Specifications
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Finally, the camera is a 12V DC/24V DC unit,
and is supplied with a real manual!
Installation
Setting up the SCB-3001 is pretty much the
same as setting up most higher end CCTV
cameras. The connections are straightforward;
BNC connectivity for video out, screw-type
connections for power, and push-fit terminals
for other connections. The latter includes
RS485 connectivity, an Image Freeze input,
external sync and shutter speed, the Lamp
input and a motion detection output.
Once the connections are made and the lens
mounted, it’s a case of powering up and setting
the configurations via the OSD. This is
controlled by a simple five-button arrangement
on the rear panel of the camera.
The menus are straightforward, and follow
the typical Samsung layout. Obviously, more
features and functions equates to more menus.
That said, the additional time invested in
properly setting up the camera will result in
advanced performance.
The menu for Intelligent Video is the only
one that will require a quick glance at the
manual. Even hardened Samsung users will
find it new. The options are motion detection,
tracking, virtual tripwire (called Fence in the
menus) and object added/removed.
Progress through the initial set-up of the
Intelligent functionality is a little slow, but as
you get more used to it, it becomes simpler.
The processing is quite complex, so it’s never
going to be easy.
Performance
Initial impressions of the SCB-3001 are good.
Samsung’s cameras have always exhibited very
high colour fidelity, and this unit does not
change that. Colours are crisp, clean and
faithful, and there is no bias towards warmer or
cooler tones. Greyscale replication is also
accurate, with even the difficult 90 per cent to
100 per cent difference being clear.
Detail is very good, with little or no
degradation, even in very busy scenes. The
denser chipset certainly has the desired effect,
and whilst you can argue about the resolution
figures, you can’t argue that the quality is very
good indeed. There are a few other cameras
around with double density chipsets, but we’ve
only seen one that is on a par with the SCB3001
for detail.
When it comes to sensitivity, Benchmark
tests cameras with all processing disabled, and
records the light level at
the viewed scene when
the camera loses a 1 volt
peak-to-peak video
signal. This happened
with the SCB3001 at 4.5
lux.
Dip into the menus,
and you can tweak the
performance further for
more difficult environments.
SSNR is still one of the best noise reduction
systems available. SSNR I was very good, but
did suffer from some motion blur, and SSNR II
cured the blur, but at the expense of a slightly
softer image. SSNR III combines the best
elements of both. Care needs to be taken to
balance the noise reduction with the gain level,
but a very good clean image is easily achieved.
Initially, most of the Intelligent functions
worked well. However, we couldn’t seem to get
the Fence function to work. We tried everything
we could think of, reread the manual, but to no
avail. Then we realised that despite drawing
the Fence, we also had to draw a detection box
over the area too. This isn’t explained, but we
got there in the end. The Samsung Tech
Support team will doubtless be getting more
than a few calls about that!
We would recommend that installers play
around with the Intelligent elements to best
understand their foibles. They’re good, but not
perfect. Fast motion can be missed, so camera
location is important. Understanding the
various options will help, and don’t forget to
draw those detection boxes as well as the
fences!
In summary
The SCB-3001 is a very competent and powerful
camera. It’s not a plug and play unit; Samsung
have other alternatives if that’s what you are
after. When we first saw the specifications of
this unit we did worry that it might turn out to
be a jack of all trades, but it’s not.
Some installers might think that it’s too
feature-rich, and for some applications it will
be. However, if you want an advanced camera,
it’s hard to find anything to complain about.
Image quality is very good, flexibility is high,
and the functionality is the icing on the cake.
If there is one niggle, it is the Intelligent
features. The problem is the hour and a half we
spent trying to make it function correctly. A
rewrite of the instructions would be very
helpful, and we’ll let you know if that happens.
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