Changing times: integrated camera development and technical analysis

Since the integrated camera has a perfect integration of the lens and the body, the all-in-one machine has a great advantage in size. Therefore, the lens magnification can be adjusted locally or remotely on the machine. Also, because its internal control circuit can directly control the lens, the lens can focus on the subject. This greatly simplifies the installation and use process of the camera, and it is gradually becoming popular with users.

Integrated camera technology development

With the emergence of infrared cameras, infrared integrated cameras have become popular in the security market today. We don’t have to worry about feeling insecure in the dark night. Infrared integrated cameras will bring a safe light to your night life.

Compared with traditional cameras, infrared integrated cameras are small and beautiful, and have advantages in installation and are relatively convenient. Their power, video, and control signals all have direct sockets, unlike traditional cameras that have troublesome wiring. The infrared integrated camera imaging system (lens), CCD, and DSP technology patents are all mastered by internationally renowned manufacturers. Compared with traditional cameras, the quality of infrared integrated cameras can be better controlled. At the same time, infrared integrated cameras have a wide monitoring range and high cost performance. The traditional camera positioning system is not flexible enough and often requires manual focus, while the biggest advantage of integrated cameras is that they have automatic focus function.

The technology of infrared integrated cameras for security is developed from the technology of home cameras, which discards the additional functions of home cameras such as portable devices, display interfaces and storage devices, and only retains the camera function suitable for CCTV monitoring. The motor life of general civilian integrated cameras is short, and they will stop automatically when the camera time is too long. The integrated cameras for security generally require 24-hour non-stop shooting, and the requirements for motors and camera time are relatively high. From the perspective of the camera part alone, of course, its price is higher than that of ordinary civilian integrated cameras. If only low cost is emphasized, it will affect the effective monitoring of the security system. For example, a few years ago, a shopping mall in Wuhan chose to install civilian integrated cameras on the security system due to cost issues, and problems emerged one after another.

The key technologies of infrared integrated cameras are lens, CCD and DSP processing module. Lenses are mainly controlled by Japanese manufacturers, such as Canon, Camputar, Avenir, etc. In the field of integrated cameras, Canon lenses provide the most OEM. From the perspective of CCD (a key element in the quality of cameras), Sony is the main supplier, and Sony's CCD is mainly for civilian use. Sony CCD is divided into two types: SuperHAD and Exview. Among them, Exview is the latest technology, generally using a 1/4-inch size, and has a higher signal-to-noise ratio than SuperHAD; Panasonic and Samsung each use their own CCD to produce integrated cameras; Kodak and Fuji mainly develop professional CCDs. In terms of DSP processing chips, different manufacturers have their own characteristics. For example, Sony's DSP chips are relatively excellent in color reproduction, while Canon and Nikon's DSPs are better in light capture mode and focus.

At present, all infrared integrated cameras made in China use imported movements, so there is basically no difference in image and picture quality with foreign products. Therefore, the technical key points of domestic products are concentrated on the durability of the products, because domestic products are self-developed in the motor and transmission device of the integrated machine, and the heat resistance of the motor and transmission device directly affects the stability and durability of the integrated machine. The motors used in infrared integrated cameras are synchronous motors and DC motors. Synchronous motors have a fast temperature rise and a relatively short service life, but the cost of DC motors is too high, so the market is still dominated by synchronous motors.

Anatomy of integrated camera technology

1. Understanding the integrated camera

After decades of development, integrated cameras have broken the monopoly of foreign products in the market, and their increasingly lower prices have attracted people's attention. Now, integrated cameras have become the new favorite of CCTV with their uniqueness that traditional cameras cannot match. Domestic manufacturers are working hard to find a breakthrough to create domestic brands to compete with foreign products, but there are still technical difficulties.

There are several different understandings of integrated cameras, some refer to hemispherical integrated cameras, fast-speed dome integrated cameras, integrated cameras with PTZ, and integrated cameras with built-in lenses. Strictly speaking, fast-speed dome cameras, hemispherical cameras, and general integrated cameras are not the same concept, but the camera technology used is the same, so they are generally classified as integrated. The integrated cameras commonly referred to now should specifically refer to integrated cameras with built-in lenses and automatic focus, which is also a type of product that this special topic will present in detail.

Integrated cameras now specifically refer to cameras that can automatically focus and have built-in lenses. Their technology has been developed from home camera technology. Compared with traditional cameras, integrated cameras are small and beautiful, easy to install and use, have a wide monitoring range, and are cost-effective. After being successfully applied to video display stands in the education industry, they are creating a new round of impact on the monitoring systems of the security industry.

Compared with traditional cameras, integrated cameras are small and beautiful, and have advantages in installation and are more convenient. Their power, video, and control signals all have direct sockets, unlike traditional cameras that have troublesome wiring. The integrated imaging system (lens), CCD, and DSP technology patents are all mastered by internationally renowned manufacturers. Compared with traditional cameras, the quality of integrated cameras can be better controlled. At the same time, integrated cameras have a wide monitoring range and high cost performance. The traditional camera positioning system is not flexible enough and often requires manual focus, while the biggest advantage of integrated cameras is that they have automatic focus function.

2. “Core” determines everything

The integrated camera can be regarded as a unit, which includes: electric optical zoom lens, video signal acquisition and processing control module (CCD and DSP), video, power/data control interface, management programming information button interface, etc. Among them, the electric optical zoom lens and video signal acquisition and processing control module have been uniformly installed in a metal box with a volume and shape similar to a square, commonly known as the movement.

The quality of the integrated camera core directly determines the gap between integrated camera products. Currently, the integrated cores on the market are mainly from the four major brands of Sony, HITACHI, LG, and CNB. According to many senior industry insiders, the quality of the four major brands of Sony, HITACHI, LG, and CNB is good. If we only look at the difference in effects, such as focusing speed and focusing accuracy, the integrated cores of Sony and HITACHI may be a little stronger. LG's integrated core is relatively advantageous in terms of color reproduction. As for the price of the integrated core, according to interviews, among the four major brands, the CNB brand has a higher cost performance.

At present, the more representative integrated camera on the market is LG's LM937 series 37x integrated camera, which uses interlaced scanning 1/4" EX-ViewCCD, LG-XDI smart chip, 37x optical zoom, day and night dual-use (dual filter switching) function, and also has XDI chip's ultra-wide dynamic technology (dual shutter), HSBLC super light suppression and EIS electronic anti-shake and other functions.

Among them, the SENS-UP function of the LG-XDI smart chip series products can be set automatically or manually for ×2, ×4??×128, which is convenient for places where infrared technology is not suitable in low-light environments, such as museums. HITACHI recently launched the VK-S858N/EN series integrated movement, which uses Hitachi's latest improved version of DSP and has functions and features such as wide dynamic range, high sensitivity, high resolution, low noise, and digital image flipping; the privacy area can be shielded up to 4 points, which is twice as many as the ordinary integrated machine movement; it has both analog and digital output functions, and the digital output does not need to go through a decoder, and can directly output high-quality images, greatly reducing the system cost.

Domestic brands of integrated cameras basically use the four major imported movements of Sony, HITACHI, LG, and CNB. Therefore, there is basically no difference in image and picture quality with foreign products. The functionality and quality of domestic products can also maintain a better level. Overall, domestic brands have advantages mainly in terms of price and occupy their own share in market positioning.