Specifications

Professional Test
Pushing the boundaries?
T
he CCTV sector is effectively at a
crossroads when it comes to technology.
The established composite video that has
served us so well over the recent decades is,
according to some, past its sell-by date, and
the new broom of networked video is going to
clean up!
If you listen to the evangelists of all things IP,
you might be forgiven for thinking that
composite video has nothing left to offer.
However, as with many things, the reality is
very different to the hype.
As a video standard, PAL does have some
restrictions. However, those restrictions are not
as prohibitive as they used to be! Advanced
chipsets, the use of denser CCDs, and more
intelligent video processing has meant that
additional performance is still be squeezed out
of composite video devices.
There is some debate as to how this
advanced performance is described. Some
quote higher resolution figures, others tend to
talk in terms of ‘image sizes’ rather than
resolution, and most manufacturers have an
encyclopedia of acronyms in their R&D
departments! The
real
question is whether the image quality has been
improved.
Samsung has been pushing the boundaries
of video performance with its SV series of
chipsets, and until now every new version has
added something. Now they’ve launched the
SV-5 chipset, and an example of it is the SCB-
3001P.
Specifications
The first thing you notice about the SCB-3001P
is that it retains the Samsung look. Aside from
the SV-5 designation on the side, it resembles
their previous cameras.
The specifications, however, don’t. The
camera uses a double density CCD, which
boasts 610,000 pixels. The effective pixel
count is 568,000 pixels (976 x 582). To put
this into context, the double density CCD
delivers 35 per cent more picture elements
than a normal CCD, which equates to a
significant increase in detail. Samsung claims
a resolution of 650 TV lines. Sensitivity is
claimed as 0.1 lux for a 50IRE image. Signal to
noise ratio is quoted as 52dB.
From those base specifications, you move to
the functionality included. The usual suspects
are all accounted for: iris control, electronic
shutter speed, gain control, white balance,
backlight compensation and sens-up.
However, there’s a lot more in the
functionality beside these. As is usual with SV-
chipset cameras, SSNR is present. This camera
features SSNR III. You also get wide dynamic
range (SSDR) as well as true day/night
switching (this is either triggered by the
camera itself, or externally through
the Lamp input).
Other features include privacy
masking, digital image
stabilisation, digital zoom and
coaxial control. There is also
RS485 comms.
One of the hot topics at
present is intelligent video
analysis, and the SCB-3001 has
on-board analytics, albeit in a
basic form. This includes detection,
tracking and object-based triggering.
Samsung – SCB-3001P
In recent years, Samsung
has delivered a steady
stream of camera upgrades.
Does the latest SV-5 chip-set
add more to an already high
performance range?
BENCHMARK
RATINGS
Product Design: 90%
Features and Functions: 90%
Ease of Installation: 90%
Image Quality: 90%
Performance: 90%
Overall Rating: 90%
Tel: [phone]
www.samsungsecurity.com
90%
www.benchmarkmagazine.com
10
pp2-3_000_Benchmark_feb11 11/02/2011 15:17 Page 10