9

Light

Backlight Compensation

It is also important to consider whether there are bright spots in the picture such as
car headlights which can make identification of the vehicle registration or model
impossible.

This can also be a major problem where it is necessary to identify persons who
are moving from bright daylight into artificial light.Very often this will result in the
subject becoming an unidentifiable silhouette.The problem is exacerba ted where
bright spots in the images cause vertical smearing.

The answer is to specify a camera which has effective backlight compensation.
This can be operated automatically by Smart Control within the camera or,where
the position of the subject is pre-determined, can be pre-selected.

It is helpful to be able to see how effective the backlight compensation is before
making final camera selection.

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The Sony Guide to CCTV .Issue 3