THE 2014 FIFA Games offer much more for Brazil than athletic entertainment. They present a wide variety of additional benefits that have nothing to do with swimming or wrestling. While Sao Paulo is one of the official host cities, the massive influx of tourists and publicity allow the entire country to prosper.
But with this upside comes a responsibility to ensure the safety of both Brazilians and visiting foreigner tourists. The city of Belo Horizonte, located in the state of Minas Gerais, is installing one of a wave of World Cup-inspired security projects, a citywide public transportation surveillance program.
The city’s Traffic Agency decided on an ambitious goal. Instead of simply focusing on cars and traffic patterns, an additional emphasis was placed on the safety of citizens walking and engaging in the many activities of their daily lives. To achieve these twin goals, a camera was required that offered both a very high level of flexibility and an equally high level of image quality.
Alvaro de Souza, CCTV manager at VMI Sistemas de Segurança – Hikvision’s distributor responsible for developing this project – chose Hikvision’s DS-2DF1-517-B Network Speed Dome to meet these demands. According to Souza, the DS-2DF1-517-B dome is the perfect fit.
“It can quickly zoom onto moving objects, while immediately allowing the security operator to clearly identify who, or what, it is,” says Souza.
It was more than the simple procedure of being able to move the camera’s focus that was critical.
“What sets the DS-2DF1-517-B apart is its ability to see clear images in low lighting conditions. In fact, when it came down to making our final choice, this superior low-light ability gave it a big advantage over its competitors.”
Operating in low light is critical in Belo Horizonte based on 2 primary factors. The first is the environment in which these cameras must operate. As a traffic surveillance system, they are placed outdoors and must successfully function in a wide range of lighting conditions. According to Souza the Hikvision camera was chosen for economy as well as image quality.
“The value of this Hikvision speed dome is extraordinary,” he says. “In relation to the DS-2DF1-517-B performing wonderfully in low-light conditions, we feel this camera offers a perfect cost-benefit ratio.”
The second area was the ability of this speed dome to immediately zoom onto moving objects and deliver crystal-clear images, regardless of outdoor light. This aspect was extremely important since security personnel need to quickly, and accurately, recognize and respond to fluid situations.
In particular, Belo Horizonte authorities were targeting street crime. In order to combat this specific type of crime, authorities needed to quickly assess what has happening and identify who was breaking the law.
“Facial recognition would always be ideal,” explains Souza. “But the reality is in an environment such as this the ability to clearly see distinguishing features, such as particular items of clothing, is critical. With Hikvision’s 540TVL image resolution and 3D digital noise reduction, we are able to achieve this goal.”
Hikvision’s ¼-inch Sony EXVIEW HAD progressive scan CCD, 128x wide dynamic range, day/night functionality, 3D intelligent positioning function, and an IP66 rating are ideal for their role. In addition, the images captured by the cameras are shown on the main TV channels in Brazil, allowing traffic authorities to help the citizens choose – or avoid – certain roads during rush hours.
“An added benefit is the ability of this camera to seamlessly integrate with a variety of different traffic-management technology tools,” explains Souza.
“This allows us to easily upgrade the solution, without having to waste added funds. Based on the performance and applicability of the DS-2DF1-517-B, we confidently anticipate using additional Hikvision components in the future.”
