Next-Generation Video Engine

With the introduction of the Omnicast video recording and streaming engine to the Security Center, Genetec has significantly enhanced its video offering. Enhancements include an expansion of our video streaming capabilities, augmented scalability of our video system, minimization of bandwidth usage, and an improved operator experience when viewing live or recorded video.

Whether you want to share your video cameras with personnel in other geographical locations, you want to deploy your video surveillance system across multiple sites with limited bandwidth between sites, or you simply want to give to your security operators the same fluidity as an analog video system while reviewing recorded video, the new video engine built into the Security Center is as good as it gets.

Several new features have been added in the latest version of Security Center offering benefits in various scenarios.

Superior Streaming Engine

The enhanced architecture of the Media Router (replacing the Omnicast 4 Gateway) is based on and improves the performance of the Omnicast 4 streaming engine. The Media Router has an overall view of the entire system and is therefore able to calculate the most efficient routes between a source (camera) and a destination (client station). The Media Router is designed to be network friendly, so in addition to finding the best routes, it will also make sure to comply with your network’’s capabilities, whether your network supports unicast or multicast. Once you have defined your network’s topology, components, and interrelated parts, the Security Center seamlessly calculates the best routes and decides how to stream your video.

The Media Router manages one or several video redirection agents which are responsible for transmitting a stream from one point to another, just like a network router. As your system grows over time and more stream redirection is needed, simply add more redirection agents. Moreover, load balancing is part of the Security Center’s fundamental streaming capabilities so single points of failure are therefore a thing of the past.

In a nutshell, the Media Router plays a vital role in a number of scenarios such as:

• A group of users who wish to view video across the Internet.
• A non-multicast camera must be streamed in multicast.
• A multi-site system needs to support decentralized video streaming to all remote sites while accessing video from all sites remotely. 
• A multi-site system needs to centralize all video streaming for security purposes.

Smooth Forward and Reverse Playback

 Don’t miss a single frame when reviewing an incident. With no restriction on the compression type and on the key frame (I-Frame) interval, the Security Center’s advanced playback capabilities allow you to view recorded video at slow and high speeds with an amazing fluidity. Every single frame of the stream can be displayed and rendered, and not just the key frames. The Security Center’s monitoring client, the Security Desk, provides all-frame forward and reverse video playback at the following speeds: 1/2x, 1/3x, 1/4x, 1/8x, 1x, 2x, 4x. This feature is available with H.264, MPEG-4 and MJPEG configured at any key frame interval.

Each video tile is independant from the other tiles, and can display live or recorded video.

High-Speed Playback

Additional playback speeds (6x, 8x, 10x, 20x, 40x, 100x) are also available in forward and reverse playback. At those speeds, only key frames are played back to ensure the impact on the network bandwidth is minimal.

Video Caching

The Security Desk now offers the ability to cache video locally at the workstation level to provide faster access to playback video and to reduce the amount of video that is retransmitted. The Security Desk will first try to play video that is locally cached before retrieving it from a recording server (Archiver). This way, the video is never transmitted twice on the network when the operator just wants to do an instant replay while reviewing an incident.

The cache size is configurable on a per Security Desk basis, and to ensure maximum security, the cache is wiped clean when the Security Desk application is terminated.

Security Center's video thumbnails feature. Click on the picture to see more.

Optimized Video Rendering Engine

Your live and playback video monitoring activities will surely benefit from the Security Desk’s modern rendering engine which can now display transparent video overlays. This allows your operators to receive notifications and perform actions directly in a tile. The new rendering engine also leverages multi-core processors to be able to render more cameras per workstation as the number of available cores increases.

Thumbnails

Operators can quickly get an overview of a playback sequence without having to play and seek within their recorded video. Thumbnails are available with specific video reports and can be displayed within the timeline. Simply click on a thumbnail to seek through your recorded video.

Camera sequences can be created by administrators and operators alike. Click on the picture to view a larger version.

Cameras Sequences

The Security Desk now handles camera sequences natively. Multiple cameras can be configured in a sequence (including PTZ presets and patterns) and when activated, the sequence will cycle within a single tile. Camera sequences can be created in advance by the administrator and made available to multiple users. In addition to that, an operator has the ability to create on-the-fly sequences by dragging an area (floor, building, etc.) in a tile. The Security Desk also offers the ability to unpack a sequence to view all cameras that are part of the sequence side-by-side.

Synchronous and Asynchronous Playback

Each and every video tile in a layout can independently display live or recorded video. Operators can either do an instant replay on a single tile to review a missed event or they can switch all current cameras to playback mode with a single mouse click. When in synchronous playback mode, operators control the playback of all displayed cameras using a single timeline. After the investigation is completed, the operator can switch back all cameras to live with a single click. In asynchronous mode, the operator controls each tile independently, thereby supporting side-by-side live and recorded video.

Additional Video Features

• Tile history: Just like most popular internet browsers, the historical activity within a tile is logged so operators can easily go back to the previous content of a tile. Operator can also go forward and return to the initial content.
• Full-screen video: Use your PC monitor as a video wall by limiting your display to video only. Non-video elements such as toolbars, menus and other controls are hidden in this mode.
• Export multiple video clips: Operators reviewing multiple recorded sequences can export all these clips with a single click.
• Automatic stream selection: To reduce your CPU usage while decoding video, the Security Desk can be configured to automatically decide which video stream to display based on the size of the viewing tile. The Security Desk will use a higher resolution stream only if it makes a visual difference to the user. Otherwise, it will default to a lower resolution.
• Task cycling: After multiple views are created in advance, the Security Desk can be optionally set to cycle through these views automatically; this allows the display of multiple cameras in rotation without any user intervention.