Speco Intensifier

[wisp_engineer 0]

So I am working on engineering a 5 camera system for a large cold storage area. This will be my first cold storage job so I am really lost. I looked at some of the cameras from Slientwitness here that you all have raved about but the price tag is a bit high and while they are good I think it might spook the customer.

 

 

I called ADI system engineers and explained what I need: varifocal lenses, cold environment operation, and something that can work in the lower light levels of a cold storage cooler facility. The customer also requested that whatever cameras we pick, deliver clear and sharp images. ADI suggested I use the Speco Intensifier series.... This particular model:

http://207.56.187.246/cart/products/productDetails.asp?prodID=942

 

 

Does anyone have experience with these? I have seen mixed feelings here about Speco products so I am really hesitant to offer these but the guy at system design said they are quality. I suspect they get a large kickback from Speco though, as everyone there raves about their products.... Hmmm

 

 

He also suggested a DVR from Speco.... Not sure on that one.

 

 

Suggestions or comments?

[fdwyer 0]

Do not buy this product ! save your self a lot of trouble. I switch over to IC Realtime big difference. Flexx DVR w/ EL 450's

 

Frank

[Forestarius 0]

I recently setup a Speco HT-INTB8 so my comments may or may not apply to the other models.

 

A few minutes ago I noticed that there is enough light outside that I could still see stuff so I went out there. I came back to find out I was not detected.

 

As far as I can tell the "intensifier" is something that gathers light over time (maybe a few minutes) and builds an image of what's there. If you walk by the camera at twilight you will be an almost ghostlike image walking by. When it's moonlight expect to not even be seen by the camera. You might as well be moving at a thousand miles an hour, because the "intensifier" will never see you. It's not a real time image on your screen. Maybe if you stand still for five minutes you might then appear

 

It's okay during the day and the metal body looks like nice quailty, but when sun starts setting the image becomes useless and deceiving.

[wisp_engineer 0]

Wow then this product is definately not for this customer.

 

 

They need something that works better as they are trying to pin down some inventory losses in the cold storage area.

 

 

 

Anyone have any suggestions?

[Metal Shaper Man 0]

I also bought a Speco HT-INTB8 so my comments may or may not apply to the other models as well. Nevertheless, I bought the camera about six months ago and it is back in the box lying on a shelf somewhere in my office. Though it was light sensitive, I found that any moving object looked like nothing but a blur moving across the screen or as mentioned above a ghostlike image. The bottom line is I wouldn’t recommend any of the Intensifiers to anyone.

[jeromephone 6]

great I bought the dome model and have had it sitting on the shelf in my shop I guess I had better stick to infrared or some other type of low light camera

[Forestarius 0]

One thing I forgot to mention before is I tested a camera with built in IR lights next to the Speco one night and the Speco did not see the IR light at all, while the tested camera had a bright image.

[clucknmoan 0]

I had the same issue as far as motion detection. I use them for vehicle description now only and they work fairly well.

[wisp_engineer 0]

Ok, so if the images are bad at dusk and no light, what about inside the cooler during operational hours where it has some light. This place isnt totally dark its just dimly lit like any other big freezer.

[lisa liu 0]

I am sorry to come here so late!

What is the result in the end?

[Forestarius 0]

Well, I'll try to explain best I can. Mounted outside if you turn the auto gain switch to off the camera will go dark about 45 minutes before other, even cheap, cameras will start to fade away into the black of night. I'd say that is really bad for low light since I think this is even before sunset.

 

With the auto gain switched on it will look like a nice brighter image while other cameras are dimming down and going black, but it is not a "real time" image. It's a memory like image of what once was. Maybe the advertising people are calling this the intensifier image.

 

When I tested it in low light that's when I was a ghostly image walking by. If I stood still I was a grainy image. If I moved slightly I was an extremely grainy ghostly image. I think I had the AG set to the medium setting when I tested that. The motion detection in my GV surveillance software program does not detect the ghostly images moving by. Meanwhile it shows a nice bright, well lit image, but again, it's not real time, it's left over (in memory?) from before the sun went down, with a ghost walking past.

 

In complete darkness, or even with a little moonlight, it goes black and can not see anything. It just takes a while before the fakish memory image fades away.

 

I didn't do much on the high auto gain setting because you get these bright stars randomly throughout the image when it gets dark. They had nothing to do with the background setting, they were just there permanently. It really didn't improve the image of me walking by either, so it was worthless to bother with.

 

I stopped testing soon and turned on the motion detection light on that side of the house. If someone walks by the light comes on, the camera adjusts, and I have a video. Without the floodlight the camera would be useless at night. With the floodlight the image is okay.

 

The intensifier has an adjustable setting which effects the daylight image. I think they call it sharpening. It's nice to get the image a little crisper and sharp, but go too far it looks awful and the colors go bad. Even with the lower setting I eventually went with I occasionally have an orange face.

 

I think that's the real intensifier. If you've ever noticed that the crisp image you have on a TV monitor gets dull once it goes through the video card and is fed to your computers LED monitor, then this might help. Turn up the intensifier a bit and the image looks horrible on the TV but great on your monitor. I think that's what the intensifier really is, an image sharpener.

[3RDIGLBL 0]

Equal to the Speco intesifier box cam (model slips my mind) is the much lower priced CPH4000 that CCTVImports carries. Do a spec to spec compare and they are identical and they even look identical. Seems to be a rebadge job. I even downloaded the Speco PDF file and the OSD menu looks the same with the exception of a couple renamed feature settings.

 

Check it out and you'll see what I mean. I have gotten a number of these cameras. Some places it works great and some it does not do too well. The day time picture looks pretty good with Fujinon lens but the night shot appears to be over bright. Play with AGC as stated here and it really goes haywire. Turn it off and the cam goes black turn it even to the lowest and it really starts to get grainy. Sure you may see a pic but as stated it is pretty ghostly. Forget seeing a car drive by even slowly. This cam is also not great seeing a car drive by in the day time as it leaves a trailing shadow although maybe because of my DVR????Tried 3 kinds and get the same effect with the latest being a GV system.

[wisp_engineer 0]

Thanks for all the input. This has turned out to be a great discussion.

 

 

I've scrapped the Speco product and instead am going with some Honeywell fixed domes. They feature .03Lux levels and have interchangeable lenses. My only concern now is the 480TVL's instead of 540TVL's, but the guy at ADI is assuring me that the 480TVL's on a Honeywell camera is very very good 480TVL's... he said it rivals other makers 540's.

[rory 0]

Sorry but I have to LOL @ ADI and Honeywell

[wisp_engineer 0]

I figured you'd be LOL'ing haha

 

 

I came across the relationship between HW and ADI

 

 

I thought it was funny considering that both locally and over the phone, they heavily push Speco.

 

 

Do you have any objections to Honeywell product? It was a toss-up between HW, Samsung and Sanyo.

[rory 0]

Yeah cause most of the Honeywell video products (previously Ademco Video) are just re badged overpriced OEM products last time they came trying to sell it to us down here

 

We use Ademco alarms .. ofcourse now Honeywell, if their compass software is any indication of their DVR software .. LOL again

Though they inherited it .. they got the $$ to make some simple changes to bring it into the 20th century

[leigh 0]

The model is HTINTD8. I have seen specotech's ads on the Security Products and suspect their quality of image. Cause they show a quite perfect image in darkness compared with common cameras with IR LEDs.

Never use this product before. If anyone have used? Also intersted in your opinions.

[crirvine 0]

I am confused I have 30 in the field right now with no problems. My customers are very happy with this product. I tested them in our office for 1 month before putting any in the field. I have no problem seeing the grass in the yard as green in little light (moon light) I see cats walking around the building in real time not delayed or frozen. I am not sure where you bought your cameras from but I do not have the same probems you are listing here.

[wisp_engineer 0]

I am confused I have 30 in the field right now with no problems. My customers are very happy with this product. I tested them in our office for 1 month before putting any in the field. I have no problem seeing the grass in the yard as green in little light (moon light) I see cats walking around the building in real time not delayed or frozen. I am not sure where you bought your cameras from but I do not have the same probems you are listing here.

 

 

 

Can you post some pics? Perhaps a capture of someone walking in low light?

[3RDIGLBL 0]

I am confused I have 30 in the field right now with no problems. My customers are very happy with this product. I tested them in our office for 1 month before putting any in the field. I have no problem seeing the grass in the yard as green in little light (moon light) I see cats walking around the building in real time not delayed or frozen. I am not sure where you bought your cameras from but I do not have the same probems you are listing here.

 

I'd be interested in your setup if you are having a great experience with them. Is your color setting on Auto or set to Color? How about your Sense Up settings X2, X4, X8? AGC? What lense type are you using, I have tried a number of lense but lately have been using Fujinon lenses primarily the D/N lenses with these cameras.

 

Keep in mind I use the CPH4000 model from CCTVImports which is identical to the Speco intensifier model. I have a tough time to get an outstanding image considering it is High Res and I find that these cameras do not handle bright clear sky days to well. If I adjust the camera so it looks good during the day then it will not look good at night so I find the camera to be a catch 22 but if you are having great success maybe I am missing something in the settings to get such a good picture.

 

Thanks

[DirectLowVoltage 0]

I have personally used Speco's HT-INTB8 Cameras on many occasions and the only thing I can say is they are great if you set them up correctly. If you don't know a lot about CCTV cameras you might have problems understanding exactly how to configure them and should probably revert to using a camera with less settings.

 

By the way, I'm not sure if you guys new ADI stands for Ademco Distribution Inc. I just found that out the other day and was shocked. I had no idea. lol

 

[Tailbone215 0]

Speco, one word = GARBAGE!

[hardwired 0]

I've used a number of the Speco cams listed, and they are a mixed bag. I've found daylight performance to be good, and the construction is much more durable than a standard bullet (thieves and vandals use bullets for pinatas, around here). However, the nighttime performance is only good if you can deal with a significant amount of motion blur, from the frame integration.

 

The default settings produce a nice night image, but the blur is unacceptable to me. I can live with 2X integration in most cases, though, and at that setting, the night performance is only fair.

 

I've seen better performance from the new Samsung A1 line cameras, as well as the Panasonic 484, although it is not explicitly listed as low light (and more expensive, though).

[Sawbones 0]

The intensifier is NOT a good camera for low light.

 

Why? Two reasons:

 

1. To brighten the image, it increases its gain by slowing down the shutter speed. This is great for a static scene... but anything moving turns into an unidentifiable blur. You'll have zero chance of IDing any moving person in low-light with an Intensifier.

 

2. No ICR. It's a color-only camera, and doesn't have the ability to switch to B&W... thus adding IR sources will NOT improve your picture. You're stuck with it. What you see is what you get.

 

I've had several, and removed them. One I replaced with a Panasonic 484S dome... MUCH better picture (with an actual ICR... making it IR-sensitive). The other I replaced with an Acti 1231M (again, an actual day/night camera with ICR, and built-in IR).

 

Here are the before/after images comparing the Intensifier and the Acti:

 

 

 

 

Those two images are worth a thousand words.