The bench test 1 - Total eclipse

What our experts say …

It's not often we get to use the word 'anamorphosis' in a Bench Test, name-drop the likes of da Vinci, Durer and Holbein, or link 16th century art with video surveillance technology - but don't worry, it should all become clear shortly.

Anamorphosis, for those whose ancient Greek is a little rusty, means transformation, which brings us to that trio of well-known artists. Every so often they were commissioned to do secret paintings of a banned saint or someone - usually a woman - who for one reason or another didn't care to have their likenesses bandied about.

Their solution was a clever trick, known in the trade as anamorphosis, which is a way of distorting an image so that to a casual observer it looks like a colourful splodge. However, when it is viewed in the reflection of a curved or cylindrical mirror, the distortion disappears and the shape and detail in the painting is revealed.

By now you are probably wondering what all this has to do with the Vista Eclipse camera, but if you look closely at the long lens barrel sticking out of the bottom, you should spot the tip of a bulbous 'fisheye' lens on the end. When suspended from a ceiling, the camera provides a circular 360-degree panoramic image of its surroundings. However, this is far too distorted to be of much use for detailed viewing.

By employing a combination of electronic zoom, which enlarges a selected portion of the image, and Vista's 'Imtera' digital processing - the microchip equivalent of the curved mirror - the skewed perspective is corrected, and the chosen section of the picture appears as a normally proportioned CCTV image.

By 'moving' the area of the image with a joystick you have, in effect, a pan/tilt/zoom camera, but with no moving parts whatsoever! The Eclipse also has two independent video outputs, each of which can display up to four 'virtual' camera (VCAM) views from any part of the fisheye image on two monitor screens at the same time, producing two quad PTZ displays from a single camera. Couple that with motion detection, motion tracking, privacy masking, alarm inputs plus a host of extra facilities, and we have one of the most innovative products we've seen for a very long time. The camera has a number of display modes, including full frame panoramic (fisheye), split screen 180 degree, quad 90 degree views and combinations thereof, with or without 'thumbnail' picture-in-picture displays of alternate VCAMs, but since only part of the image is being displayed - when the unit is in multi-camera mode - there would naturally be a big problem with resolution if it used an ordinary image sensor.

To overcome this the Eclipse is fitted with a 0.5-inch, 3 megapixel (2048 x 1536 pixels) CCD. It has a low-light sensitivity of 1.0 lux and a day/night mode that switches to monochrome when light levels fall below a preset threshold.

Since it has the core features of a PTZ camera, the designers have taken the next logical step and incorporated programmable preset positions, which can be combined into tours, either using the presets, or by 'learning' a manual routine. Motion detection is fairly common these days, but once again the Eclipse goes a stage further with motion tracking, a particularly impressive feature that's more commonly associated with high-end systems. Vista's decision to go for a fully 'solid state' design, free of all moving parts - not even a cooling fan - undoubtedly contributes to the unusual flying saucer shape. The camera housing is basically one large heat sink with rows of cooling fins on the top of the case.

The main processing chips have a lot of work to do and they get very hot indeed. In fact the unit runs quite warm, so some care needs to be taken with the installation, to ensure there's a good flow of cooling air over the finned top surface. The camera is designed for discrete ceiling mounting so that only the lens need be visible (it can also be configured for wall mounting) and it comes with a comprehensive fixing kit.

Setup and operation

Access to the camera's setup functions is via an on-screen display, and the main menu appears after a 4-digit PIN code has been entered into the control unit. This is an unnecessarily long-winded business using the joystick, which is odd in view of the fact that the controller has a digital keypad...

The opening menu displays six options: Presets, Tours, Sectors, Motion Detection, Privacy Zones and Configuration. Menu selections are made using the joystick and confirmed with the Enter button. The Preset menu displays the preset number and a sub menu, to set a position. It's very straightforward; simply move the camera to the desired location, set the zoom, then store the preset by pressing the Enter button, then repeat as necessary up to a maximum of 128 presets for each VCAM. The Tours menu has two options. The first is for creating up to four tours per view using pre-programmed presets. The second is for 'learning' up to four tours by recording real-time movements of the joystick and zoom control. These can be subsequently edited, though we found it was usually quicker to delete the recording and start over.

The Sector menu allows up to 75 areas of the image to be identified with an on-screen label. Sectors are defined using the joystick to 'draw' a superimposed rectangle outline on the chosen VCAM monitor display. A similar technique is used to designate motion detection zones (up to 75), and when activated they display an on-screen message and trigger an external alarm.

The motion detection system is also able to make the camera track a person or object as it moves around the image area. Sensitivity and zoom levels can both be adjusted and motion detection can be scheduled to switch on and off at preset times each day of the week. The Privacy Zone feature blanks off a designated area of the image; it's dynamically controlled so it remains in a fixed position when the camera moves.

Although the Eclipse has a familiar set of options for a PTZ camera, some operations on the controller are not as straightforward as you might expect. For example, camera view and VCAM selection is assigned to the controller's Focus buttons, which makes displaying a particular VCAM image full screen a bit of a palaver.

Setting up the motion detection system in each VCAM also takes a bit of getting used to, and the need to exit the setup menu to check settings, then re-enter a password to get back in again, can be a little tedious as it requires a lot of joystick twiddling and button pressing, and it definitely pays to keep the instruction manual close to hand.

Performance

The Eclipse manages to pull several surprises, but first the big questions. How does picture shape and quality compare with a normal PTZ camera, bearing in mind that in most display modes you are seeing a small portion of a highly distorted image, which has been electronically stretched, tweaked and zoomed?

In short it's not as good, which is to be expected, but on the first count, picture shape, it stacks up really well. Distortion is evident when the picture zooms out and the edges of the lens intrude into edges of the picture, but as you zoom in it assumes more or less correct proportions and from around 50 per cent zoom onwards it looks perfectly normal.

As far as picture quality is concerned, the use of a 3 megapixel CCD has undoubtedly helped enormously to improve resolution. In good light it really is quite reasonable, with a fair amount of detail, comparable with a decent budget camera. However, once light levels start to fall the image starts to show signs of striation, with fine lines crossing the picture, and judging by their shape and orientation these are being produced by the lens. Picture noise levels also rise quite quickly, and even with assistance from features like Night Mode, this camera lags some considerable way behind its more conventional rivals.

Problems that we had anticipated with exposure and colour balance didn't materialise. We had expected difficulties when VCAMs were viewing scenes with widely differing light levels. However, each VCAM image is processed separately - presumably this is partly responsible for the relatively slow 12 fps refresh rate - so a quad display looks as though it is coming from four separate cameras, each making its own independent exposure and colour adjustments.

In most other respects it behaves just like a regular PTZ camera - the zoom facility is smooth, progressive and linked to the pan/tilt control so that fine adjustments are possible at high zoom settings, though being wholly electronic, the picture is noticeably degraded. The camera is mechanically very stable and immune to physical shock. Moreover, the lack of any moving parts should mean that it will be very reliable, with nothing to wear out.

• Reader Service No 100 (or go to www.security-installer.co.uk/enquiries and key in 100)

What the manufacturer says ...

Vista Eclipse represents a breakthrough in 360 degree camera technology that will transform surveillance operations wherever full situational awareness is essential to a successful surveillance operation. The Vista Eclipse represents compelling value where:

• Installation and maintenance savings can be made by employing multiple 'virtual cameras' to replace several conventional cameras
• More in-depth information surrounding alarm events is required
• The unit's embedded intelligent video processing technology will improve security system productivity
• State of the art discreet surveillance is a requirement

In a single unit the Vista Eclipse achieves what numerous static and dome cameras cannot achieve together. In particular, it provides continuous panoramic vision and offers subject tracking throughout a 360 degree field of view. Installers will appreciate its standalone design, an absence of moving parts, and the incorporation of imaging software embedded in the camera eliminating the need for external software or PCs. This all leads to a lower installation and maintenance cost.

Vista Eclipse works by capturing a single fisheye image that generates two completely independent analogue outputs. Each of these two independent analogue outputs can display any combination of image view, from full 180 degree panoramic view to up to four virtual cameras (VCAMs), each with independently controllable 'electronic' Pan Tilt Zoom (ePTZ) functionality.

Intelligent video processing enables advanced alarm functionality that includes the automatic assignment of virtual cameras for motion detection and alarm activation. The active 'VCAM' automatically tracks any movement within the camera's field of view. Motion detection algorithms use state of the art background analysis techniques to minimise false alarms. Motion detection automatically triggers a VCAM while the camera continues to monitor the full panorama.