SECURITY 2011 was a strong show in many respects, not least when seen against the backdrop of tumultuous global markets and endlessly grim portrayals of the future from the click-obsessed general press. Connected as it is to utilitarian real life, however, the electronic security continues to soldier on, driven by upgrades, integrations and the introduction of hybrid and fully networked solutions to major sites across the country. 

The continued investment in R&D over the past few years paints a picture of a more mature electronic security industry than that of ten years ago. There are also clear signs of mutual integrations, alliances and shared technologies. It’s a far cry from the days when each big manufacturer was an island. 

Integrations, too, are becoming increasingly possible and continued development in management solutions and in the new area of PSIM will give integrators and end users powerful tools to resolve application challenges. One of the problems with the word ‘integration’ is that for 20 years it has been applied to custom solutions that involved vast expense and great torment. The future will be different. 

As usual, I took a walk around the expo on Day Two, to check out the feel of the show and check out the stand products and there was plenty to see. Let’s start off with Axis, which was showing the flagship Q6035-E, P3344-VE (vandal-proof, weatherproof, HD), Axis T90C (IR unit), Axis Q1602 (Lightfinder technology) and Axis M1114-E (720p HD with IP66 outdoor rating) along with an Axis heavy duty pan tilt designed to compete with the likes of the Pelco Esprit camera – very nicely done. We expect a lot from Axis and its R&D people seldom disappoint.

Over on the Alarmcorp stand I got a look at Siemens SiPass which I’ve reviewed elsewhere in this issue. Alarmcorp also has that big Aritech VE735AM – a powerful anti-masking sensor from Interlogix. This unit has got Level 3 SCEC endorsement – it’s one of only 2 sensors with that level of endorsement. 

Across the way, Merit Li Lin has got the GVD HD NVR enterprise solution, a fisheye 3MP camera – a special selling point for this camera is that it’s vibration proof and it has a special user interface – recording 8 individual target views from a single original fisheye view. 

Looking at the monitor the images have good clarity and depth of field and the camera looks well made. Software comes with the camera and with price around 1500, it’s well worth a look. Also at Merit Li Lin is a 2MP speed dome. This unit is 1080p full HD, has very good low light performance, P Iris, high resolution, extreme weatherproofing. This speed dome is IP66. It’s a nice camera and looks robust and capable. 

Around the corner EOS has a Samsung robotic machine gun chassis (with cameras aboard), as well as DSP engines, the SNB 7000 iPOLIS camera, which is a 3MP full HD camera that employs Samsung’s WiseNet2 chip. EOS also had a bunch of cameras for mobile applications. EOS also has Digifort video management. This may be a projection of subjective reality given the Security Electronics & Networks Magazine stand is right next door but the EOS stand seems endlessly busy with plenty of interest from visitors. 

Over at Pacific Communications there are new Panasonic cameras – 6 of them I could see including the WVSF335, 346, 336, 355, 332, 352. These are all 1.3MP HD cameras and are typical Panasonic – well designed and well made. Also on the stand are PDR series recording solutions, the Platinum and the PDR 8/16 – there are a couple of full HD digital video recorders and there’s the latest DVTel management solution.

There are also a truckload of cameras just as you’d expect from Pacific Communications, including Ikegami, Panasonic SD5, DVTel, Arecont, as well as FluidMesh wireless network gear. 

Nearby Rhino has SecurView professional surveillance cameras and a hybrid DVR, they have FlashView, which is a video alert notification system and integrated PIR, they have auto security, NVR and megapixel cameras – the NVR is the VIP Vision which has got inbuilt analytics, H.264, instant playback – an iphone app. 

Alongside is Jacques has its callpoints, intercoms, lift interfaces, and a touch lobby interface. I keep running into Jacques’ networked product in major applications and in the flesh it’s easy to see why. This is solid gear manufactured to a high standard. 

Mobotix had its full range, including the Q24SEC Hemispheric and the D12D cameras, Salto showed 360-degree wire-free electronic locking solutions. Beautiful stuff the Salto gear – looks great. There are locks, door controllers, 10Base-T Ethernet back to a server. Salto is a company to watch. 

Meanwhile, Chase showed off ID management, Keri, Hitachi Finger Scan products and CIC Secure has security asset managers, secure keys. On its big and impressive stand ADI had all the Honeywell gear including Honeywell 5800 Series Wireless Smoke Detection, the PowerMax fully wireless alarm and the HX80N RAM – a battery operated 24m long and narrow range outdoor detector. 

Optex and Visonic showed outdoor and indoor detectors, ASSA has Hi-O and Aperio as well as new mortise locks and that neat 001 Touch. That’s a lovely product from ASSA ABLOY, tough and pretty. Still up in the top corner Gallagher has the powerful V7 of its new Cardax management solution which we’ll be reviewing in detail next issue, while Avigilon is showing Control Centre 4 – another product we’ll look at next issue. 

Nearby I took a look at Honeywell’s intruder and access control system – the Honeywell Galaxy Dimension, which has 500 zones and 32 doors. This looks a very nice and well balanced solution. There’s Agneovo vandal resistant monitors which are available in 17 and 19-inch through to the 42-inch. 

On the Zone stand I get a demo of GRIDS – a ground radar intrusion detection system – it’s a wee thing, light, tiny. Designed for perimeter solutions and battery powered for 5 years this product self-calibrates and is straight forward and simple. The devices are installed 20m apart and they can be GPS located so the system knows exactly where they are. It comes with a management system based on a True Basic Silver Edition platform – keeps costs down further. 

GEOVision has its CMS, central monitoring station geographic information, fisheye de-warping and tracking and some access control – they’ve got quite a lot of stuff GeoVision and a nice stand to go along with it. 

Comnet, which heralds to the return to the electronic security industry of Tony Collichia, was showing a range of fibre optic solutions including ComWork – it’s a nice looking range, metal boxes, nicely done. I’d expect this range will made some headway in the local market. 

As an example, one of these units offers 1 fibre (multimode or single mode), 4 channels of video, 4 channels of video and 4 channels of data – 50km transmission distance. 

Comnet also has product that allows IP cameras to go 2km on coax and 3 km on twisted pair – coax with PoE that will go 350m to the camera and there are also standard fibre with analogue transmission, IP transmission and PoE plus, plus plus – ability to drive IP cameras with heaters and illuminators. 

Other products that catch the eye include the MAS Intercom, the awesome Bosch 800 Series network camera on Bosch’s big stand, SouthWest’s Intrepid Micropoint 2, The E-Flash from KABA – it’s a nice lock – a really nice lock. I look twice at E-Flash. 

Bosch is also showing BlueLine sensors, as well as a range of products for small and medium business applications – the Small Business Solutions portfolio. This includes a range of analogue cameras including indoor and outdoor mini domes, integrated infrared domes and bullet cameras, and also includes 4 to 16 channel DVRs (Digital Video Recorders). Bosch’s product range as well as a prize draw saw plenty of activity on the stand. 

Other interesting product nearby includes the Schlage Link, Solar Cam, Honeywell’s HISD220i PWIP PTZ camera, HID’s DTC 4500 card printer, the FLIR Thermal Fence – this product won best in show. There’s TouchNav from DAS – a very nice unit. Meanwhile, Takex showed the Ultraviolet naked flame sensor and Geutebruck showed the Pilot system controller.

In an interesting development DLink had a camera that caught the eye. It’s an outdoor vandalproof PTZ called the DCS6818 and it looks a serious unit. This camera is 1080p, 32x optical, IP66, 360 endless pan and has 256 presets. DLINK also has a range of fixed stuff. The DView Cam NVR provides storage – there’s also the DNS1200 storage solution. Securicam, DSC310, DLINK wireless. 

There was the Minking Sensing with a laser intelligent servo high speed PTZ camera which takes photos after it detects movement, while Unified had a solar (and wind) powered mobile surveillance solution built around a trailer with a pole that incorporated CCTV cameras as well as sensors and comms. 

This unit has GPS tracking as well as motion and tamper sensing and is designed to protect locations in the mining sector or critical infrastructure during times of elevated threats. The camera is 8MP with 180-degree coverage the image is stitched. Comms is WiFi and you can control the PTZ remotely. 

Back on the KABA stand I check out the Detex product range – it’s nice metal work on this hardware – 316 stainless. It’s entirely fail secure so the door stays locked if you need to there can be delayed egress to provide some control for exits. 

There are also panic bars and remote control of doors from the control room with monitoring of door closure. The gear has very specific applications – it’s niche. In line with access to premises industry standards in relation to length of handle, standoff from door, force for door closure.   

Sony also had new stuff including a preproduction model of a new range of hybrid cameras that will be manufactured alongside the current IP and analogue ranges featuring Security Link over Coax which is a technology unique to Sony and Intersil. 

These cameras co-transmit across RG59 up to 300m in HD/IP resolution and analogue SD simultaneously. Pricing will sit somewhere between the current “E” and “V” Series IP-based cameras. These cameras will be known as the Sony Z Series cameras and will include 5 different camera types.

Also interesting was the 4316C March Networks DVR on the World Smart stand. Also on this stand is the World Smart Security Point of Sale Investigator. World Smart is a POS company and offers grocery POS software and hospitality POS software that has integrated its product at a database level with notifications and alerts – it’s basically loss prevention software. 

There’s an evidence manager, case manager – put foot-notes to video – there’s an investigator. Other product at the show included Inner Range’s new Integriti solution and Pelco’s new Sarix SureVision technology which combines low light performance and wide dynamic range. I also liked AxxonSoft’s IP-based intelligent video surveillance software, a solution that can display all the events in a scene simultaneously to give a whole day’s events in a matter of seconds.