By now, CCTV technology has evolved so much that it has – so to speak – exceeded its own objectives, and can be used not only in terms of security and video surveillance, but also for the most varied broadcast and marketing needs.
The installation of a video surveillance system is now commonly used where there is a need for a precise and accurate control of spaces and people. However, applications that do not restrict CCTV to pure security are growing: from television studios to live events, from sports shooting to training courses and marketing sessions, the contexts and areas that are nowadays interested are increasingly numerous. The merit of this evolution is the availability of high quality broadcast level PTZ cameras. An added value broadcasting CCTV: this is precisely the Panasonic project for the new GFK Italia headquarters in Milan.
Starting from the customer’s need to monitor the marketing activities organized in the new premises in via Tortona, in eight different environments, 27 Panasonic cameras were installed for monitoring the focus groups, including seven AW-HE40 PTZs and twenty AW-HE2EJ, used for video shooting, storage and streaming. GFK Italia deals with social and market research, qualitative, quantitative and integrated. As explains the IT Manager Carlo Bigliazzi, “it’s fundamental for our business to have a technology that allows us to accurately monitor surveys and interviews. In particular, the need to create a broadcast quality video recording system arose from the need to better organize the focus groups, thematic discussion groups in which a particular theme is investigated.”
In short, the need was a non-invasive AV system, which did not compromise the naturalness of the discussions. The video quality of the Panasonic cameras allowed to obtain precise facial details, having a high reaction to the light sources and a wide depth of field. To ensure the best flexibility all cameras have been connected in HD-SDI: the AW-HE40S PTZs have the native SDI output while the AW-HE2Es use an HDMI-SDI-HD converter. The rest of the signals travel on CAT6 cable using DM Crestron. The PTZ cameras, however, take advantage of the PoE power supply. All signals reach the floor rack cabinet where they are stored in dedicated servers; according to the requests of the various customers, in the case of streaming transmission the AV signal is transformed into IP by Matrox encoder. Registration is always carried out at the highest quality available and stored on dedicated servers. The system network is 10 G level. The cameras are rather easy to manage remotely and easy to integrate.
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