Corridor Mode Tested

Author: IPVM Team, Published on Jun 03, 2015

HD 'widescreen' aspect ratios are increasingly becoming the norm for video surveillance cameras, with 720p HD, 1080p Full HD and now 4K Ultra HD.

The wide format can be very useful in many surveillance scenarios but some of them fit poorly.

The most commonly cited problem are hallways which are tall and narrow, fitting poorly in widescreen as shown below:

In this report, we tested corridor mode in a number of scenarios, starting with hallways.

We also tested vehicle entrances / license plate capture like so:

Finally, we tested perimeters / building exteriors like so:

In the past, corridor mode availability was limited, but with more manufacturers including such image rotation in their cameras, IPVM has a comprehensive report covering the below questions:

  • Where is corridor mode most beneficial?
  • Does image quality remain similar after rotation?
  • What manufacturer support is there for corridor mode, in either cameras or VMSes?
  • What are benefits/tradeoffs between 9:16 and 3:4?
  • Where are the options to rotate camera images to corridor mode?

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Comments (13)

Avatar

Mark Jones

06/03/15 02:41pm

Thank you IPVM. Extremely informative as always.

Andrew Somerville

06/04/15 10:42am

You can rotate the image of cameras in Genetec Config Tool. Select a camera, go to the Hardware tab, look for Other Parameters -> Image Rotation.

Avatar

Ethan Ace

IPVM | In reply to Andrew Somerville | 06/04/15 05:41pm

Thanks, Andrew. We just checked that out and it is supported, but appears to be only for Axis cameras. Do you know of any others supported? There was no control of Hikvision and Sony rotation in Config Tool.

Andrew Somerville

In reply to Ethan Ace | 06/05/15 12:53am

Sorry Ethan I've only seen it with Axis as that's what we deploy, so not sure of any other supported units.

Undisclosed #2

In reply to Ethan Ace | 12/30/15 03:12pm
is there a reason for not including Milestone in the "VMS support" section?

John Honovich

IPVM | In reply to Undisclosed #2 | 12/30/15 04:25pm

We included 3 VMSes. There are dozens of VMSes in the market. Milestone is certainly the most well known VMS that we did not cover but it's ultimately a limit of space and time.

Undisclosed Integrator #1

06/04/15 11:30pm

Grest article. Genetec added the ability to create custom views in the latest release, 5.3.

Alexander Brasowski

01/23/16 06:03pm

I'm curious to hear how customers respond to corridor format? I find that a camera in corridor format on a VMS layout with the remaining cameras in 4:3 or 16:9 looks odd with wasted (black) space. Similarly when double-clicking a camera (depends on VMS) to bring the corridor formatted camera to full screen, there is also a lot of wasted (black) space and you must zoom in further to get more detail.

This wouldn't really be an issue or as noticeable (could always rotate the monitor) if the majority of the other cameras weren't in 4:3 or 16:9 "horizontal" format. The only VMS I have found that combats this is DW Spectrum where you can totally customize the layout. Still doesn't solve the (black) wasted space on the sides of the screen when you enlarge the corridor formatted camera (it doesn't actually enlarge that much).

DW Spectrum Screenshot

DW Spectrum Screenshot 2

Undisclosed #3

In reply to Alexander Brasowski | 01/24/16 06:44am

For the full end to end experience you also need a monitor that supports corridor mode:

Now if they could just put a servo on the swivel...

Donald Gordon

IPVMU Certified | In reply to Alexander Brasowski | 11/16/18 09:19am

Alexander,

Good point. I was excited to use corridor views in our hallways only to become disappointed how they looked in the Milestone Smart Client with other cameras in non-corridor mode. We abandoned the corridor views.

Is there any way to accommodate corridor views in the Milestone Smart Client? If not, is there any plans in the future to provide this in any Smart Client view configurations?

NOTICE: This comment has been moved to its own discussion: Using Corridor Views In Milestone Smart Client?

Undisclosed Distributor #4

02/06/17 11:32am

Bosch cameras can now (FW>6.30) do this automatically using the built in gyro sensor.

Avatar

Ethan Ace

IPVM | In reply to Undisclosed Distributor #4 | 02/06/17 04:59pm

Thanks, I'm going to add that into the report. For those interested, firmware release notes here. It impacts anything that is on Bosch's "CPP7" platform, which is a handful of recent cameras, including the Starlight 1080p Camera we tested.

Avatar

Greg Sachnewycz

IPVMU Certified | 11/15/18 06:33pm

Everfocus cameras do offer image rotation.

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