Sony's multi-functional network design combines more than 200 IP security cameras, digital signage and a public address system for one of the country's largest retail environments.
Sony announced the completion of a 200-camera surveillance and communication system at Palacio do Gelo, which has been designed to monitor 175,000 square metres of shopping space with over 200 shops and restaurants, a cinema and a supermarket. With an integrated solution that combines IP network cameras, corporate television, a public address system, access control and intrusion detection systems, Sony will provide the shopping mall with video surveillance, digital signage, and public address capabilities. This is the first time in Portugal that the same supplier has handled the installation and maintenance of such diverse functions in a single project.
As one of the largest shopping centres to be built in Portugal, Palacio do Gelo is set to become a retail hub for the thousands of people living in the Viseu area, an expanding region in the centre of the country. By optimising use of the venue's IP network, Sony is providing a diverse range of products and applications that suit the specific needs of a large-scale, sophisticated retail environment. 
"This is the most advanced integration of surveillance and signage in Portugal to date, and shows the flexibility of Sony's technology to optimize a building's internal IP network. In many different activities take place within the same space, and as the 200 IP cameras installed throughout the shopping centre range in their functionality, we were able to choose the most appropriate camera depending on its use," explained Simon Nash, Senior Marketing Manager for NVM/CCTV at Sony Europe.
Sony has installed a range of their mini-dome, fixed and pan-tilt zoom intelligent network cameras, supported by Sony's Distributed Enhanced Processing Architecture (DEPA) technology. DEPA allows for intelligent video analysis and the means to deploy high-
performance IP monitoring networks without overloading the existing IT infrastructure. By using the multi-service IP network, Sony's cameras throughout the shopping centre can be centralised within a single control room, and managed using Sony RealShot Manager software. Their ability to distribute images over a network means the cameras can offer near real-time analysis reports and a remote video-verification facility, providing a more accurate representation of activity in a given venue.
Sony's digital signage solution for Palacio do Gelo is also on a large scale. 25 hard wearing LCD screens running Sony's Ziris View software have been installed across the site, providing a centrally controlled networked communications platform.
