DIPOL Weekly Review - TV and SAT TV, CCTV, WLAN

Do they follow the Google's way?

At CES 2012 in Las Vegas (January 10-13, 2012), some companies presented for the first time a new generation of televisions equipped with operating systems - this is another step to the interactive TV (iTV) which makes TVs similar to computers. It becomes close to the vision of Steve Jobs that future televisions will have the functionality of iPads, but diagonal size of a home theater.

TVs with their own operating systems - it is the platform required for Internet-based interactive television planned by Google and Apple. Because Apple was not in the fair, there was no TV with iOS, but the demonstration of such a device is a matter of a short time.

A concept of interactive television based on Ubuntu Linux OS was shown by Canonical company. The launch of the Canonical's system means that in the emerging market of interactive television, aside from Google and Apple, there is a place for independent players using Linux systems.

However, for many observers the fair was a test whether the TV industry would support the concept of Google TV with new hardware solutions. The result of the test was a qualified success, e.g. Lenovo, a known manufacturer of computers, presented its K91 television run by Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.

But so far, the leading manufacturers of televisions expect the return on investment in so-called "Smart TV" segment, being somewhere between traditional and interactive televisions. There were shown many interesting solutions of such TV sets, with networking capabilities and approaching prospects of the availability of special games and other applications offered in new online stores organized by Samsung, Panasonic, Lenovo.

However, the industry does not ignore the potential of new technologies - nearly all manufactures have prepared set-top boxes allowing users to watch Google TV on regular televisions. So, if the Google's concept prevails, they will able to offer relatively simple implementations of Google TV for their customers.

The adapter for iTV from Always Innovating company,
suitable for any television with HDMI interface

Always Innovating company presented iTV adapter connected via HDMI, suitable for any television with HDMI interface. Powered by Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and equipped with WiFi and Bluetooth circuitry, the device connects to the Internet and can cooperate with any household appliance. Is also equipped with NFC interface, allowing users to make payments for purchases via their TVs. And all this for a price below $100.

The concept of adapters for interactive TV has its justification. On one hand, it enables users to utilize their old TVs, so lower costs will accelerate the consumer acceptance, on the other hand modern TVs are becoming so "thin" that it is increasingly popular to construct them as separate functional devices (flat panel plus the rest). The support also comes from the IC industry - e.g. Marvell company unveiled ARMADA 1500 chipset which is the basis for the production of the STBs for Google TV.

To summarize, in Las Vegas Google did not "break the bank", but did not "go broke" either - there were many solutions for interactive television in line with the concept of the giant.

This year's prestigious Best of Show award for an outstanding product of consumer electronics industry went to 55-inch OLED TV (Organic Light-Emitting Diode) LG 55EM9600. Excellent colors and contrast, low power consumption and thickness of 4 mm - these are the features of the tomorrow's TV set.

List of the best products in each category - Best of CES 2012 Awards

The best product at CES - 55-inch OLED TV LG 55EM9600

The world's largest consumer electronics trade fair - Consumer Electronics Show (CES) - was held in Las Vegas between January 10 and 13. There were about 3100 exhibitors (up 15%), and 153 000 visitors at their stands (an increase of 10%). The stands presented 20 000 new products.
The reputation of the largest exhibition in this field has been confirmed many times - it was the place of the introduction of video cassette recorder (VCR), camcorder and CD player, DVD, HDTV, Blu-ray. This year, experts were mainly interested in the level of acceptance of the leading manufacturers of televisions for the idea of Google TV, because it is one of the most important elements in implementation of the concept of global interactive television.

Remote control of a DVR via USB.

The USB standard provides the possibility of using links up to 5 meters. In the case of a DVR located in a separate room or in a rack cabinet situated at a larger distance from the site of the operator, the length of the connection should be greater, and the installer has to solve the problem of connecting the operator's mouse.

A remotely controlled DVR (located up to 50 meters from the operator's site) via USB extension

The ideal solution for this problem is the application of USB RJ45 extension adapter M1680 and CAT5 VGA extender TRVGA300 M1679.
The M1680 USB extension adapter is ideal for installations that require long, wired connections with webcams, printers, pads, mouses, keyboards, USB flash drives etc. So it can be used as the mouse extender as well as may connect other peripherals, including external drives for archiving the recorded video material.

Upgrading satellite systems for PVR receivers.

The solution shown below is dedicated to people who simultaneously want to watch and record two different channels from any of the two satellite positions they receive.

It uses TWIN MONOBLOCK LNB A98254 and subscriber terminal outlet SIGNAL TV/FM/SAT1/SAT2 (PVR) R694140.
The installers/users of Monoblock, Twin Monoblock, and Quad Monoblock LNBs should know that each model is designed for a specific size of the dish.

A simple SAT TV system allowing the user to simultaneously watch and record any two channels
from two satellites

The users of individual satellite installations for one satellite can upgrade their systems even in a cheaper way, being able to watch channels from both satellite positions but record either the viewed channel or another one, however only from the satellite received by the LNB connected directly to the second input of the PVR receiver.
In the case of the LNBs connected (via DiSEqC switch) to the main input, the user can record only the channel being watched.
The solution employs universal single LNB A9825 and twin LNB A98256, DiSEqC 2.0 2x1 switch Signal R852510, and DiSEqC switch Signal and the outlet dedicated to PVR receivers - SIGNAL TV/FM/SAT1/SAT2 (PVR) R694140.

In this solution, the user can watch channels from both satellite positions,
but record either the viewed channel or another one, however only from the satellite
received by the LNB directly connected to the second input of the PVR receiver

POF solution for a CCTV system at company's parking lot.

Due to acts of vandalism and taking assigned parking spaces by unauthorized people, the management decided to install a video monitoring system covering the company's parking lot.
The main requirement for the system was high image quality, allowing for facial recognition and reading license plates.

The system has been based on professional 2 MP IP cameras Pixord K1533. The signals from the 12 cameras are fed to an intermediate point converting them to POF optical signal. It consists of TP-Link switch N29958 with SFP slot filled up with the POF SFP transceiver ULTIMODE POF-100SFP L6261. This solution introduces an optical backbone of the CCTV system, which greatly simplifies the installation of the cable in the vertical shaft in the company's office block. The ULTIMODE polymer cable L6521_1 is characterized by small external dimensions (2.2 x 4.4 mm), very small bending radius, and high flexibility. Similarly to all optical fibers, the cable is immune to electromagnetic interference and pulses, so it could be installed in parallel to power and telecommunication cables.

Block diagram of the system:
1 - Managing center,
2 - Intermediate point converting the IP stream into optical POF signal

How to make use of the motor-zoom function of a CCTV camera?

Sunell SN-ZMC6100DN/Z22 M1152 camera is equipped with motor-zoom lens with 22x optical zoom and auto-focus. The lens can be controlled via RS-485 interface, by external voltage applied to the appropriate pins of the camera's connector, or by using the OSD buttons on the camera.

A schematic diagram of a system implementing the motor-zoom function of the camera

In the system presented above, the zoom-in action is triggered by motion detected by the PIR sensor. The signal from the sensor activates the alarm input of the SIGNAL DL-8308 M78308 DVR and executes a predefined preset. In the example, the zoom is being increased to 17x. After the motion has ceased, the DVR applies another preset, and the image is zoomed out to its original state (zoom rate of 5x). The focus is adjusted automatically.

A recording showing the use of the camera in a system where after PIR-based motion detection
the image is zoomed in. When the motion stops, the image is zoomed out to its original state.

Hybrid monitoring system at a gas/petrol station.

To eliminate cases of theft at his station, the owner has decided to install a hybrid monitoring system based on Pixord equipment.

The video surveillance system covers the whole area of the station. The entrance, pumps, and exit are monitored by PL-621E K1533 cameras. Equipped with IR illuminators operating within 15 m range and mechanical IR filters, the cameras provide excellent visibility both during day and night. Their 2 MP resolution greatly facilitates identification of people and vehicles.

Inside the store there have been installed analog cameras for monitoring cash desks, connected to PV6901 K2160 video servers.
Additionally, panorama IP Camera PIXORD PD636E K1560 placed in the middle covers the whole area of the store.

Screenshots from the hybrid monitoring system at the gas/petrol station,
based on Pixord cameras and NVR software NUUO K3116

The material from the cameras is archived on a server running NUUO K3116 software, which allows continuous recording, or recording triggered by motion detection, as well as the detection of lost and abandoned objects.

Efficient wireless link.

The purpose of the installation described below is to provide a stable and efficient connection (40 Mbps) between the central database and WLAN network with multiple clients.

The architecture of the wireless network composed of ULTIAIR devices

In the above example, the wireless trunk is composed of ULTIAIR 423KN N2320 wireless access points ensuring data transfer rate of 40 Mbps. The client links (over the distances ranging from 300 m to 2 km) use wireless access points ULTIAIR 423KC N2301. The absolute requirement for such a network is line-of-sight between each pair of the nodes.

Worth reading:

Antenna system for areas within a 20-40 km distance from the transmitter, with signal distribution to 4 televisions. The installation uses the directional Yagi antenna A1911 and the amplifier Terra HA-024 R82292 compensating the loss of signal connected with its splitting to several receivers. In the case of low power transmitters or a place on the fringes of the coverage area, a preamplifier should be installed instead of the balun in the antenna box. In this situation the R82292 amplifier should be replaced by Terra HS-013 R82010 with power supply for the preamplifier...

Antenna system for areas within a 20-40 km distance from the transmitter,
with signal distribution to 4 televisions

Surge protection of CCTV devices. An effective method of protecting CCTV devices from lightning discharges is application of surge protectors. OPV-1 M1701 protects one video path, whereas OPV-4 M17014 can protect four paths (BNC inputs).

The protection of each path (line) consists of three stages:

The internal structure of the M17014 surge protector

Home Wi-Fi network based on the 802.11n standard. Home computer network can be used not only for Internet connectivity but also for the transmission of multimedia files (music, movies, pictures) between computers and televisions supporting DLNA standard (The Digital Living Network Alliance). DLNA is a standard for communication, used by manufacturers of consumer electronics for sharing multimedia content within home networks. Older wireless standards (802.11 g) did not provide adequate bandwidth...

A home multimedia network based on N3252 wireless N router

1. ADSL Annex A Router TP-Link TD-8816 - N2906
2. Access Point TP-Link TL-WR740N (router, 4p-switch, 150Mb/s 802.11n) - N3252
3. Wireless USB Adapter: TP-Link TL-WN721N (802.11n, 150Mb/s) - N2924
4. Game console with wireless n adapter (PlayStation 3, Xbox)

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