PANASONIC CCTV
cameras have always been designed and manufactured with performance and
robustness in mind. A good example of this is the Panasonic Super Dynamic II
(SDII) series cameras which were released in 2000, superseded by the SDIII
series cameras in 2005 and now in 2010, we have the new SD5 series cameras.
There appears to
be a five year production window for each of these cameras which is good news
for end users who know that Panasonic CCTV cameras are designed well enough in
the first place to last the technology distance and are not chasing market with
new models every six, or twelve months as some do.
To see how well
Panasonic has done with SD5 we will carry out some basic objective tests on the
Panasonic WV-CP500 SD5 1/3″ Day/Night camera. The camera tests to be
carried out will comply with the European Standard EN 61146-1 Video Cameras
(PAL/SECAM/NTSC) – Methods of measurement – Part 1: Non-broadcast single-sensor
cameras. This standard is accepted world wide as the preferred method of
testing single chip CCTV cameras and is suitable for all current colour or
monochrome CCTV single chip cameras.
We will limit the
results to the most common tests discussed in the industry, in relation to CCTV
cameras, such as greyscale linearity, sensitivity, resolution and overshoot.
The Panasonic
WV-CP500 SD5 1/3″ Day/Night camera has a number of intelligent video
functions which will not be tested because there is no suitable standard for
testing these functions at this time. These functions should be tested for your
applications to see if they suit.
The camera
Some of the key features
of the new Panasonic WV-CP500 SD5 1/3″ Day/Night camera series include:
* The SD5
delivers Superior image by fusion of Super Dynamic, ABS (Adaptive Black
Stretch)
* High
resolution: 650 TV lines typical (Colour mode), 700 TV lines minimum (B/W mode)
* High sensitivity
with Day/Night function
* i-VMD
(intelligent-Video Motion Detection) including scene change detection when lens
is covered, spray painted, removed or defocused (Not available in all models)
* ABF (Auto Back
Focus) ensures easy installation and stable focus in both colour and B/W modes
(Not available in all models)
* 3-dimensional
colour conversion functions for natural colour reproduction
* Adaptive
Digital Noise Reduction: Integration of 2D-DNR and 3D-DNR ensures noise reduction
in various conditions
* Electronic
sensitivity enhancement
* Electronic
shutter from 1/100 (NTSC), 1/120 (PAL) to 1/10,000 sec
* Alarm input and
alarm output terminals (Not available in all models)
* Auto Image
Stabilizer
* Over the coaxial
cable data communication
* Auto Back
Focus.
The tests
This series of
tests shows the camera test chart with a yellow marker showing the actual
position of measurement on the camera test chart in relation to the waveform
image. This will assist those who are interested to know where the relevant
test measurements are made.
These tests were
carried out with the camera in its default (out of the box) settings, with one
automatic exception where it set its self for a manual lens to suit our high
performance Schneider test lens.
We found the
greyscale linearity to be well within specification, and more linear than most
we have tested, but it included a slightly higher set-up which in many
instances would actually help the image quality.
The overall
greyscale is very good for a single chip CCTV camera and we have included a
snapshot in this article of the Panasonic WV-CP500 SD5 1/3″ Day/Night
camera greyscale image.
The sensitivity
according to EN 61146-1 standard for the Panasonic WV-CP500 SD5 1/3″
Day/Night camera is 2.64 lux for full video. This figure is in variance with
the manufacturer’s claim, but this is normal with most cameras because
sensitivity test references and/or standards are rarely quoted by manufacturers
these days.
“Resolution was
found to be 640 TV lines which is very close to the 650 TVL specified by
Panasonic. The waveform image shows a depth of modulation of about 40 per cent
at 600 TV lines which is eight times more than the 5 per cent depth of modulation
specified in EN 61146-1”
The resolution
was found to be 640 TV lines which is very close to the 650 TVL specified by
Panasonic. The waveform image shows a depth of modulation of about 40 per cent
at 600 TV lines which is eight times more than the 5 per cent depth of
modulation specified in EN 61146-1. At 640 TVL the depth of modulation is close
to 15 per cent. This is by far the best resolution result we have experienced
for any analogue single chip CCTV camera tested by us.
We tested
overshoot according to EN 61146-1 and found that overshoot is 50 per cent less
than other high quality analogue single chip CCTV camera tested by us. It
appears that this camera will once again position Panasonic as one of the
leading CCTV companies.
In the next issue
we will test the first IP HD camera for SE&N and in the near future compare
backlight compensation performance of the Panasonic WV-CP500 SD5 1/3″
Day/Night camera against some other well known analogue single chip CCTV
cameras.
<I>*Les
Simmonds is an Independent CCTV Consultant. Email: les@cctvconsultants.com.au<I>
