What our experts say …
‘Made in Malta’ – now there’s something you don’t see every day, let alone on something as specialised as a 16-channel digital video recorder. Not that there’s any reason why the good folk of Malta shouldn’t be building DVRs for Dedicated Micros.
In fact electronics manufacturing and pharmaceuticals are growth industries on the Mediterranean island, also noted for its limestone deposits and freight trans-shipment operations (thanks Wikipedia), so as you can see you really do learn something new every day…
But we digress. The origins of the SD16N30 are not an issue here, and build quality is beyond reproach, so what really matters is what it can do, and how well it does it.
As the model number suggests, this is a 16-channel DVR, but it’s worth noting that eight, 12 and 32 channel designs are also available. It is a plug-and-play design with ease of setup and use high on the agenda, and with that in mind it’s ready to run straight out of the box on the default settings with the user or operator able to quickly select seven, 14, 30 or 60-day storage without having to mess around with quality and compression settings.
There’s also no shortage of manual configuration options for end-users and applications with more specialised requirements, and there’s been no compromise on flexibility either. Recordings are made using industry standard JPEG and MPEG4 compression, at up to 25fps, with options for continuous and scheduled recording, and alarm activation by motion detection or external alarm input. Image size, quality and frame rates can be set dynamically for each camera, or switched between 4CIF, 2CIF, CIF or QCIF modes. It can address up to 1.5Tb of internal and external SATA hard disk storage, and for the record our test machine was supplied with a single 500Gb drive.
Export facilities include a built-in CD writer drive, and it has no less than three USB ports, one of which can be used for a flash drive – we’ll come to the other two in a moment.
As you can see from the main photograph DM has been rather brave, and there are no front panel controls. All of the controls have been consigned to a TV-like infrared remote control handset. DM thoughtfully supply two of them, as in common with all remote controls they have legs, and like to hide… In case both remotes go awol, or fail, there’s also the option of controlling it with an optional keyboard and mouse, which explains what those ‘spare’ USB ports are for.
There is PTZ support for connected cameras using a variety of popular protocols; it can handle text input from POS devices. Other highlights include automatic camera detection and recording immediately after power up, the Linux based operating system is embedded in a non-volatile memory, there’s a single audio recording channel. The SD range of DVRs can operate over a network, using DM’s proprietary NetVu Observer client software, and it can be programmed to send email alerts to nominated recipients.
With no controls and just four indicator LEDs and an IR sensor window, the front panel is largely featureless. Even the CD drive is unobtrusive, it’s a slimline type, the sort used in laptops, and this is mounted below the curved grey fascia, alongside a USB port and a minijack socket for an external IR remote sensor on the end of a 3-metre cable.
The rear panel contains a fairly routine assortment of socketry with a bank of BNC connectors for the cameras and their loop-throughs plus two monitor outputs (there’s also an S-Video socket for Monitor A). Four serial D-Subs handle POS and PTZ telemetry, there’s one LAN and two USB ports plus a connector for an external SATA drive and a 25-way and 9-way D-Sub for alarm inputs and output.
A heavy gauge galvanised steel case and chassis provides ample protection for the compact motherboard, which is mounted towards the rear of the box. A bracket for two hard drives is behind the front panel and metal cased power supply is bolted to the left hand side. This has its own fan and there are two more mounted to the right side to ensure a steady flow of cooling air and these seem to be doing a good job as it never gets more than slightly warm, and noise levels are reasonably low.
Setup and operation
Once the machine is up and running, camera selection and display options are chosen by pressing a set of coloured button on the remote handset (full, quad, multi, sequence etc). The same buttons can be used to access alarm event and activity logs and the machine’s Search facilities as well. The handset also covers most secondary functions, including playback and copying recordings and PTZ camera control.
Pressing the menu button on the remote control displays a clear, colourful and easy to understand on-screen display with the main options displayed on the left hand side. The Main menu opens with a Status report, showing general information about the DVR and what it is up to (recording duration, cameras, MAC address, model and serial numbers etc.).
Next on the list is General, and this covers OSD language, time and date setup. This is followed by Cameras, which lists connected devices, camera title setup using a ‘virtual’ onscreen keyboard (one line up to 12 characters), and camera telemetry. Below the camera list a red coloured button – relating to the same coloured button on the handset – leads to an additional Advanced menus with selections for camera type, contrast adjustment, camera termination and serial telemetry.
Continuous non-alarm recording times are set on the Schedule menu and beneath that is the Recording menu, which is responsible for the quick setup options. The basic choices are Normal Medium and Low frame rates using JPEG, MPEG4 (or Multimode) recording quality and frame rate, and recording duration (7,14, 30 or 60 days). The actual recording duration achievable using preset and manual settings is displayed in a box at the top of the box.
Selecting the red Advanced button takes the user to the manual recording setup menus, which cover alarm scheduling, quality, resolution and frame rate settings. There are no real surprises on the Network menu and this has all of the usual configuration options for IP Address, Subnet, gateway DCHP primary DNS and so on.
The Alarms menu selects the profile for each connected camera, which include setting pulse timing, to prevent double triggers, monitoring end of line (EOL) resistance to detect tampering, primary and secondary camera activation, setting up entry and exit routes, activating email on alarm, sounder settings and remote reporting. There’s also provision for setting up post alarm activity, camera fail, pre alarm and entry/exit timings. Motion detection options are on the Activity menu; each camera view is assigned a 16 x 16 grid of triggers, with a sensitivity setting for each channel; this menu page is also responsible for enabling email alerts, camera switching and sounder options. A button on the main menu leads to a set of secondary menu for configuring the Serial ports, audio recording, POS Text input, monitor display options, security and admin features, firmware upgrade and factory defaults. The otherwise well illustrated and easy to follow instruction manual tells of a ‘Demo’ section containing tutorials covering basic operation and a Help menu, though these were both absent on our test machine.
Overall the menus are well laid out and very simple to use, giving the DVR something of a dual personality. Using just the default settings and basic camera options it is as docile as a lamb and it is possible to get it up and running in a matter of minutes, but delve a little deeper into the menus and there’s enough configuration settings to keep the most finicky or demanding installers and end users engrossed for hours.
Performance
At the highest quality settings and frame rate it’s fair to say what goes in comes out, with negligible changes to noise levels and no perceptible digital artefacts. Reductions in quality characterised by a dip in the amount of fine detail, colour depth and contrast are evident when using lower quality settings, but even when set to minimum quality for achieving maximum recording times the picture never degrades to the point where it becomes unusable. The only operational niggle concerns the machine’s transport functions. Changing playback mode or speed results in a momentary interruption in the image, which can become quite distracting, particularly when trying to isolate a segment of a recording. Mechanical stability is very good indeed and there was no adverse reaction to a sound beating with the SI rubber mallet.
What the manufacturer says …
Dedicated Micros has launched the feature-packed, SD Range of Digital Video Recorders. The plug and play SD Range is targeted primarily at small to medium sized businesses. Available in 4, 8, 12, 16 and 32 channel variants it features ‘Normal, Medium and Low’ default recording settings which provide consistent recording performance per camera – regardless of the number of cameras – and easy to use selectable storage configurations of 7, 14, 30 and 60 days. Crucially for retailers the SD Range provides all important text support for Point of Sale transactions.
Another advance with the SD Range is that selected models are Analytics Capable, believed to be a first in the mid-range CCTV market. Analytics packages are now readily available through a simple software and hardware licence upgrade. In bringing this to market Dedicated Micros was determined to offer tried and tested performance levels and avoid the over inflated claims of some providers of intelligent video solutions which, sadly, in the past have all too often resulted in poor delivery on the ground.
Other features incorporated into the SD Range include: soft key menus and an onscreen GUI operated from the IR Remote, an attached SD keyboard, USB mouse or USB keyboard, remote alarm reporting, a MultiMode Recording capability and coax and serial telemetry.
The SD Range also supports the new Dedicated Micros Managed Storage units, specially designed for the arduous demands of 24 hour CCTV recording, these feature environmental monitoring and disk management capabilities.
Overall assessment
The SD16N30 is slick and instantly likeable for its straightforward controls, easy to use menus and crisp, clean recording quality. It has a few foibles, though and the remote handset is one for them. It is certainly preferable to clusters of buttons on the front panel, but even though two handsets are supplied, we would have preferred the safety net of some on-board controls, just in case…
The handset could also do with being a little bigger, allowing for larger, more widely spaced and better labelled buttons. However, in the end we feel the best control solution would be to have included the dedicated keyboard, rather than offer it as an optional extra.
The brief picture glitch when changing playback mode was a bit of a surprise but otherwise it manages high scores in all key performance areas and it ably demonstrates that you don’t need a degree in computer science to set up and use a sophisticated and very well specified DVR.
See attached graphics (left) for product assessment.