Tag Archives: Surveillance Network System

Axis Naming Convention

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Axis is probably one of the most well known names in IP surveillance. They were the first on the scene completely dedicated to video over Internet Protocol back in the late 90’s and are still industry leaders today. Like all manufacturers, they have a naming matrix that might not make sense at first, but it’s pretty easy to decipher.

Axis created their own naming convention chart (image below) to educate their buyers of the cameras for at-a-glance understanding.

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In this example, the P3367-VE breaks down into meaning it’s meant for a versatile and secure advanced video solution, it’s a fixed dome camera, P33 series, supports 5 or more Megapixels, housed in a vandal resistant outdoor enclosure.

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Using another example such as the P7224, it would imply it’s a versatile and secure advanced video solution, video encoder/decoder (in this case, it’s an encoder), P72 series, and it can support up to HDTV resolution.

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A final example would be the T8414: This comes from a range of accessories that increase the benefits of network video, it’s a system product, T84 series, and it will display in up to HDTV resolution.

For more information on Axis IP Cameras and their accessories, check out the support documents Axis offers on their website at http://www.axis.com/techsup/index.htm.

How To Customize Your Own MOBOTIX T24 at VoIP Supply

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The T24 Door Station from MOBOTIX is more than just a doorbell, security camera, intercom system, keyless entry…well, it’s more than you might think it is. If you thought the T24 Door Station was all of this and more, then, OK, it’s exactly what you think it is.

The MOBOTIX T24 IP Video Door Station is an incredible addition to the safety and security of any residence, business, or warehouse. Now available at VoIP Supply, you can custom create your very own T24 Door Station to whatever your needs may demand. However, all those parts can be incredibly daunting and the part numbers tend to be confusing to someone looking at it for the first time, so we’ve created this in-depth guide to T24 door stations in order to help you feel better about what you’re getting into and how it’s going to fit your needs.

Colors

The MOBOTIX T24 comes in five colors that are coded as such:

  • PW – White
  • AM – Amber
  • BL – Black
  • DG – Dark Gray
  • SV – Silver

You’ll see these two lettered codes throughout part numbers, so using this guide you can make certain you’re choosing the correct color you want. Not all parts come in different colors, such as the in-wall housing units and DoorMaster, so no need to worry when you don’t see these color codes in them.

T24-CamCore Day Hemispheric Camera with LEDs

This little unit is where all the beauty begins. To call it just a camera would be an understatement. Think of it more as a smart computer. The T24-CamCore (part number MX-T24M-Sec-D11- for day cameras and MX-T24M-Sec-N11- for night) has no blind spots with a 180 degree wide angle lens that can see wall to wall and floor to ceiling. Or ground to sky, if you like; the T24-CamCore is IP65-rated for outdoor weather. Following minimalist modernism, the hemispheric camera module has a discreet and yet powerful microphone, a light button, a speaker/LED orientation light combo, and a doorbell button. The charm of the T24-CamCore is that it’s based on IP technology. Once the doorbell is rung, a direct connection is made between the Door Station and any VoIP Phone, computer, or smartphone with VoIP software. If you have an iPhone or iPad it’s a whole other story.

MOBOTIX app

MOBOTIX App

It’s entirely possible to run a mobile remote station with any iPhone or iPad with the MOBOTIX App. By connecting to the internet this free, full feature application gives you incredible control over your Door Station without being local. From it you can see who is at the door, speak to them in real time with the 2-way communication, and choose to either let them in or not. The App makes it possible to receive alerts, mailbox messages, live images and recordings from not only your T24 Door Station, but any and all incorporated MOBOTIX cameras. Control buttons, zoom, positions, search and a control wheel give you all kinds of ability to interact with your surveillance system whether you’re at the office or on the other side of the world. You can download this app at no cost from the App Store.

 

T24-KeypadRFID Access Module

While the T24-CamCore is a (gentle) beast by itself, the Keypad (part number MX-Keypad1-EXT-) can turn the Door Station into a keyless entry station. By combining it with the T24-DoorMaster the Keypad can unlock access doors with the correct PIN or RFID card. The Keypad also caters to messaging: when someone comes to visit and rings the doorbell and no one answers (why didn’t you have your phone near you?) the visitor can leave a message by holding down the blue letter button during the entire message recording. This messaging technology also works the other way: you can record a message to be played anytime someone rings the doorbell button on the T24-CamCore. This is perfect for small offices when the only employee has to make appointments out of the office. Personal messages can also be left to play when the a specific PIN number is entered or an RFID card is swiped identifying someone.

T24-Info

This is a backlit module that is perfect for displaying the address number, residence name, or anything else that will identify the premises. The energy saving LEDs use up very little power for display (part number MX-Info1-EXT-).

T24-Info2Wire+ Two Wire Network Module

If you’re working with an existing doorbell or door intercom systems, this is the module you want (part number MX-2wirePlus-Info1-EXT-). It has a T24-Info display for an address number, name, or what have you, but it also includes an indoor module that takes that 2-wire cable and acts as a sort of midspan on the way to the PoE Switch or Injector (IEEE 802.3at is recommended). This way you can update any older building without having to tear out walls to lay new cable.

T24 Complete Set

In-Wall Unit Sockets

Well…you can tear out walls if you want to. The in-wall unit sockets house the components of the T24 in either 1 unit sockets (MX-OPT-Box-1-EXT-IN), 2 unit sockets (MX-OPT-Box-2-EXT-IN), or 3 unit sockets (MX-OPT-Box-3-EXT-IN). Since it’s not going to be seen by anyone, the units only come in blue. It attaches to any subsurface, brickwork, or hollow space and lets the unit lay relatively flush with the surface. It won’t be completely flush, but it won’t protrude as much as using the….

On-Wall Unit Sockets

Instead of digging into the wall to mount your Door Station, you can install it in this metal-reinforced housing unit. Since the unit is visible, it comes in colors to match the T24-CamCore, the T24-Keypad, and the T24-Info/T24-Info2wire+ modules (part numbers: MX-OPT-Box-1-EXT-ON-, MX-OPT-Box-2-EXT-ON-, MX-OPT-Box-3-EXT-ON-).

T24 Frame

Complete the look while you secure your T24 with a frame that has integrated electromagnetic anti-theft protection and a special key for module unlocking. These frames can be used with either in-wall or on-wall unit sockets in 5 different colors (part numbers: MX-OPT-Frame-1-EXT-, MX-OPT-Frame-2-EXT-, MX-OPT-Frame-3-EXT-), and it gives the unit a nice finished look.

T24 Optional Accessories

The T24-DoorMaster (MX-Door1-INT-PW) falls into this category: it’s an indoor security door opener. It works by connecting the Door Station to the door lock switch and door contact. It pulls both power and data through the T24 Door Station via a MxBus cable so it cues when to let someone in on your command.

The Ethernet Terminal Board (MX-OPT-IO2) is an IO module Ethernet connection board for the secure connection of the Door Station via an RJ45 plus with the 8 wires of the network cable.

The Extended Terminal Board (MX-OPT-IO1) is an IO module that provides 8 additional inputs and 3 additional outputs to connect external devices to your Door Stations.

Also available:

  • Admin RFID access card (MX-AdminCard1) is exactly what it sounds like. To be paired with the Keypad Module, this is the decision maker’s access card.
  • User RFID access card (MX-UserCard1) is also what it sounds like. It doesn’t have as much flexibility for working the Door Station, but it’s a means of identification to allow people in and/or cue personal messages to play.
  • T24-DoorMaster Battery (MX-Door2-BAT) is a replacement battery.

And that’s it! All the bits and pieces have been explained, and hopefully in understandable terms. As you can tell, there is a lot that goes into this Door Station that makes it an incredibly functional unit for all sorts of scenarios. Each piece comes with instructions, and VoIP Supply offers documentation on our website as well (available for download under the ‘Technical Specs’ tab of the specific product page), which makes installing each piece a little bit easier. The literature is explained in a step-by-step process and the images make it incredibly easy to follow along and know you’re doing it right. If you feel comfortable playing with technology and hooking equipment up, this IP Video Door Station is for you. It will take some time setting up, especially if you want to hook up all your options and use it to it’s fullest potential, but you will love doing it. It looks great, it’s a solid quality product, and it lasts for years; you’ll be really happy playing around with it. If you’re the type of person who needs help setting up their home printer, then maybe you want to find a local MOBOTIX Partner integrator to install the unit, program it, and walk you through how to use your Door Station. The good news is you’ll only need to be shown once and you should have it from there!

IP Door Station T24 Complete Set 2MOBOTIX also considered that you would just take their word for pre-assembled options (I’m using the term ‘pre-assembled’ loosely, by the way).  There are a few Door Station Sets available from MOBOTIX and you can check out the differences on each link: MOBOTIX IP Door Station T24 Complete Set 1 (the most basic set), MOBOTIX IP Door Station T24 Complete Set 2 (pictured to the right, it includes more options for a fuller solution), MOBOTIX IP Door Station T24 Complete Set 3 (a happy medium between sets 1 and 2), and MOBOTIX IP Door Station T24 Complete Set 4  (a different happy medium between sets 1 and 2).  These links are to United States Part Numbers, which are only available in white.  If you’re across the pond in Europe, the sets are available in other colors (lucky blokes).  Should you be stateside and would like these sets in colors, VoIP Supply can help out with that; just give us a call and we’ll help you piece them together from scratch, which you might actually prefer a little more anyways. 😉

If you have any other questions or need clarification, call our Surveillance expert Tom Uhteg at 1.866.885.4853 and he can help you decide on what pieces would best serve your needs.

Has anyone used the T24 IP Video Door Station before? What were your experiences with it? If you could purchase it all over again, how would you do it?

Bigger (Resolution) Means Better (Quality)

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Higher Megapixels are all the rage in IP cameras. Who can blame it? In a world of HDTV, higher resolution is a seductive quality. Details that have been missed for decades are now clearly defined, for better or for worse. When converting this over to surveillance, that paradigm is exactly what someone is looking for in their security system.

Several manufacturers have been quick to respond with higher resolution cameras, but strangely, the larger name brands such as Axis, SONY, Panasonic, and MOBOTIX were slow to respond. When speaking with the engineers at these companies, one comes to discover that higher resolution is not a simple cut-and-dry process.

The technology behind pixels is actually quite interesting. In simplest terms, think of pixels as units of light. A black pixel on the screen is an empty pixel, it contains no light. A white pixel is considered full of light. All the colors in between are varying temperatures of light, much like how a rainbow works. This is all based on the camera’s image sensor, which contains many photosites which correspond to a pixel. The image sensor can either be CCD, which has excellent light sensitivity but is more expensive to produce and somewhat of a lower technology chip, or the image sensor can be CMOS, which is comparatively a smarter chip and is less expensive.

Axis, SONY, Panasonic, and MOBOTIX are industry leaders, and as such they are incredibly picky about their lens (here, lens referring to the entire unit rather than just the glass). SONY manufactures their own with the Exmor CMOS sensor, but even for the IP cameras designed without it, SONY ships every camera with their own lens to ensure the camera will at least deliver quality 1 Megapixel resolution. Exmor Sensor Panasonic and Axis have in recent years switched to HDTV resolution also, often keeping to either 720p or 1080p HD, and MOBOTIX firmly kept to 3 Megapixel resolution for a long time as well. The reasoning behind this? Other brands don’t spend a lot of time on the technology behind Megapixel lens. In order to meet public demand, they quickly ship out the next highest 5MP lens on their camera.

When speaking with SONY, one of their engineers stated that a problem they kept seeing in higher Megapixel cameras was light overexposure. The higher pixel lens were absorbing so much light and their processors weren’t able to convert the output into a quality image. That was when they created their Exmor CMOS sensor, which has high speed readout and been utilized in their WDR technology, View-DR, and Visibility Enhancer feature.

AXIS P3367-VE

 

Axis managers gave similar responses when speaking with them about high Megapixels. For the longest time, it all boiled down to not finding a lens that produced an image that held to Axis’ standards. It seems that that time has passed. Now Axis has a wide variety of HDTV cameras with Megapixel lens with their P33 series and P13 series, both of which have 3MP and 5MP options.

Panasonic was also careful with their Megapixel IP cameras, offering additional lenses aside from their own, from an exclusive OEM partnership with Fujinon.

Happily, MOBOTIX has also announced that a 5MP lens has met their expectations and will be launched in their new S15, D15 and V15 IP cameras. Even the directors were shocked at the clarity their test cameras were proving. The example of the flying dove was displayed proudly at this year’s conferences.

MOBOTIX 5MP lens test

It seems now it is safe to claim that, yes, bigger is better. ACTi has released entire new lines of cameras replacing their old ACM, TCM, and KCM series, ranging from 1 MP up to the anticipated 10 MP coming later this year. With all these new Megapixel IP cameras steadily trickling out of these top line manufacturers, it seems like the age of quality HDTV surveillance systems has dawned.

To learn more about Megapixel IP cameras and to see if they make sense for your surveillance needs, call our IP Surveillance Specialist Tom Uhteg at 866.885.4853.

Have you had any experiences with early HDTV surveillance cameras? How did you like it? What are you looking forward to in the coming years?

Coming Soon: AXIS M1004-W

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AXIS M1004-WAXIS recently announced that they are currently in the works for releasing a new affordable wireless camera, and it’s looking better than anything before!

As a leader in the IP surveillance industry, AXIS is known for their top line cameras, which unfortunately also tend to correlate with high prices. In efforts to reach out and provide for small retail, offices, and home users, AXIS is set to release the AXIS M1004-W, a small and cost effective IP camera, complete with 720p HD resolution!

This new addition to the AXIS M10 Series is going to be an excellent step up allowing budget conscious buyers to reap the benefits of:

  • 1280×800 pixel resolution/progressive scan/HDTV color fidelity
  • 16:9 widescreen and AXIS Corridor Format
  • Input/output ports
  • Support for Wi-Fi IEEE802.11b/g/n

A particular perk to the M1004-W is its support for Wi-Fi Protected Set-Up (WPS), a feature commonly seen in TRENDnet IP Cameras and D-Link IP Cameras. WPS makes setting up a wireless connection easy and simple, removing the learning curve usually associated with wireless technology. WPS simplifies the configuration process by automatically pairing the WLAN with a push-button. Additionally, the One-Click Camera Connection feature makes this wireless camera completely functional with AXIS Video Hosting Solution so you can store all your video footage securely online. Otherwise it’s easy to back up edge recording to a Network Area Storage device.

You can look for the M1004-W this quarter at $199 MSRP.

For the AXIS Press Release, see the link here.

TripWire: The Wired Network

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CCTV started out as a strictly wired system.  The cameras were connected to a monitor station by expensive coaxial cable. However that system was solid. Even today coaxial cable is still being laid because, the truth is, it’s reliable at 1-10 Gbps.  Reliable, but outdated.  It was made for the technology at the time, and with that comes it limitations such as QoS, installation costs, scalability issues, and the list goes on.

Coaxial Cable

As the technology improved and networks began to carry more data, people moved on to Twisted Pair Cable.  Not that twisted pair was a new concept, it was invented by Alexander Graham Bell, but the application fits today’s needs. Today there are different categories, primarily Cat(egory)3 through Cat7.  Cat3 (10BASE-T) technically can do the trick with 10-Mbps (for instance, you can stream Netflix over 2 Mbps, so Cat3 is great), but I wouldn’t recommend it.  I would say nothing shy of Cat5 (100BASE-TX) or maybe even Cat5e (1000BASE-T) at this point in time.

Cat5 Cable

There are 2 main kinds of Twisted Pair Cable:

Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP):  This is the more common of the 2, as it’s used primarily in Ethernet connections such as computer networks and security systems.  Consider a cable connecting your network.  Within that cable are 4 pairs of thin copper wire, twisted together.  Each individual copper wire is coated in (usually) a polyurethane coat which acts as an insulator.

Unsheilded Twisted Pair Cable and RJ-45 Connector

Shielded Twisted Pair (STP):  Like UTP, STP has the same structure, only in this case, each pair is wrapped in foil.  Each pair is ‘shielded.’  This prevents cross-talk and cuts back on electromagnetic interference.  STP is more suitable for telephone connections.

Other Twisted Pair cables are screened unshielded twisted pair cable (S-UTP), unshielded/foiled twisted pair cable (U/FTP), screened/foiled twisted pair cable (S/FTP).

The next best thing is Fiber Optic.  Where Twisted Pair cable currently caps out at Cat7 (10GBASE-T) which is streaming 10 Gigabits instead of mere Megabits, Fiber Optic has successfully streamed in the Terabits.  Fiber Optic Cable is literally optical fiber that sends electrical signals at these wildly fast speeds by ways of optical transmitters using LEDs and receivers that convert the light into information.  Please note that an incredibly complicated process has just been summed up in 1 sentence, so keep in mind there is a lot of technology behind this and that technology is very expensive.  Ergo, Fiber Optic is still relatively scarce, and evaluating if you genuinely need it or not would be a smart investment of time.

Now you know the types of wires making up a Network!  From this you should be able to make an assessment of your needs, and of course if you need any help please call 866.885.4853 and we’re here to help you!