Subscriber Discussion

Hikvision Monovu Camera 2015 / Dual-Directional Panovu 2020

MM
Michael Miller
Sep 15, 2015

2 sensors and with removible sun glasses

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KL
Keefe Lovgren
Sep 15, 2015
IPVMU Certified

doesn't the word "mono" mean single?

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Avatar
Brian Rhodes
Sep 15, 2015
IPVMU Certified

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U
Undisclosed #1
Sep 15, 2015
IPVMU Certified

specs or it didn't happen. ;)

MM
Michael Miller
Sep 15, 2015

No specs just twitter feed link

JH
John Honovich
Sep 15, 2015
IPVM

Hikvision replies, "MonoVu derives from Monovision, which is how horses see. Each eye has an independent image. With MonuVu, there are two independent outputs and a Picture in Picture Output as well."

Specs / pricing to follow, though all information may not be available for 2 weeks.

UM
Undisclosed Manufacturer #2
Sep 15, 2015

Will DM sue Hik becasue it has "Vu" in the name ?
No publicity is bad publicity ? :o)

Equine vision (wikipedia) is 180deg almost from each eye. The rump end getting in the way.
Does that suggest this is a 360 camera with a different method ?

They are doing a good job of crossing over from commercial to consumer with their designs.

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Avatar
Brian Karas
Sep 15, 2015
Pelican Zero

What's the application for this (honest question)?

1.3MP seems relatively low for a new camera introduction. Given the industrial design, I'm guessing this is intended for indoor applications?

Is it just me, or does "Mono" imply a B/W camera?

JH
John Honovich
Sep 15, 2015
IPVM

How am I supposed to decipher the naming conventions of someone who releases a camera in the US called 'Darkfighter'?

As for the application, I am not even sure how it works just yet so cannot comment.

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U
Undisclosed #1
Sep 15, 2015
IPVMU Certified

Equine vision + smoked dome + Hikvision marketing = DarkHorse

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U
Undisclosed #3
Sep 15, 2015

The "darkfighter" name always makes me think of the old Bell Labs "darksucker" discovery.

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BG
Bob Germain
Sep 16, 2015

Brian- it can be surface, wall or ceiling mounted. The main application is transaction monitoring, whether in banks, car dealerships, etc. (so yes it supports audio).

JH
John Honovich
Sep 16, 2015
IPVM

Bob, what is the AoV of each imager? 180 each or?

BG
Bob Germain
Sep 18, 2015

There are 2mm, 2.8mm and 4mm lens options. You can have two 2mm lens or you can mix and match the 2.8mm and 4mm options.

At 2mm, the HFOV is 115 degrees

JH
John Honovich
Sep 18, 2015
IPVM

How much flexibility in the positioning of the cameras/imagers? It looks like they are fixed in a single spot each, yes/no?

BG
Bob Germain
Sep 18, 2015

John, Each head can be independently adjusted. I will find out exact spec.

Bob

Avatar
Brian Karas
Sep 23, 2015
Pelican Zero

So if I'm doing the math right, you'd have a roughly 98 degree HFOV with the 2.8mm lens.

If the camera is mounted 6' from the subject area (such as on a ceiling, looking down towards a counter) your HFOV would be ~13' wide.

The sensors are 1.3MP, so I'm assuming 1280x1024.

1280px/13ft = 98ppf.

Call it 100ppf, not bad, but I'm not sure that yields the kind of detail needed for the intended application.

The 4mm lens would give about a 9' HFOV, or 142ppf, still just shy of what is probably the minimum requirement of 150ppf.

Seems like 4, 6, 8mm lenses might be better options for this camera (or a higher resolution sensor).

U
Undisclosed #1
Sep 23, 2015
IPVMU Certified

I'm getting > 175 ppm using the camera calculator, permalink here.

Avatar
Brian Karas
Sep 23, 2015
Pelican Zero

I don't think your link is correct.

You specified 175ppm. Pixels per meter.

I specified 98-142ppf. Pixels per *foot*.

If you're doing the math in metric, you'd want about 3x as many ppm as ppf. Or a baseline of about 450ppm.

Edit: the link had a distance of 100ft. If I change the distance to 6' from my example above, I get 177ppf. However that's also based on a 1/3" sensor. From Bob's post above of a 115degree HFOV at 2mm that is more like a 1/2" sensor. The lens calculator gives us a 77 degree HFOV and 9.60 foot wide HFOV at 6 feet, and 133ppf. I said 142ppf, but I wasn't using a lens-calc software I was just doing quick lens-wheel calculations on the fly.

By any math, the sensors in this seem a bit anemic for what appears to be the intended use case.

U
Undisclosed #1
Sep 23, 2015
IPVMU Certified

Edit: the link had a distance of 100ft.

This is the link I sent, yes I meant to type Ppf.

From Bob's post above of a 115degree HFOV at 2mm that is more like a 1/2" sensor.

I would caution backing into the sensor size based on the focal length and AOV. As you get under 3.0mm actual AOV's vary greatly. Some lenses are more rectilinear than others. No calculator is very reliable here. Therefore extrapolating to 4.0mm from this 2.0mm spec is difficult.

On the other hand, it certainly could have two 1/2" inch sensors, maybe Bob has more info?

As for the resolution anemia suffered by the camera, if this is used in place of a 360 or 180 for customer/teller overview purposes, I think the Ppf compares favorably. Yes, I don't think it's intended for passport photos.

JH
John Honovich
Sep 23, 2015
IPVM

There will be more info soon enough, we can then accurately calculate / estimate coverage.

Avatar
John Bazyk
Sep 16, 2015
Command Corporation • IPVMU Certified

Got this email this morning. Actually seems like a good idea. This would work great in Rx too.

Hikvision's new MonoVu camera boasts an attractive housing that is aesthetically pleasing in any commercial or office environment. It features two 1.3MP image sensors with 120dB WDR, both of which are independently positionable, making it ideal for banking environments and transaction monitoring. Two independent streams are provided, as well as picture-in-picture, which can record both the customer and the teller in one video stream.

FM
Frantz Mathias
Sep 21, 2015

One IP?

Woud beinteresting to see if that means one license for some VMS...

U
Undisclosed #1
Sep 21, 2015
IPVMU Certified

Hikvision does a 180!

JH
John Honovich
Sep 23, 2015
IPVM

New promotion:

Where is this camera going to be positioned? Given the imagers are pointed in opposite directions it would seem this has to be mounted in between the customer and teller. If so, the angle to each is going to be quite steep which is a big problem as the main use for recording customers at banks is to get clear head shots, not the top of customer's heads.

Bob / anyone clarify this?

U
Undisclosed #1
Sep 23, 2015
IPVMU Certified

Where is this camera going to be positioned? Given the imagers are pointed in opposite directions it would seem this has to be mounted in between the customer and teller.

Perhaps you may recall the curious case of the Honolulu Post Office, a mystery never fully explained:

Although the housings were thought to be that of a Pelco Spectra IV, the camera(s) inside were conjectured to be fixed, possibly dual, with one for the teller and one for the customer. Not necesarily for facial, but for transactional purposes. Note the domes are centered directly over the divider, which is where you would want to be positioned to pick up hands/documents on both sides of the partition.

Of course this was never settled conclusively, have you been back since?

Avatar
Daniel S-T
Oct 14, 2015

I think this camera would be better for capturing two tellers with one camera, from top down. Some banks seem to want/like the straight down view. Even placed right it could capture two teller pods, at least from the picture.

Any idea on avaliablity? I wouldn't mind picking one up and giving it a test.

Avatar
Mark Jones
Oct 14, 2015

Desk mount would work well for customers but not work for employee coverage. The idea behind employee coverage is to watch the employee palm or hide the cash (down around their waist, purse or pocket). That can't be accomplished with a desk mount.

Wall mount could work if it were mounted at an appropriate height. It looks a little unusual to be mounted on the wall.

As I look at it and imagine it, ceiling mount would be pretty useless since it looks in two completely different directions.

Interesting concept; probably limited applications. I do like the one IP idea though. I was just reading in another thread about a hallway camera with two independent sensors. This one could easily accomplish that.

JH
John Honovich
Nov 03, 2015
IPVM

Feedback from a visitor at CPSE on this:

"The twin camera "dome" which was reported a couple of weeks back was present. It's a very nice design in person but by god it was running hot. The use case explained to us was for loan application interviews. It was displaying a PiP image with the customer in full screen and the loan officer in a corner."

JH
John Honovich
Nov 03, 2015
IPVM

More feedback:

"From what I see in the movies, the teller & customer in the US face each other over an open desk. In China they are separated by a wall of impact resistant glass partitioning. Many countries in Europe do this too. Loan interviews are handled typically in a room with a closed door in private. Again in the movies I see this happens open plan in the US.

The average chinese guy is accepting that everything they do is being recorded. Perhaps the banks take the view that because they can record the interaction they might as well. They will have a cam in that room anyway, so why not design one specifically to focus on the faces of those involved? Times that by the many millions (billions!) of people that are going to be making a loan application for a house or a car in China. You also don't know when the video might come in useful later. We would call it the anti big brother argument.

But for the US & Europe I could see this camera (privacy concerns?) at the teller location. Good facial capture of the person with drawing the money. If it's later found fraudulent you've for a perfect picture of them. If they complain about something you also know who the teller was at the time. I think it solves a problem of having to fit two typical cameras into a scenario where perhaps you don't want it to look like a camera or have limited space. I think it does that quite well. Convert and overt go hand in hand."

As I mentioned above, I am dubious that this gets good facial capture because the bank rep and the customer are going to be fairly close to each other. The camera then would be mounted in between. Unless it is mounted at 6 foot high, the downtilt to each person is going to be quite steep. I am sure there is some logistical value in China or somewhere but I do not see it fitting for how US branches are typically designed.

UM
Undisclosed Manufacturer #2
Nov 03, 2015

It goes on the desk. That's why it doesn't look like a typical camera but looks like a label maker or something else innocuous. It's looking up at the people, perfect capture.

JH
John Honovich
Nov 03, 2015
IPVM

On the desk???? Good grief. I get it now. That might work in China but no hope in the US.

UM
Undisclosed Manufacturer #2
Nov 03, 2015

Why would it not work in US? The teller and customer sit opposite each other in an open space. No protection for the teller. What would be problem with having that on the desk ?

I might answer this question myself. I could see this being deployed in Europe but if I saw it I would probably ask what it was and that might lead to uncomfortable questions.

See it is ok to understand that you are under camera survelliance but when its right under your nose, inside your personal space, it's a different issue.

Chinese folks accept the rules. Westeners feel its their god damn right to protest.

JH
John Honovich
Nov 03, 2015
IPVM

Yes, people do not like to feel spied on in the US. Privacy is not a concern but stick a camera in most American's face and they will freak out.

Related: Surveillance Camera Man Vs. IPVM Member

UM
Undisclosed Manufacturer #4
Nov 03, 2015

What would be problem with having that on the desk ?

The problem?.......Looks like a modern-day magic 8-ball. Loan Applicant gives it a shake......"Will my loan be approved?" LOL

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U
Undisclosed #1
Nov 03, 2015
IPVMU Certified

LOL! But not a Magic 8-ball, the blur from the shake would ruin the shot, and require battery power as well.

More likely a fake Crystal Ball.

BG
Bob Germain
Nov 03, 2015

I am requesting that our R&D upodate the design and add a functioning pencil sharpener (on both sides). :)

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UM
Undisclosed Manufacturer #2
Nov 03, 2015

If you put a USB port on it and/or a lead with various connectors, people might assume it was a free charging point.

Avatar
Mark Jones
Nov 03, 2015

It is not the face shot of the teller that matters. We know what she looks like. We need a shot of the teller from the countertop down. Tellers that steal palm the check or cash and put it in their pocket or purse which is below the counter. that is your field of view. I don't care what his/her face looks like. What did they do with their hands is what I need to know.

U
Undisclosed #1
Nov 05, 2015
IPVMU Certified

"Now if we could just make them look at it somehow...."

ChronoVu.

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JH
John Honovich
Feb 14, 2017
IPVM

Anyone know the status of MonoVu now? Just googled and did not find any recent news, updates, or availability.

JH
John Honovich
Jan 26, 2020
IPVM

Update: Ethan found that Hikvision has a 'dual-direction PanoVu Camera' now:

5MP or 4K imagers, fixed focal, $600-$700 at ADI.

No plan to test this immediately but if people have interests or questions, please post.

UI
Undisclosed Integrator #5
Jan 27, 2020

I noticed that and looked up the install guide. Apparently this is intended for use specifically on buses. I don't think it has any mounts available and is intended to go directly on a vehicle's ceiling.

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