In this, our first LIVE-ish interview from ISC West 2022, Joe Barnhart and Paul Garms discuss the new FLEXIDOME panoramic 5100i security camera series from Bosch.
HIGHLIGHTS
12MP sensor resolution
The camera offers a 12MP sensor to optimize for the amount of details required. This offers 30 fps to ensure real-time motion in your scenes. Together with its stereographic lens the image circle offers a 9MP effective resolution.
Panoramic vision and Intelligent Video Analytics
Combining Bosch Intelligent Video Analytics software with full panoramic vision, produces an extremely powerful surveillance tool, which enriches full situational awareness. With intelligent tracking, movement can be followed continuously throughout the full image circle. There is no need to hand off tracking from one camera to another, greatly simplifying movement analysis.
The system reliably detects, tracks, and analyzes objects, and alerts you when predefined alarms are triggered. A smart set of alarm rules makes complex tasks easy and reduces false alarms to a minimum.
Specifically designed for the most demanding environments. It is extremely resistant to false triggers caused by challenging environments with snow, wind (moving trees), rain, hail, and water reflections.
Calibration is quick and easy - just enter the mounting height of the camera. The internal gyro/accelerometer sensor provides the rest of the information to precisely calibrate the video analytics.
Camera Trainer
Based on examples of target objects and non-target objects, the Camera Trainer program uses machine learning to allow the user to define objects of interest and generate detectors for them. In contrast to the moving objects that the Intelligent Video Analytics application detects, the Camera Trainer program
detects both moving and non-moving objects and classifies them immediately. Using Configuration Manager, you can configure the Camera Trainer program using both live video as well as recordings available through the respective camera. The resulting detectors can be downloaded and uploaded for
distribution to other cameras.
A free of charge license is required to activate the Camera Trainer program.
Audio AI
The camera has an integrated microphone array with three digital microphones for audio analytics and Audio AI. It offers an alarm functionality for events such as glass breaking, gunshot detection, screaming, or other loud noises. The camera is not only able to classify sounds, but also to provide an approximate
location of the sound. There is no need to record audio, as it is possible to examine sound characteristics only. If required by local laws, the microphone can be permanently blocked via a secure license key.
As Audio AI is under development, certain features might not be available at release or performance can be limited.
Dewarping
The lens captures a circular image. Bosch's dewarping software transforms this circular image into several different distortion-free rectangular views. To facilitate system integration, you can choose edge dewarping inside the camera or client-side dewarping on an external platform.
The edge dewarping in the camera provides three separate video channels simultaneously:
• Full image circle (Video 1 channel)
• Dewarped view mode (Video 2 channel)
• E-PTZ (Video 3 channel)
Different view modes can be selected for the video 2 channel. Your selection depends on the resolution you require and how you wish to view the dewarped image.
View modes
The following view modes can be select in the camera or on the client:
Video output for HDMI devices
The camera has a video output with 1080p resolution for live streaming to a public view monitor ideal for retail usage or for local video display. Via its micro HDMI connector, the camera can display the full image circle on HDMI-compatible devices. With a future firmware version, it will offer the flexibility to also display de-warped view modes.
High Dynamic Range
The camera has High Dynamic Range. This is based on a multiple-exposure process that captures more details in the highlights and in the shadows even in the same scene. The result is that you can easily distinguish objects and features, for example, faces with bright backlight.
The actual dynamic range of the camera is measured using Opto-Electronic Conversion Function (OECF) analysis according to IEC 62676 Part 5. This method is used to provide standardized measurements, which can be used to compare different cameras.
DORI coverage
DORI (Detect, Observe, Recognize, Identify) is a standard system (EN-62676-4) for defining the ability of a person viewing the video to distinguish persons or objects within a covered area. The maximum distance at which a camera/lens combination can meet these criteria is shown below:
When mounted at 3 m (10 ft) height the camera has the following coverage radius for the four DORI levels
for a person in the scene:
E-PTZ and regions of interest
The remote E-PTZ (Electronic Pan, Tilt and Zoom) controls allow you to select specific areas of the full image circle. These Regions of Interest (ROI) can be easily defined, allowing the most interesting part of a scene to be monitored separately. The high resolution ensures that details are not lost even when using the electronic zoom.
The E-PTZ feature of a panoramic camera has some advantages over normal PTZ cameras. There is no camera movement so the camera does not draw attention to itself or appear intrusive. Situational awareness is still retained even when zooming in on a particular object of interest. The smooth E- PTZ function helps navigation, and presets are available for setting up a guard tour. Intelligent tracking is also available to track people through the entire view of the camera.
Record exactly what you want
The camera provides the full resolution circular image for recording even if you are viewing only a portion of the scene. This means that you can always perform retrospective dewarping and analysis on the complete area covered and then zoom in on the region or object of interest. With edge-dewarping you can also choose to only record the relevant parts of the scene which helps reduce bitrates significantly.
Scene modes
The camera has a very intuitive user interface that allows fast and easy configuration. Multiple preset configurable modes are provided with the best settings for a variety of applications. Different scene modes can be selected for different situations, such as sodium lighting or dark environments.
Edge recording
Insert a memory card into the card slot to store up to 2 TB of local alarm recording. Pre-alarm recording in RAM reduces recording bandwidth on the network, and extends the effective life of the memory card.
It has advanced edge recording providing a reliable storage solution possible due to the combination of
these functions:
• Industrial SD card support allows for extreme lifetime
• Health monitoring of industrial SD cards provide early service indications.
Data security
Special measures have been put in place to ensure the highest level of security for device access and data transport. The three-level password protection with security recommendations allows users to customize device access. Web browser access can be protected using HTTPS and firmware updates can also be
protected with authenticated secure uploads. The cameras have built-in Secure Element (SE) hardware providing main Trusted Platform Module (TPM) functionality to ensure the highest levels of data security and privacy protection. Together with Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) support, superior protection from malicious attacks is guaranteed. It also supports RSA encryption key lengths of up to 4096 bits, ensuring data safety beyond 2030. The 802.1x network authentication with EAP/TLS, supports TLS
1.2 with updated cipher suites including AES 256 encryption.
The advanced certificate handling offers:
• Bosch origin device certificate pre-installed
• Self-signed unique certificates automatically created when required
• Client and server certificates for authentication
• Client certificates for proof of authenticity
• Certificates with encrypted private keys
Modular accessories
A full line of modular accessories is available that allows a consistent design across different cameras and a wide range of installation possibilities. Available options include wall or pipe mount, a surveillance cabinet with power and fiber optic options, and an in-ceiling mounting kit.
H.265 high-efficiency video encoding
The camera is designed on the most efficient and powerful H.264 and H.265/HEVC encoding platform. The camera is capable of delivering high-quality and high-resolution video with very low network load. With a doubling of encoding efficiency, H.265 is the compression standard of choice for IP video
surveillance systems.
System integration and ONVIF conformance
The camera conforms to the ONVIF Profile S, ONVIF Profile G, ONVIF Profile M, and ONVIF Profile T specifications. For H.265 configuration, the camera supports Media Service 2, which is part of ONVIF Profile T. Compliance with these standards guarantees interoperability between network video products regardless of manufacturer. Third-party integrators can easily access the internal feature set of the camera for integration into large projects. Visit the Bosch Integration Partner Program (IPP) website (ipp.boschsecurity.com) for more information.
Cloud-based services
The camera supports time-based or alarm-based JPEG posting to four different accounts. These accounts can address FTP servers or cloud-based storage facilities (for example, Dropbox). Video clips or JPEG images can also be exported to these accounts.
Alarms can be set up to trigger an e-mail or SMS notification so you are always aware of abnormal events.
Bosch Remote Portal
With the secure cloud infrastructure, Bosch Remote Portal, you can manage your connected Bosch devices.
From the Bosch Remote Portal you can:
• Complete initial configuration of your connected Bosch devices (online or offline).
• Update firmware for single or multiple devices.
• Manage certificates.
• Monitor the health of your connected Bosch devices.