Why Does Mobotix Refuse Integrated IR?

JH
John Honovich
•Aug 20, 2015
IPVM

Mobotix is starting to come around to its long-term opposition to H.264 and ONVIF.

However, there is another bizarre Mobotix trait - no day/night and worse no integrated IR cameras.

Here's a rambling 9-minute video trying to defend it:

The net/net is that they have black and white imagers (including dual imager cameras) and that they might perform better and have less moving parts (i.e., no cut filter).

Of course, the downside is you are forced to spend significantly more for bulkier dual imager cameras or be forced to choose between only color or only black & white. And in 2015, almost all surveillance users want color during the day.

Worse, literally every camera manufacturer, except for Mobotix, supports integrated IR. Years ago, many premium manufacturers campaigned against integrated IR, but that has long since changed and now it is commonplace.

Without integrated IR, even 'super low light' cameras are going to have problems in sub 1 lux conditions as visible noise obscures details. You just cannot escape that (our recent Mobotix P25 test results show that as well).

And as our Integrated IR usage statistics show, over a 1/3rd of all cameras being sold / deployed now, have integrated IR, demonstrating how mainstream integrated IR cameras have become.

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Avatar
Hal Bennick
•Aug 20, 2015
Trafficware, a CUBIC Company

These guys confuse me. They're sort of the NICE of camera manufacturers. Really expensive, and they did some really cool stuff a while back, but I'm not sure where they fit today.

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U
Undisclosed #1
•Aug 20, 2015
In reply to Hal Bennick

I was about to post the same thing. Every time I hear about Mobotix in the sense of something recent I always think "People are still giving mindshare to Mobotix???".

JH
John Honovich
•Aug 20, 2015
IPVM
In reply to Undisclosed #1

Every thing can't be about Avigilon :)

But I rarely hear of anything Mobotix unless I get a youtube alert for a new MxInstaller video. I really admire him for sticking it through to the bitter end.

U
Undisclosed #1
•Aug 20, 2015
In reply to John Honovich

Every thing can't be about Avigilon :)

Well, it *should* be :)

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U
Undisclosed #2
•Aug 20, 2015
IPVMU Certified
In reply to John Honovich

I really admire him for sticking it through to the bitter end.

Hey, a job's a job, right?

JP
Josh Penfold
•Aug 20, 2015

No cut filter minimizes fauilure points. Doesnt need a heater, and we have many installs, especially solar power that love the low power draw. Mobotix stands out from everyone as being different, so why would they want to be lumped in with everyone else. Plus pricing just had a huge drop this past week.

Does it matter in the end if they are different if they are selling cameras?

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JH
John Honovich
•Aug 20, 2015
IPVM
In reply to Josh Penfold

It matters to people looking for a mainstream camera solution. Sure, there are some people who want a solar powered solution, but there are ~100x more looking for an integrated IR one.

"Mobotix stands out from everyone as being different, so why would they want to be lumped in with everyone else."

Being different can be good or bad. It depends how much those differences help customers compared to competitors.

Mobotix's annual revenue has basically been flat for the past 4 or 5 years, while the IP camera market has doubled or nearly tripled during that time period. That shows their differentiation has not been embraced by the market.

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JS
Jeff Sandine
•Aug 24, 2015
RadiusVision

Most of my Mobotix camera projects are for outdoor use. Due to the distances and width of the target area that we are most often asked to cover, built-in IR lights would not work at the distances required. If additional LED lighting is required, our outdoor projects almost always require separate LED lighting systems that will deliver light farther and wider than would be possible with built-in IR lights.

And for these outdoor projects which are often at remote locations, the features and functionality embedded into a Mobotix camera are simply not available from any other camera manufacturer, at any price, that I'm aware of.

bg
breck gabler
•Oct 19, 2015

yes a lot cheaper camera is available that all have built in IR , big deal. most have limited capability and most all far east manufactured cameras have very cheap user interfaces . In a mobotix camera you can tell the difference right away when you upgrade firmware and dont have to deal with all special app that have to run through IE just to get an image on a PC. In addition , when you get any other camera all you have to do to remove the camera and use it somewhere else is do do a camera reset, which is not possible with a Mobotix embedded IP address in each camera. We have tried dozens upon dozens and more.. of IP cameras from many manufactureres and there is no feature set comparison to the recording structure , the audio, the VOIP and the multitude of ways to use the camera for much more that just a security camera.

Lastly as getting off point, integrated IR is yes mostly good for x amount of meters and if you want professional installs adding effective ( white light) is much more effective for covering a entire (scene) and field of view than an embedded IR

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JH
John Honovich
•Oct 19, 2015
IPVM
In reply to breck gabler

"yes a lot cheaper camera is available that all have built in IR , big deal. most have limited capability"

Camera manufacturers with integrated IR include:

  • Axis
  • Avigilon
  • Sony
  • Panasonic
  • etc., etc.

This is long past being a 'cheap Chinese' offering.

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