SECURITY 2010
held in Sydney last month was probably the most successful exhibition the
Australian security industry has ever seen. I think that while there’s still
some softness in the market with corporate and government end user budgets
being restricted to open-ended upgrades the show clearly proclaimed the fact
the electronic security market is bubbling away.
There was plenty
of new product to see, many enhancements to existing products, and lots to play
with. By Friday arvo my subjective impression was that it had been the busiest
Australian security expo I’d seen over 20 years in the industry. Day one was
good early and a little soft in the afternoon. The second day pulled like a
train and day 3 was quiet early, built and then had a great atmosphere through
until stumps at 2pm. That’s enough general impressions. Let’s go for a walk
around the show.
Who had what
It’s the
afternoon of Day Two when I start out at the front of the hall – things are
busy as they always are on the afternoon of Day Two. People combine their show
visit with ASIAL’s big dinner so it’s all go. Most stands are crammed with
visitors, the narrow walkways are crowded in most parts and the networking
opportunities are relentless. In all exhibitions there are some stands and some
general locations that struggle to get quality traffic and there are a few
spots like this in the hall and a half of space at Security 2010 but most
stands are doing well.
It’s eager of me
to start off with this revelation at the get-go but of the manufacturers at
this exhibition Axis Communications seems to have the most new product. This
company just doesn’t seem to stop making stuff and having dropped anchor on the
SMPTE HD standard, Axis is churning out new cameras like there’s no tomorrow.
Very impressive work. We’ll get back to Axis’ new gear later one in the
tour.
My first
impression of Security 2010 is of the CSD stand rising from the plains like
Kilimanjaro. CSD’s effort is 2 stories high with a coffee shop on its peak
affording excellent views of local geography. Other stand out real estate
includes stands from Sony, Bosch, Magnetic Autocontrol, Hills, ASSA ABLOY,
Security Merchants, Suretek and Mobotix.
Other neat and
approachable stands were Omega, Li Lin, Takex and BFT, which was showing
EcoSol, a nifty solar powered gate solution. Tyco Security Products was showing
a mouthwatering Ducati, as well as security gear including Aritech and KanTech.
Moving away from
the door, Security Merchants had a nice stand front and centre and was
displaying a range of new gear. There were Comelit intercoms, Infinova,
HIKVision, trueVue, Protege. Merchants also showed Hanvon Face ID which it
called the first embedded facial recognition system. Hanvon Face ID, is a face
recognition access control and attendance system and it attracted my attention
based on its great looks.
Further in
Suretek is showing SureTrak, SurePoll and RemoteGuard the latter of which is
the key product for Suretek just now. It links Mobotix cameras to alarm
automation software so control rooms can handle video monitoring and alarm
monitoring from the same screen. Video verification is likely to be the future
of alarm monitoring in Australia – particularly as the NBN rolls out so this is
a good move from Suretek.
On the good
looking ASSA ABLOY stand are Hi-O, Aperio, the ES2100 lock and more. ASSA has
spent the past few years getting its new technology integrated with major
access control solutions from companies like Inner Range, Cardax and HID and
the work there is starting to pay off.
I move over to
Hills territory and start with the DAS area which is complete mayhem and start
wading through the crowds. DAS has some cool looking intercoms – Unicom and
Bticino. Wow, I say to myself, Bticino makes seriously beautiful intercoms.
Also on the DAS stand is the Security Commander, as well as Telstra Secure on
NextG.
Moving down to
Pacific Communications I see the latest version of DVTel. The big wholesaler is
also showing its awesome range of cameras including Panasonic, Axis, Arecont,
IOIcom WDC cameras. The Pacific Communications stand is busy the whole show
through. Something very cool on the Pacific Communications stand is the GBO
Infinity lens. This lens gives a monster depth of field and allows you to
burrow right into scenes when seeking face recognition. So good is the
technology that GBO touts itself as the ‘Massive Depth of Field’ experts. Cool
too, the lens is megapixel and analogue compatible.
Next door, Rhino
has a colourful and busy stand. The Rhino team is showing a wide range of gear
from NVRs and megapixel cameras, to VideoInsight, an IP management system.
Rhino also had a couple of eye-popping LED monitors which are doing a great job
of making the company’s MP camera views look totally amazing.
I sidle up to the
Axis stand and the first thing I see is the FireTide wireless mesh product.
FireTide is a development partner of Axis and the crew were using FireTide to
drive cameras on their stand. It’s a neat and tough little product. Axis is
also showing its thermal cameras – there are the most affordable thermal
cameras on the market and while they lack the resolution of the higher end
products these are comparatively inexpensive, are IP based and offer excellent
support for perimeter and larger solutions where a patrol team is on site.
There are some
novel applications of Axis thermal cameras including Julian Warne’s SurfIT
thermal solution that allows you to see people swimming in the surf at night –
an excellent safety tool.
Axis is focussed
on the concrete standards of SMPTE – a move that looks increasingly clever
given the necessarily rubbery compliance specs of ONVIF and PSIA. SMPTE HD has
not stopped Axis from building megapixel cameras – in fact I came to the stand
specifically to see the new 5MP fixed body camera (there are PTZs coming out
soon).
The first thing
that strikes me is the small size – these units have a very compact form factor
thanks to a compact chipset. Viewed on linked monitors I see the camera has an
excellent depth of field thanks to another quality of the camera – the Axis P
Iris which eliminates light defraction by locking the iris so it does not close
too far – the idea being to retain image quality.
On this stand I
like the new 8 series controller suite – there are 3 modules – a keypad, a
joystick and a controller with additional function buttons. You can use them
individually or as a complete kit. The gear is heavy and has a good feel to it.
Axis has new
domes all in HDTV, its bigger thermal range is also new, the HD downlight camera
is new – it pops into existing downlight fitting – magnetized. You twist and
drop. It’s very simple to install. Axis is also showing the 3114-R transport
camera – and there’s the transport NVR which is new for the show.
It’s a nice unit
– 8 input with GPRS, I/Os, wifi, PoE switch, SSD drive for Axis camera station
or you can load it with any of the major management systems from Genetec,
Milestone, DVtel, Lenel. Then there’s a 1054 HDTV Mini, with LED and a PIR –
it’s a dry contact sensor as well as a camera with its own illumination. The
images are really very good from these cameras. It’s being used in hospitals so
worried parents can keep an eye on premmy babies in maternity hospitals – a
really sweet application, I think.
At Axis there’s
also a new P Series of mini domes. And the fixed body M series. And the 5532
PTZ – a new release – 18x optical zoom, HD. An option is designed for Arctic
conditions and will stop and warm itself it conditions get too severe. They are
being installed in Russia. The PTZs have a Gatekeeper function too, the
function will zoom in on a motion generated event, records it and then zooms
back out. Needless to say, it takes a while to get off the Axis stand.
Next, I circle
around the massive CSD exhibit. It’s a busy spot and there’s plenty going. This
double decker beast must have been a real enterprise not just to build but to
set. Needless to say, the action in the cafe on the top floor – which is an
oasis of calm yet crowded with visitors for the entire 3 days – suggests the
effort was worth it.
The ground floor
is where the product is and I find CSD is carrying a big range of quality
product. When you consider this wholesaler was only born a couple of years ago,
the company’s achievement is more noteworthy still. Obviously, CSD has the
inside running on Inner Range gear and I see the Intelligent Indoor access
module, a new graphic terminal called Charisma – which is a very nice looking
unit.
At CSD there’s
Aperio-enabled product, FSH locks, DM’s Ecosense, Digital Sprite II with
analytics and Inner Range’s Multipath, a very neat little STU module. There’s
everything from Paradox. CSD is also showing Concept 4000 and the company’s
capable Insight management software. It’s a very complete offering.
Over the on the
FSH stand I see that the clever, economical and highly secure Mechanical
Electro Magnetic lock (MEM) series has been busily multiplying. There’s now the
MEM1900 sliding door series, the MEM2400 hinged door series, the MEM2400 retail
loss prevention series and the MEM4400 automatic sliding door series. FSH’s
stand is busy – there’s plenty of interest in its affordable and capable range.
Given these new locks are light in weight and offer excellent physical and
electronic security it’s not hard to see why.
Nearby Takex has
a nice stand. They make quality external and industrial internal sensors for
challenging alarm applications – PIRs and PE beams. The company’s bright stand and clean product
layout really caught the eye.
After checking
out Takex I head over to Bosch where things have been busy the entire show. The
company has gone for a relaxed combination of breakout spaces with remote
product displays and this works well, I think. Bosch’s stand is dominated by 2
large vans the company has fitted out as mobile show rooms.
One of the neat
things about these vans is that if an integrator needs to show an end user a
product they can loan one of the vans and trot off and give them a demo. On the
stand their interiors, fully fitted out as mini control rooms and a haven for
the footsore, are used to show the functionality of products like the powerful
MIC industrial PTZ range.
Also on the Bosch
stand is the company’s access control range which I haven’t seen in the flesh –
Bosch AMC – and I think it’s really nice gear. AMC is a mid-range product. It’s
modular and designed to be extremely simple and most importantly, fast, to
program and install.
Bosch also has
analogue cameras kitted out with IR illuminators that are fitted on top – they
make nice product Bosch. There are also big long range PIRs – curtain PIRs.
Over the way HID
was showing plenty of new gear, including the Fargo 4500 printer. It’s been
shrunk, it works quicker and the resolution is higher than the superseded model
– there’s also an entry level product – the Fargo 1000. These printers have a
NIC so you just put in an IP address and away you go – very simple to install
and operate anywhere on a network.
HID also has some
next-gen stuff that will be coming our way soon. I discover the Smart Touch
biometric/MiFARE, DESFire card reader. I discover that iClass is being extended
so one iClass platform will cover MiFARE, DESFire, MiFARE Plus, DESFire EV-1,
iClass, HID prox and Indala readers with new config options allowing less stock
to be carried while flexible functions meet multiple user demands.
A really
important pending new product from HID was Edge Evo which is being released at
the end of the year – HID was giving the local market a taste of this new
IP-based access solution pre-release. It’s an advance on the existing Edge
product, which itself takes distributed intelligence out to the door.
What’s changed is
the form factor and the security of the product. There’s a single and dual door
controller version of Edge Evo. With Evo you can use all Hi-O devices or all
conventional devices. There’s a Hi-O bus connecting all the devices together.
There’s a PoE Hi-O compatible Edge Reader and it’s possible to add Hi-O button,
locks. You can handle the system with a web browser or with HID’s OPIN
software.
C.R. Kennedy’s
stand carries a number of new products including the new VideoNetBox and the
DMX1600 we review last mongth. Both are very tidy in real life. Coolest of all
on the C.R. Kennedy stand was the new Semsy 3 VMS. It’s the first time this
product has been shown in Australia. There’s an all new look to this product
and it has a stack of cool new features. The new version is designed to be more
functional with novel use of thumbnail searches, background backups and the
ability to transfer image streams between screens.
Semsy 3 is a
fluid solution with so many options – so much intrinsic sculpting possible,
that nailing down functions in the old way is hard to do. As industry types
know, Semsy is designed to support the extremely challenging environments faced
in casino environments with thousands of inputs running live to monitors and to
storage and this latest version takes that functionality up a big notch.
Omega was flat
out showing off video analytics built into its IP cameras at Security 2010. All
these affordable Omega IP cameras have the equivalent of 600 lines resolution
as well as sporting video analytics.
There are seven
different characteristics to the video analytics. Entering, left over, missing,
size, speed, direction. Bringing this functionality to life is software that
uses input from the analytics to display statistics of events picked up by the
cameras.
Omega also has an
analytics server. There is also a PoE IR vandal resistant camera on the stand
and Omega also has a 2MP CMOS camera.
Also noteworthy
nearby is the Scate Sherpa pole climbing camera – a rapid deployment
surveillance solution and across the way is MCT Technologies with a mobile
digital jamming system that looks like it could make mincemeat of the federal
Coalition’s proposed wireless NBN.
On the Anixter
stand I see Video Business Intelligence, a very neat retail video analytics
solution that links to existing surveillance system. This solution drills
really deep and if you were serious about analysing movements in a site using
video analytics, this is the one for you.
VBI is perhaps
the most impressive analytics solution I’ve ever seen though the focus as I see
it, is on retail traffic. The solution looks at video coming in, identifies
people and starts doing things like counting, trending, comparisons. It’s very
powerful and a great way to leverage the existing fixed camera network
infrastructure. Applied to video surveillance and operational support of security
teams VBI looks a winner.
Moving on, Seadan
has a 2-story stand that maximised its footprint nicely. The company is showing
a couple of very neat new fire panel that it has just got through the last
stages of compliance. There’s a universal head with 5 possible configurations.
The panel can connect directly to an alarm panel in domestic situations or
small commercial.
Then there’s a
larger solution – different sized panels for commercial fire applications. The
panels supports different sensors – photo thermal, thermal, photo optical and a
range of diverse thermal sensors.
Then we go to the
addressable systems where every head has its own capability and it has specific
functions. It’s very flexible. Everything is compliant, all manufactured by
Cooper Fire, everything we sell is made by Cooper Fire so all works together.
There are remote LEDs, remote indicators.
Nice stuff this,
from Cooper Fire. It’s well built and well respected. It’s a good new direction
from Seadan and worth the near 2 year effort of getting the necessary
compliances plugged in. Along with this sweet new Cooper gear, Seadan also
showed Aiphone and Visonic product. Other products that catch my eye were
TeleEye mobile surveillance, EOS’ DigiFort, which is definitely making waves in
the VMS market thanks to its simple layout, hands-on developers and sharp
pricing. Also on show at EOS is the Sanyo HD range – this is very good gear and
competitively priced. The EOS stand reflects the company itself. It’s busy, and
there were plenty of EOS staff in team colours working hard.
Elsewhere I see
DM’s EcoSense, TransVu, IPTV, SD Advanced gear. At Milestone the big news is
the co-development with Matrox of super fast decoding for Milestone software.
Milestone is kicking plenty of goals in the VMS field and this Matrox
development is worth paying attention to. Faster decoding means lower latency
and it’s a core development that will be great for the industry moving forward.
Pay attention, folks.
Security 2010 was
the first outing for AlarmCorp, which is showing serious product from companies
like Sentrol, Aritech, Siemens, Xtralis’ Adpro range, as well as major parts of
UTC Fire and Security’s lineup. The stand looks great and there were plenty of
visitors – good signs for the fledgling high end distributor.
The presence of
LAN 1 is a good sign too, and not surprisingly the company is touting its
capability of offering a complete IO ecosystem including networking, storage,
surveillance and access control.
As mentioned,
Sony’s stand is a nice affair – and the company has all the good gear on
display – including its latest analogue and HD IP cameras. There are also
discreet and compact bullet style cameras employing Sony’s enviable chipsets,
and high quality monitors.
Further on is
MCM, which is carrying a solid range of alarm, surveillance and access control
gear, including the iFace face and fingerprint recognition readers and
management software, and the CAM series of vandal resistant dome cameras in 620
and 650-line models.
A newcomer to the
local market is Brickcom and the company has a bust stand showing lots of gear
including the AverFocus standalone DVR and camera/s solution, and Brickcom’s
awesome range of fixed and dome megapixel cameras.
Also going hard
at the show is LSC. After taking up electronics seriously a while back, LSC has
worked very hard to put together a range of capable and affordable alarm,
access control and surveillance gear and Security 2010 showed how well things
are coming together.
On the LSC stand
I see the latest control panels from CS Technologies. It is good to see this
Aussie manufacturer of access solutions still powering away. LSC also shows
Tactical Technologies’ power solutions. Tactical is the dominant player in AC
and DC power supplies in Australia and scoring this distribution seems both a
coup and a great fit for LSC. The company is also showing Borg Locks,
MicroLatch, Crow’s strong range of alarm and access gear, ABUS locks and more.
We raved about
Videofied in last year’s show review and yes, it deserves another rap this
year. The concept this company has built its business on – video alarm
verification – is an excellent one. Completely without urging I get raps on
Videofied from 3 separate installers I speak to at the show. Videofied’s gear
works and its new hardware is handsome, too. Installers should take a hard look
at what the future holds. One day the Australian Standards for intruder
detection systems will catch up with Videofied.
Geutebruck is
doing good trade at the show. The company has been releasing new gear in a rush
this last few months. Here it’s showing the new network Health Agent, an
integrated solution developed with Cardax and what has to be the most
impressive PTZ head on display. Geutebruck turned 40 this year but what’s most
crucial is that this company was the pioneer of serious digital surveillance
solutions and it has been building them for 2 decades. There’s pedigree there.
Another
impressive stand at the show is Kaba, which showed entry points and turnstiles
as well as its excellent range of high quality locking devices. Around the
corner is Avigilon, with its megapixel cameras. Avigilon makes the best
megapixel cameras available and its powerful management solution makes light
work of handling them in multi-screen displays.
Nearby I see Ness
Corporation, whose simple stand layout focussed on the company’s Navigator user
interface. This is a really slinky touch screen keypad that can be used as
front end for many Ness Corp products. Ness has quietly become a manufacturer
of diverse control systems – from audio to automation. It’s the Navigator that
brings all this together.
Other quick grabs
from the show include Say Security’s explosive proof cameras, FingerTec
biometric solutions from Biometric Access Systems, VisionDrive mobile
surveillance and recording, Infratherm Forteza’s really impressive spread of
perimeter gear, Western Digital’s dedicated constant duty HDDs, FAAC automation
and access control gear, Perimeter Systems’ Intrepid perimeter solution. ADI
and Nuvico are also showing good ranges and I see Insalta’s smart access
control solutions and Activ Consoles.
Conclusions
Sitting down
after the event wondering about editor’s choice for best new products at
Security 2010 isn’t easy. My instinctive reaction to this question is a leaning
towards the simplicity of GBO’s Infinity deep field lenses, which are being
distributed by Pacific Communications. I liked them when I first saw them in
concept form about 15 years ago and nothing has changed now they have been
brought to market. A serious depth of field with no need for manual
focus…ever? Any tech who has installed a fixed camera on a pole or at
nose-bleed elevation and suffered bi-monthly focus drift cries out; “Yes,
please!”
But it’s not an
easy decision and there were 2 other products that attracted my attention for
different reasons. They included Matrox’s VDA-1164 IP Video Decoding
Accelerator board, a product that enhances Milestone’s XProtect VMS. As all you
end users out there know, latency with networked surveillance systems is an
issue we need to put to bed. So, good work Milestone and Matrox. This is a nice
development.
And I also really
liked FSH’s MEM locks. This range offers a huge saving in raw material requirements
and power draw across every door of an access installation. It offers improved
physical security to a range of typical attacks yet slashes product weight by
70 per cent. And it gives monitoring of door attacks in real time. This is a
combination of benefits that make it tough to overturn the 4-piece FSH MEM lock
range as best of the best this year.
These three, the
Pacific Communications’ GBO Infinity lens range, the Milestone and Matrox
VDA-1164 IP Video Decoding Accelerator and FSH’s MEM series were my subjective
picks for best product. Along with these products I also liked Videofied for
the second year running. And I liked Hanvon face ID from Secuity Merchants. I
was impressed with DallMeier’s Semsy 3. I could not help but admire that massive
Axis’ product spread. There’s a reason this company is market leader in IP
camera technology, people. SMPTE HD over the entire camera range? That’s
forward thinking, right there.
Also of note were
Bosch’s AMC access products, the EcoSol solar powered gates, Inner Range’s
Charisma and Multipath user stations, HID’s Edge Evo product, which comes out
towards year end, and Seadan’s addressable Cooper Fire product range. Fire is
an area our techs need to look at more closely and with Cooper they can afford
to so.
Best looking
product at Security 2010? It’s hard to pass Tyco Security Product’s Ducati 1198
as the single best looking item at the show. But in seriousness, the undisputed
winner in the looks department this year is the Bticino range of intercoms from
DAS. More spectacular product design from the Italians. How do they do it?
Magnetic
Autocontrol may not have officially won best stand at the show – that honour
went to CSD but for mine its exhibit represented the most balanced use of
inviting space integrated with product accessibility. I chose the Magnetic
Autocontrol stand as SE&N Editors Choice for best stand at Security 2010.
Special mentions
for best stand go to CSD’s pivotal construction, the accessible spaces of the
Hills’ twins and Bosch. I thought Mobotix made really dramatic use of quite
modest space and that Suretek’s stand again looked fresh. Then there was EOS.
Once you were inside that stand, you were part of EOS and I thought the large,
enclosed space worked really well.
There probably won’t
be an official vote of thanks directed to the show’s organisers, Diversified
Exhibitions, but most people I spoke to thought it was a great show – so well
done to all those Diversified people concerned. A quality show, professionally
done.
