Camera Height / Blind Spot Added to IPVM Design Calculator

IPVM has added camera height and blind spot estimation to the Design Calculator. This is especially helpful for those who need to mount cameras up high and determine how much area in front of the camera will not be covered and how far out the camera will see.

New Blind Spot Control Preview Panel

IPVM has added a panel allowing the camera height, tilt, and scene height to be adjusted. Based on those inputs, a to-scale image is displayed, with a distance to blind spot measurement.

Minimizing the number of control inputs and the complexity of configuration was the primary goal for blind spot implementation. Camera manufacturer design applications typically have 4 or more variable inputs.

In most camera installations, height is chosen based upon the best mounting location and field of view. Because of this, once camera height is selected, changes to tilt and scene height will impact each other but not change the camera heigh unless the user manually enters in a new height.

Blind spots are a result of the camera's target FoV height and distance. Tilt and Scene Height interact with each other as they are changed. Scene Height is the top of the FoV of the camera. As an example, if a person's face needs to be captured, Scene Height should be set minimally 6 to 7 feet (1.8 to 2.1 meters).

Blind Spot Support

Now the Calculator will show you the blind spot below the camera's field of view. This allows users to create more accurate designs for:

• High-density installations requiring full coverage
• Installations requiring cameras mounted at high elevations which result in a significant blind area below the camera

Sample Blind Spot Display:

Enabling Blind Spots on Map

Blind spots are defaulted off but can be toggled on for all cameras. In our first version, many IPVM calculator users were confused about what the blind spot area on the map was and did not need nor want it. However, a minority of users found the blind spot display to be important.

The default camera height is set to 10 feet or ~3 meters. Scene height (top of the camera field of view) is also set to 10 feet by default.

Feature Overview Video

This 2-minute video demonstrates the use of the Blind Spot control panel:

Previous Elevation Version Superseded

Camera Height and Elevation was offered in a previous version of the Calculator, but needed more work when the V3 version was released in 2017. This is a completely new application development.