What our experts say…
Fujitsu, along with just about everyone else these days, is keeping a tight reign on costs and at first glance it appears they have saved a few bob on the cases for its 800 series camera range.
The body of the camera is almost cubic in shape and it looks for all the world as though they’ve taken a hacksaw to the front end of one of their regular cameras.
In fact it’s a custom design, but it is probably fair to say that comparatively little expense was spared on the external design. But that’s not really our concern, this is not a beauty contest and in the end it’s what’s inside that matters.
We’re Bench Testing two models from the range, the CG-801 and CG-831, which, by common consent and tradition, usually means that the higher numbered model is more advanced than it’s numerically challenged stablemate. However, for some strange reason, it’s the other way around with the 801 having more features and options.
Nevertheless, from the outside they are practically identical and indeed they have a very similar core specification, which centres on a 1/3-inch interline CCD sporting 440k pixels and a claimed resolution of 540 lines. Low-light performance is where the two models diverge.
The 801 is a proper day/night camera with switchable IR cut filter and rated at 0.5 lux in colour mode (AGC high) and 0.06 lux in B&W mode, whereas the 831 has a slightly lower colour low light figure of 0.4 lux but colour/black & white switching is controlled electronically so its absolute low light performance is not as good. Incidentally, the instruction manual (well leaflet…) and PDF manual on disc are not very clear about the 831’s day/night function. The ones supplied with our sample were ambiguous about the menu options for this facility, which didn’t seem to exist, either that or we were supplied with wrong instructions.
We’ll come to the other differences in a minute but common features include the 12 volt DC/24 volt AC supply, a C/CS lens mount with provision for an auto iris lens (our review models were used with Eneo FO3Z2, f1.0, 3 – 8mm DC controlled AI). Both models have a title facility and simple privacy mask option.
There’s a also a Blemish Compensation feature, which also isn’t very well explained but appears to have something to do with countering patches of over-bright pixels. Both of them have sophisticated on-screen displays, display gamma correction and a fair number of manual, preset and automatic exposure options.
Now for those key differences. The 801 has a simple motion detection facility, 3-mode electronic zoom (1.5x, 2x & 2.5x), switchable wide dynamic range, an RS485 terminal with provision for external day/night switching and an alarm output triggered by the motion sensor. The 831 also has an external control port though this is only used for day/night switching. Another feature exclusive to the 831 is ‘Eclipser’ which appears to be some kind of backlight control, though once again the instruction leaflet and PDF manual on disc are not very forthcoming on the matter.
Time now for a quick inspection tour and these really are tough little customers with the all-metal cases largely composed of alloy castings. The lens mounting ring is threaded and can be screwed in and out for back focus adjustment. There are threaded mounting points top and bottom. On the left side there’s a standard 4-pin socket for the AI lens and behind that a tiny 4-way joystick for controlling the on-screen display. On the back panel is a 4-way spring terminal for the power cables. A BNC socket carries the composite video output and a blanked off panel covers the socket for comms/switching. Additionally the 801has a power on LED and a recessed switch for setting RS486 port termination.
There’s not a lot of room inside the cases with both cameras managing to pack in no fewer than six pcbs apiece though for some peculiar reason the 831, which has fewer functions, has more complex internal wiring. The standard of construction is excellent throughout and, in addition to the protection afforded by the outer shell, all of the internals are held firmly in place on a steel chassis. They look like they could survive a good deal of physical punishment though it’s worth pointing out that these cameras are not weather protected.
Set up and operation
The on-screen display is enabled by pressing and holding the joystick button for approximately 3 seconds after which the main menu appears. The 801 has 8 items: Mode Select, Exposure Set, Function Set, Camera Setup, Lens Setup, Mode Save, Blemish Compensation and Initialise. The 831’s menu is slightly simpler with 7 choices: Mode Select, Exposure Set, Function Set, Mode Save, Blemish Compensation, Initialise and Firmware Version.
The mode Select sub-menu has selections for Standard, Day & Night, Wide, Casino and User. The 831 doesn’t have the wide function and the Day & Night option is not present on our 831 test sample’s menu, though the PDM manual implies that it is.
From this point on the two menus diverge quite sharply so, rather than wade through each one, we’ll just highlight a few points of interest, and some anomalies and there’s plenty of those to get our teeth into… The 801’s Exposure Set menu is a good place to start. Exotic-sounding functions are liberally sprinkled around with little or no explanation of what they are or what you are supposed to do with them. Take ‘ACE(VSCI)’ for example, which according to the PDF manual ‘achieves high quality images under every shooting condition. Then there’s the ACE Mode, which ‘selects the mode to control low-luminance region’, with, amongst other things, undefined settings labelled MTP and PCP. And there’s more, …but you get the drift. At the very least it would have been useful for the manual writers to include a simple glossary of terms for those not endowed with an encyclopedic knowledge of esoteric acronyms.
It has to be said that navigating around the menus isn’t a problem and the joystick control is generally very easy to use, once you get the hang of the orientation and display. The only potential trouble spots are the mask and motion detection selection pages, which require a fair amount of manual dexterity and a keen eye. Incidentally, although we mentioned it in passing a moment or two ago, it’s worth repeating that it has a linked output connection, so it can be put to good use.
With so many things to fiddle around with setup can be a lengthy business, and with little guidance from the manual there’s plenty of opportunity to get into a muddle. However, several of the more advanced functions appear to do have comparatively little effect, unless of course we were unable to replicate the special conditions when they would make a difference – but we’ll never know so it’s a good idea to see how you get on with the defaults, before delving into the menus.
Performance
Given the pedigree, the apparent similarities in the basic specs and the use of identical lenses, we naturally assumed that image quality, on the out-of-the-box factory settings, would be pretty much the same, and hopefully a notch up on the competition.
As it turned out there were surprisingly big differences. The main problem with the 831 was distinct vertical striping that gave the image quite a coarse texture, and if anything in the image has vertical stripes, it can result in distracting moire patterning. It was still there, but much less obvious on the 830, which suggests it is an inherent processing artefact. The manufacturer’s resolution figures of 540 lines, for both cameras appear to be a touch optimistic, especially on the 831.
The 830’s auto exposure systems proved to be marginally more responsive to changing conditions, especially at lower lighting levels. In good natural light, colour saturation was a tad heavy-handed on both models, though the 801 fared slightly better in medium to low light scenes as its day/night function progressively reduced the colour level. The day/night function on the 801 works well, though its fairly average low light sensitivity means that it might not be the first choice for really challenging conditions
Picture noise is low in both cases, though it rises slightly faster on the 801, until day/night switching kicks in, when it drop off quite rapidly. Overall we would rate picture quality on the 831 as a little below par, due mainly to the vertical stripes, whilst the 801 comes out as capable though in the scheme of things, really rather ordinary.
As expected there were no problems with mechanical stability and they both emerged unscathed after their encounters with the SI rubber mallet.
Overall assessment
We had high expectations for these two cameras and on paper they should have done well but the texturing on the 831 was a disappointment, and the 801’s failure to sparkle also let the side down.
Nevertheless, the latter (801) is still a competent day/night camera with an unusually wide range of exposure options that could, quite possibly, prove useful in some specialised situations.
However, in the absence of any explanations in the manual it is difficult to say what they might be. The 831, like the 801 is small and very well built but we’d have to say it was only suitable for relatively undemanding applications.
What the manufacturer says …
Fujitsu has now built the latest Sony CCD chip technology into the top models of its 800 camera series. These include the CG-811/831PA1V super high resolution cameras as well as the CG-801PAV1 WDR camera. The new chip doubles the light sensitivity in all three camera lines: the CG-811/831PA1V colour cameras and the CG-811PA1V day/night camera now deliver 0.4 Lux (colour) and 0.05 Lux (BW) at F1.2 instead of the 0.8 Lux and 0.1 Lux from their predecessors!
When combined with the Auto Blemish function (automatic compensation for defective pixels) the CG-811/831 now achieves previously unobtainable image quality. Designed especially for 24-hour operation, it features automatic day/night selection and a retractable IR filter.
As compared to its predecessor, the new Sony SS III chipset in the CG-801 day/night multifunction camera not only offers a doubled light sensitivity, but also an enhancement of WDR characteristics. The camera is fitted with electronic shutter control so it delivers impressive results in difficult light conditions (backlight etc), and it automatically switches to B/W mode in darkness or bad visibility.
Plus, the extremely compact camera now features motion detection, and together with its resolution of 540 TV lines the integral automatic gain control (can be switched off), it gives a light sensitivity of 0,5Lux/F1.2 (Colour, AGC: High) or 0,06Lux/F1.2 (BW, AGC: High) respectively. Users can select a preset camera setup to profit from the specific strengths of Fujitsu’s most successful WDR and day/night cameras. For instance, in casino mode it has been optimised for the special requirements found in casinos and compliance with the strict legal criteria for video surveillance in public gaming rooms.
