The bench test 1: Taming IP

What our experts say …
RARELY HAS A TECHNOLOGY MATURED AS rapidly as network or IP surveillance. Eighteen months ago, when the first concerted attempts were made to sell network cameras to a wider market as an alternative to conventional CCTV systems, installers and end users brave enough to tackle early models quickly discovered they needed degrees in rocket science, deep pockets and the patience of saints to get the things to work.

A lot has happened since then and now that the big boys have jumped aboard the bandwagon, and with the release of each successive model range, they have become easier to configure, more installer friendly and a lot cheaper. The Panasonic WV-NP472 illustrates those points perfectly.

It's a genuine plug-and-go network camera: no special knowledge or software is required. Just connect it up, switch it on and it is more or less ready to go! But before we get too carried away a few words on what it can do, and how it does it.

Essentially the NP472 is little different from any other surveillance camera. There is a lens at the front and in the case of our test sample it's a WZ-LZA61 auto iris model with a manual 2x zoom.

As with any other CCTV camera, behind the lens there is a CCD image sensor which, for the record, is a one third-inch interline transfer CCD with just under 440k effective pixels.

Automatic day/night switching gives it a low light performance of 0.8 lux in colour and 0.1 lux in black and white. Resolution, using the analogue video output, is in the region of 480 lines in colour mode and 570 lines in mono. Additional facilities include a set of menu driven on-screen displays that give access to the built-in motion detection, day/night switching facility and alarm functions, camera title/ident display plus a fair assortment of exposure and processing options.

So far it doesn't appear to be significantly different to most other top-end surveillance cameras, and it will function happily in that role, requiring only a 12v DC supply and a standard coaxial cable connection for it to be ready to use.

However the extra ingredient is a built-in network video server, which operates simultane-ously with the analogue video output and allows it to connect directly to a single PC, a local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN) and the biggest network of them all, the Internet. Once the network connection is made, images from the camera can be remotely monitored on any PC connected to the network or over the Internet (with the appropriate passwords and permissions), using a standard web browser, such as Microsoft Internet Explorer or Netscape. From the browser window it is also possible to access all of the camera's menus and set-up functions.

Additionally the camera can be programmed to capture still images when the motion detector or an external alarm sensor is triggered. These can be viewed remotely on a network PC or sent as JPEG file attachments to any nominated email address.

The guided tour begins with the exterior. The two-tone blue/cream case is eye-catching and the designers couldn't resist adding a few flourishes, such as the fluting around the front section and plenty of graphics proclaiming its network features, so there is little chance of it being mistaken for an ordinary camera.

The casework is all plastic but it's the good stuff and it feels as though it is built to last. Up front is a C/CS threaded lens mounting collar, connected to a simple back focus adjustment that is set by a small lever on the right side. Halfway down the right side panel there is a four-pin socket for the auto iris lens and next to that is a sliding panel that opens to reveal a set of five menu/cursor-control buttons in the standard cross layout. Weather- proofing is minimal so bear that in mind if it's to be used in a damp, wet or dusty or dirty environment. On the back panel is a bank of spring connectors for the alarm connections and 'Aux' switch control for an external device such as a light or VCR and below that an RJ45 socket for the 10/100 Ethernet network cable. Orange and green LEDs next to the network socket indicate the network connection is live and active. In the top right corner there is a BNC socket carrying the analogue video output and below that two screw terminals for the 12v DC supply. In between there's a green power-on LED and in the centre of the back panel are two recessed buttons for resetting network parameters.

A detachable plate with a standard quarter-inch UNC mounting thread is screwed to the boom of the case and this can be relocated to the top panel if required.

Inside the case are five very busy-looking printed circuit boards bolted to a steel chassis that helps with heat dissipation. For the record the camera gets quite warm so it's a good idea to make sure there's a free flow of air around the case.

   Access to the camera's controls and configura-tion menus can be from the on-board menu driven on-screen display or over a network. Pressing the middle button behind the sliding panel enables the internal menu system. This brings up a choice of Camera or Network menus. Selecting the Camera menu displays ten options.

 In descending order they are: Camera ID, for composing a one line title of up to 16 characters that can be positioned anywhere on the screen. ALC Control sets the Super Dynamic backlight compensation function. Exposure settings are focused on the centre of the screen. In ELC mode an 8 x 6 grid or mask is used to desensitise the exposure system to strong backlights in selected areas of the screen.

Menu item 3 is for the electronic shutter, which is manually selectable between 1/250 to 1/10,000 of a second in seven steps (when ALC is disabled). The fourth item on the list is AGC and this can be switched between high and low settings, to brighten the image in low light conditions and reduce after-image blur respectively.

Menu 5 covers sensitivity adjustments; there are two modes, Auto and Fix, each with five steps (x2, x4, x6, x8, & x10). The switch for internal or external sync is sixth on the list, followed by white balance adjustment. This has three operating modes, Auto Tracing 1 (600 to 6000 degrees K), Auto Tracing 2 (optimised for sodium lighting), and AWC (auto manual adjustment between 300 and 10,000k). In all modes fine adjustments can be made using manual red/blue balance controls or a set-up mask, similar to the one used for setting backlight compensation. The same 8 x 6 grid turns up again in menu item 8, for setting up the Motion Detector.

In addition to masking out areas of predictable movement the system also has a simple sensitivity control. When activated the motion detector out-puts a trigger signal on the alarm connectors, which can be used to switch a VCR or activate an alarm.

The final two menu items are for selecting auto iris lens type (DC or Video) and clock display and position. For some bizarre reason there is no pro-vision to set the time and date from the camera. This can only be done via a network connection.

In what appears to be an afterthought there is a supplementary 'Special' menu that can only be accessed by pressing a combination of buttons. This has settings for inverting the image, setting chroma gain, aperture gain, pedestal level, colour/black and white (night time mode settings) colour burst on/off and factory reset.

The Network menu includes settings for the camera's IP address, subnet mask (standard default 255.255.255.0), gateway (default 192.168.0.1) and HTTP Port (default 80). Accessing the camera over a network connection couldn't be easier. Simply open a browser window and in the address field type the camera's default IP address, which is somewhat inconveniently set to 168.192.0.10. On many networks this 'public' IP address is likely to be in use so one of the first tasks will probably be to change it, which can only be accomplished from the camera's on-board menu system if the address has already been spoken for.

Once a network connection has been established a 'web' type page appears with the camera image displayed alongside a set of menu buttons (the opening image can be disabled if required). If any menu buttons are selected a dialogue box is displayed requesting a User Name and Password. The four menu buttons are labelled Set-up, Camera Set-up, Alarm List and Aux Output Control.

The Set-up menu has seven tabbed sub-menus. Networks covers the same settings as the camera's own network menu but with additional entries for Host Name, Network Speed and primary and secondary DNS name severs.

The Image sub-menu deals with picture refresh rates (Fast, Medium, Slow, Very Slow), image size (176 x 136 to 752 x 586 pixels, Image quality (SuperFine, Fine, Normal, Rough) and Bandwidth Control (32kbps to 1024 kbps & 'unlimited). Next along is the Alarm Set-up sub menu which has switches for the external alarm input and email notification set-up, which requires the senders and destination e-mail addresses.

Here too are controls for recording images (pre and post alarm) when an external alarm or the motion detector is triggered. There are also settings for terminal controls and the master alarm reset. Incidentally, when the motion detector is activated the word 'Alarm' appears on the network PC screen but there is no indication on the analogue video output.

The FTP Client Set-up menu is used to configure network settings for allowing recorded images to be uploaded. Access to the camera is controlled from the User sub-menu where User Name and password details are stored. Host Authentification and Host IP address is handled on the Host menu and last but not least, time and date are set on the System sub-menu.

The network Camera menu duplicates the camera's on-board set-up menu except that it's a lot easier to use, thanks mainly to the mouse directing operations, rather than a set of fiddly buttons. The Alarm List menu button displays a list of all recent alarm events. Selecting one of them put the camera/browser into replay mode and images stored in the camera's memory can be replayed using a set of buttons that appear below the main screen. Finally, the Aux Output Control button can be used to switch an external device, such as a light or a VCR, connected to the camera.

   Picture quality on an analogue video monitor is fundamentally very good though maybe we had been hoping for something a bit special given Panasonic's pedigree and the very promising specifications of the lens, image sensor and advanced signal processing. Nevertheless, this camera delivers a highly detailed image with below average amounts of noise in all but the severest lighting conditions. Colour accuracy can be excellent if you take the trouble to fine-tune the white balance and the exposure systems can handle big, small, fast and slow changes in lighting levels without so much as a murmur.

The day/night function kicks in as soon as the colour image starts to degrade hopelessly though the precise changeover point can be finely adjusted to suit the prevailing conditions. The IR cut filter can be heard moving across the lens when the switching occurs. There is a small but noticeable reduction in resolution when viewed over a network connection, in addition to the drop in refresh rate, though neither is serious and are more than offset by the convenience of being able to view live images anywhere on a network.

The network control options are also impressive and significantly broaden the appeal of what would otherwise be a good but unremarkable day/night camera.

What the manufacturer says ...
THE WV-NP472 NETWORK SECURITY colour camera directly connects to either digital or analogue systems. Simply set an IP address and connect it to an Ethernet terminal for monitoring and control from a personal computer or use the analogue video output to connect to a conventional monitoring system using coaxial cable.

The WV-NP472 camera utilises Panasonic's Super Dynamic II function to capture natural images at entryways, near windows and in other locations with harsh contrasts between light and dark.

This is a common problem which standard BLC cameras are unable to cope with effectively as they tend to "white out" in the background or silhouette in the foreground. Super D II is able to deliver clear pictures that would not normally be associated with these harsh locations.

In addition, this colour camera can also control external devices, turning on lighting, starting a recording or even switching a time-lapse recording into real time recording.

It operates with only 0.8 lx of available light in colour mode and a mere 0.1 lx in black and white at F1.4.

Its Day/Night function automatically switches from colour to ultra-sensitive mono for night-time surveillance, producing a sharp clear picture whatever the lighting conditions and delivering 24-hour surveillance.

It automatically stores images in response to inputs from motion detectors and external sensor alarms and can send images automatically as e-mail attachments in order to view the incident remotely.

Designed for effortless monitoring over a WAN or the Internet, the sophisticated surveillance functions of this network security camera make it ideal for a wide range of applications, such as office buildings, banks and retail outlets.

The WV-NP472 offers essential features required in even the most difficult of conditions with the flexibility associated with IP technology forming another leading edge product manufactured by Panasonic.