Video/Audio Security Solution? 13
IpSo_ asks: "I work for a medium sized company with many locations across Canada. Each of our offices has at least 10 (some up to 50) computers, and are very public places, so they are a quite common target for thieves. (10 computers go "missing" each year on average) We have a Linux server, and high speed Internet in each location. In short we are looking for a cost effective way to install a entire video surveillance system. (remember, this is many different locations, so multiply the cost 15-fold at least) What would be the best way to have several cameras (some with microphones perhaps?) capture video and broadcast it over the Internet? I was thinking something along the lines of those X10 wireless cameras with a video capture card that supports Linux, but it needs to allow for 2-10 cameras. Motion sensing software would be wonderful as well, but not necessary. Any ideas?"
Re:Archive remotely, and how to search (Score:1)
I've done a little testing of my own, and if you had a camera taking snap shots once a second or so, creating a mpg, it doesn't take long to fast forward through a days worth of video. There are only two exits maximum to watch as well so... I guess I'll find out for sure though.
VLAN? Narrowcasting (Score:1)
Re:I second the Axis 2100 (Score:1)
The 2100 is excellent thus far. No crashes, not a single unexpected problem. I've also tried alternate lenses on it and the only problem was the supplied base isn't stable enough for a telephoto. The camera has the standard 1/4-20 camera thread on the bottom, so a more serious base cleaned up that problem easily.
I will note that those who depend on compressing the image from the 2100 should avoid viewing powerlines (which move a couple of pixels in seemingly no wind) and turn off some of the automatic features so the camera doesn't change settings as adaptively. In full size full push mode, the camera can eat a significant portion of a 10baseT network. It is autodetecting 10/100 and I moved it to 100 where it's % consumed was way less. It is very neat.
Re:There's the easy way, and the right way. (Score:1)
Most of these systems are installed and then rarely if ever well cared for (we're not talking casino level security here) and so the all-digital, all-hard disk solution sure seems like a *much* better scheme for this intermediate level where maintenance is certainly going to be an issue.
Obviously if someone is really going to care about it and get the stuff serviced then tape is a good solution. This 'Ask
One final benefit of the digital solution is that one can build a www interface to the mpeg movie. In very short order, you can see the perp, stop the movie, and hit 'print' and that image is faxible or good for documentation anywhere. Getting stills off security tapes is just one more hassle.
Quickcams and Axis stuff + BIG disks = neato! (Score:1)
One of my consulting sites is trying the Quickcam solution. Take an image off the Quickcam 1 or 2 (cqam for example), pump it off site to a system in a secure location and then every hour convert those images to an MPEG movie (for compression). This is possible because of the cool, inexpensive new disks that are 40-60gb and those disks can be grouped together relatively inexpensively. Maxi cool to have an old Pentium with 210gb of disks and still be lurking around $1400.
Remember to 'protect' the location for as long as it will take to notice the theft. Often the time is pretty long (4-5 days) because of things like Xmas eve, Xmas, Sat, Sun sequences.
I'm about to try the Axis Communications [axis.com] Axis 2100 Network Camera ($500ish each) dumped (via server push) to a set of large disks to cover where my car is parked in an alley.
Either of these alternatives massively beats the camera to tape solution, as that requires much to much recurring maintenance. A timelaps VCR is only good for 2-3 years because the heads and transport wear out pretty quickly. The camera to disk solution should be maintenance free.
One more thing. The current owners of Quickcam (Logitech) don't give a damn about Open Software. Please avoid them if at all possible. You should write them and ask why they've not released a programming spec for any of their cameras. Kensington has a Linux USB camera driver in the works.
There's the easy way, and the right way. (Score:1)
First off, audio is pointless. It's just extra cost for no extra benefit. All you need to know is if someone is doing something they're not supposed to, which can be done just fine with a simple black-and-white security camera. And yes, use a real security camera and not some consumer model. For placing the cameras you want to be able to first see if they're tampering with the computers, and second identify who they are. I can't really say without seeing the room, but since most computers sit against walls, a camera that's looking at them will only ever see the back of anyone's head. So you'd then need another camera to catch their face -- pointing at a doorway usually.
Back in the network room/closet (which is locked at all times, of course), you take all the images from these cameras and run them through a screen splitter/switcher. There are some as high as 16 cameras on a screen, but considering that the image will need to be compressed for internet transmission, I wouldn't go with more than 4. And then you can cycle inputs to accomodate more cameras. You then run the output of the quad to a time-lapse VCR and a monitor. Yes, I'd do the recording at each location, rather than after being digitized, compressed, then sent over the inherently unreliable internet. You also send the image to some digitizer, it's a simple composite video signal, so whatever can handle that. And then it's however you can get the video input across the network (which have have no experience in).
Links to manufacturers are at http://www.cctvlabs.com/links.htm and more CCTV informations can be found at http://www.cctv-information.co.uk/
Also, have you considered bolting the computers down? Why just watch them steal it when you can make it too hard to steal in the first place.
One person mentioned that the mere presence of a camera, regardless of whether it's hooked-up, will deter theft. Another way is to display a sticker that says "Premesis protected by XYZ Security." And most places hand them out for free.
The X10 X-Ray (Score:1)
Basically, I'm not sure how well it would perform as a security camera, considering how poor my experience was. Anyone know if using it with the RCA connectors would improve it? I'm using the RCA-to-USB cable they provided.
Pablo Nevares, "the freshmaker".
Here's some open source software that may help (Score:1)
Camserv addresses collecting the images, but not storing them. I wrote a quick hack script that took one image every second and stored it on disk, but that translates into a coupla hundred megs of jpeg's per day, depending on resolution and such. A good encoding system should be able to substantially cut down the bit bloat, especially if most of the images are static most of the time. Scroll down the Slashdot topics a bit and you should see some discussions of (*ahem*) "MP4" and the like. [slashdot.org]
For legal purposes, though, you may want to keep around the original jpeg images for a few days. Don't let the opposing lawyer bog things down with accusations that your compression software has somehow made the thief in the video look exactly like their client. That's easy to disprove, but most everything is expensive in a courtroom (even in Canada).
--William L. Dye, A.K.A. "willdye", A.K.A. "Boba Fudd", A.K.A. "Darth Fudd", A.K.A. Lots of other stuff :-)
willdye@sds2.com
(Not speaking for my employers)
I second the Axis 2100 (Score:2)
You can ftp to it or look at its HTTP port for various formats of pics (10 frames a second updated, single pics, various sizes).
I have plans for something similar myself, but haven't done anything with it yet.
Only drawback is it is an indoor camera. They say don't aim it at the sun or any bright light (such as a halogen light), so it would be easy for a knowledgeable crook to toast it. But this seems a pretty minor concern, and if you download a frame every second or two, you should have some idea who did it.
--
Fake Cameras... (Score:2)
Not terrible.. (Score:2)
Sound is the same ball of wax, except that you could prolly real-time compress. Record the noise[s], add a breif timestamp with Festival, and compress to mono MP3. There's no real way of combining audio streams, but [x]-num low-bitrate mono streams based on motion shouldn't be so bad.
Archive remotely, and how to search (Score:2)
Another thing, even though this is probably obvious to you, don't set it up so that the video record is archived on a machine that will be stolen. Also, consider the reliability of the internet connection -- can someone disable it by tripping over a wire or running a program to bog it down ? Not that most theives are that smart; they'll be scared of by unworking cameras.
Secondly, the company I work for has done some video surveillence and monitoring projects, and one thing to remember is that the ability to search and index the record is very important. Often it is not clear exactly when the object disappeared (or whatever the event was), and so being able to narrow your search down with cues from doors opening, motion sensors, or other information is very important.
One job we once did was inspired by an institution that had a vehicle stolen, but hiring one of those video-surveilence consulting places which specialized in this sort of thing to fast-forward through four days (it was a long weekend) of tape on several parking lot exits actually cost more than the vehicle was worth, so they didn't bother. If the pictures had been processed to detect motion as they were stored, then it would have been reasonable, if you had software that would let you jump to motion scenes, or do searches such as "show me all exits (not entries) of vehicles in which there were no other vehicle motion in preceeding ten minutes, and happened at night".
If I wanted to steal a monitored computer, I would first turn it off and put a sticky note on it saying it always crashed after it was on for a while (thus people don't mess with it for a couple of days). That way you can't search the video log based on the moment it disappeared from the network. After a couple of days I'd just take it; hopefully I could be alone with it long enough to pop the case open and just grap the HD, RAM, and whatever, and then leave the case there to be discovered empty days/weeks later. Then you have no way of looking at the video record and jumping ahead or backward until you found the moment the machine disappeared.
But the ultimate VSAM (Video Surveilence and Monitoring) system would allow you to search based on the presence of a single person in the room in the area of question for more than X minutes; then you'd nail me.
Re:Quickcams and Axis stuff + BIG disks = neato! (Score:2)