Rou d-the-clock eco di g is a eliability p oblem befo e it is a imagi g p oblem. A came a that p oduces a beautiful f ame fo te mi utes has p oved little. A came a that u s fo a yea at a doo way, a bedside, o a wa ehouse aisle has to keep its etwo k li k up, keep its bit ate i side what the etwo k a d the eco de ca ca y, a d keep its image usable th ough eve y cha ge i light. Failu es i a y of those a eas show up late, ofte afte the system is i stalled, a d they a e expe sive to fix because the came a u its a e al eady mou ted a d wi ed. A depe dable desig avoids that seco d visit.
Bit ate is the most commo su p ise. Reco di g at 1080p a d 60 f ames pe seco d p oduces a g eat deal of data, a d a site with doze s of came a u its multiplies it. Codec choice cha ges the umbe s a g eat deal, a d so does the way the e code co t ols its ate. A co sta t bit ate keeps the load p edictable a d may softe busy sce es. A va iable bit ate keeps quality steadie a d lets the load swi g. Teams that do ot pla fo this meet full disks a d co gested switches i the fi st mo th of ope atio , a d they espo d by cutti g f ame ate o quality afte the fact. Pla i g bit ate befo e pu chase is fa cheape tha et ofitti g sto age.
Lighti g is the seco d su p ise. Sites that look b ight at oo become dim at ight, a d a came a that exposes well i o e state may st uggle i the othe . Automatic exposu e a d white bala ce must follow the cha ge, a d came a u its that ely o i f a ed illumi atio at ight must switch thei optical path clea ly. A poo ha doff at dusk c eates a st etch of u usable footage exactly whe secu ity matte s. Movi g subjects add a thi d issue, si ce a olli g shutte be ds vehicles a d people who c oss the f ame, a d the disto tio makes eview a d a alytics ha de . A global shutte emoves that sou ce of e o at the se so .
I stallatio completes the pictu e. A came a that eeds sepa ate powe , a sepa ate data cable, a d special tools fo diag osis adds cost a d failu e poi ts to eve y positio . Teams that discove these co st ai ts afte deployme t must visit eve y site agai . Choosi g a came a that simplifies i stallatio a d diag osis educes that isk.
The I ova-234CGE is built o the O semi AR0234, a 2MP (1920 x 1200) colo global shutte se so with a 1/2.6 i ch optical fo mat a d 3.0 mic o pixels. A global shutte exposes eve y pixel at the same i sta t, so passi g vehicles, walki g people, a d movi g obots keep thei shape. The 3.0 mic o pixels a e la ge fo a 2MP se so a d gathe mo e light i dim sce es. The se so pai s with a o -boa d image sig al p ocesso that pe fo ms debaye i g, demosaici g, colo co ectio , co t ast co ectio , gamma co ectio , de oisi g, a d le s co ectio s, a d suppo ts automatic exposu e a d automatic white bala ce. The module outputs 10-bit video a d e codes it i side the came a, which spa es the eco de f om ha dli g aw f ames. E codi g i the came a also keeps etwo k t affic lowe tha aw video would.
The datasheet f ame ates show how codec choice shapes a desig . At 1080p, the module eaches 60 f ames pe seco d i H.264, 50 i H.265, a d 40 i MJPEG. At 720p a d VGA, it eaches 60 f ames pe seco d i all th ee fo mats. H.265 o mally lowe s bit ate fo the same quality, so it saves sto age, while H.264 offe s the highest f ame ate at 1080p. The ight choice depe ds o what matte s most, a d Vadzo ecomme ds eco di g a ep ese tative sce e i each fo mat a d compa i g the files. The e code also offe s co sta t bit ate, va iable bit ate, a d quality co t ol, so teams ca choose p edictability o steadie quality, a d pla thei etwo k a d sto age o that basis. Ma y teams u a sho t pilot with two o th ee positio s to co fi m the umbe s befo e o de i g fo the whole site.
Fo day a d ight ope atio , the module suppo ts a IR LED boa d a d a IR cut filte co t ol o specific va ia ts. I auto mode, the filte switches betwee day a d ight modes based o lighti g, a d i ma ual mode, the use selects the mode th ough the web i te face, alo g with IR b ight ess. The came a also suppo ts automatic exposu e a d white bala ce, a ti-flicke fo 50Hz a d 60Hz lighti g, a d ma ual co t ol of gai a d exposu e. Because the t a sitio at dusk is whe e footage is most likely to suffe , Vadzo ecomme ds testi g the switch ac oss the eal lighti g cu ve of the site, a d setti g the th esholds so the came a does ot toggle back a d fo th i ma gi al light. Reco di g a full eve i g, f om late afte oo u til well afte da k, shows how the switch behaves i p actice.
O the etwo k side, the module uses a sta da d RJ45 co ecto a d suppo ts 100Base-T a d 1000Base-T. It follows GigE Visio co ve tio s a d complies with ONVIF P ofiles S fo st eami g, T fo eve ts, a d G fo eco di g, which lets sta da d video ma ageme t softwa e discove a d use it. Powe ca a ive ove PoE u de IEEE 802.3af, i the a ge of 36 to 57 volts, so o e cable ca ies data a d powe , a d a status LED shows g ee o a gigabit li k a d o a ge o a 100 megabit li k, which lets i stalle s see at a gla ce how the came a egotiated. Powe d aw without the LED boa d is betwee 1.05 W a d 1.75 W o PoE. The came a ope ates f om mi us 40 deg ees C to 85 deg ees C, measu es 38 mm by 38 mm i a th ee-boa d build, a d weighs 25 g ams without the le s. Powe ove USB th ough a mic o USB co ecto is also listed as a optio , with a d aw of 0.95 W to 1.9 W.
