Hikvisions digital video monitoring solution deployed at Museum for East Asian Art, Cologne

Hikvision, the supplier of innovative video surveillance products and solutions, supplied digital video monitoring technology solutions to the Museum for East Asian Art in Cologne – thus paving the way for entry into the age of HD-TVI. The museum previously had analogue cameras and an analogue recorder in place. The image quality of the recordings was poor and rewinding and fast-forwarding recordings turned out to be complicated. The museum was looking for a more modern and flexible solution to circumvent these difficulties. So, a hybrid digital video recorder and a new hard disk drive from Hikvision were installed, providing the museum with a more cutting-edge video monitoring solution.

Drawbacks of analogue system

The analogue camera technology used at the Museum for East Asian Art left much to be desired as far as quality and efficiency were concerned. Images were monochrome and blurred, and individuals could not be correctly identified. Recordings were stored on VHS cassettes. Reviewing individual recordings turned into a complicated affair requiring laborious rewinding and fast-forwarding. Those in charge had to deal with a loss of information, since the recorder could not play recordings and continue to record at the same time. Only the recorder and the hard disk were to be replaced in the first stage, with the earlier analogue cameras continuing to be used. The new recorder therefore needed to allow connections to both analogue devices and newer digital devices in future.

Hikvision high-performance hybrid recorder

The customer chose the digital video recorder from Hikvision, since it fulfilled all the requirements. It ensures clear colour recordings, both day and night. Individual recorded sequences can now be easily reviewed without the need to rewind of fast-forward - even from other locations. For example, thanks to the networking capabilities of the device, museum management can gain access to the recorder and view the recordings using an external PC. The museum does not experience any loss of information because the recorder continues to record while previous recordings are being viewed. Moreover, the recorder can be connected to both analogue as well as digital equipment.

Cutting-edge technology

The biggest advantage was, and remains, the cutting-edge nature of the new technology. The hybrid recorder allows the Museum for East Asian Art to easily replace its analogue cameras using the more modern HD-TVI technology and to connect to the recorder without having to upgrade cable infrastructure.

“The changeover of video technology from analogue to digital was cost-effective and ensures high quality recordings. In addition, the Museum for East Asian Art is now equipped for the future, thanks to high-resolution solutions for video monitoring”, says Nikolay Gassner, Managing Director at König Audio-Video-Technik and dealer partner of Hikvision.

Further upgrades to the customer’s monitoring system are quick and easy, offering a very good cost-benefit ratio, affording the customer the opportunity to make a full-fledged move to the world of the HD image.