business news Less cameras are more in Cologne Regensburg, Germany The events of New Year’s Eve 2015 in Cologne are seared into the memories of the entire population of the city. The events of New Year’s Eve 2015 in Cologne are seared into the memories of the entire population of the city. In the wake of countless incidents, including numerous cases of sexual harassment of women, police recognised the need to revise their existing security concept, particularly with regard to securing large public spaces. A high number of criminal offences had been committed around Cologne Cathedral, and therefore this area in the inner city was selected as the basis for planning new security measures. A logical way to successfully guarantee full coverage of large open spaces with visibility challenges is with as many cameras as possible. However it would still be very costly and it would still be hard to technically create satisfactory solutions. “This was why in the past at least 30-40 percent of such projects were not even attempted”, says Dieter Dallmeier, founder and CEO of Dallmeier, the manufacturer that has developed the multifocal sensor system Panomera. designed for large areas Panomera is specially designed for the all-encompassing video surveillance of expansive areas. It manages huge widths, and areas with large distances can be displayed with a completely new resolution quality, in real time and at high frame rates of up to 30 fps. A huge area can be surveyed from a single location, and depending on the requirements of observation assignments, the resolution can be scaled nearly limitlessly. Hence, one Panomera, equipped with eight sensors, according to Dallmeier, is fully sufficient to replace 35 standard megapixel cameras. 8,800 square metres In spring 2016, the first concepts were presented to the city administration. Their main focus was on how the situational overview for police and therefore the delegation of police and other emergency personnel could be improved through the use of video systems, especially in case of large gatherings. Even in those early stages of planning, the responsible officials encountered a massive problem: with the use of conventional video technology it would not have been possible to fully capture the required 8,800 square metres of monitoring area. Cost effective However, the project was awarded to the Regensburg-based manufacturer, and installation work for the Panomera system began in mid-December 2016. Instead of a system with numerous spread out cameras, Dallmeier deployed a system that discreetly covers the entire monitoring area. The Panomera solution required only two installation points. Hence, setting up the system was easy and the city will benefit significantly financially from much lower infrastructure and maintenance costs compared to the original planning. ® with LED Illuminators Complete Clarity with Clarius® PLUS LED Illuminators White-Light YEAR WARRANTY 5 Next generation Dual Core LEDs for powerful illumination, long life and low running costs Interchangeable lens diffusers deliver angles from 10º to 120º Infra-Red and White-Light LED options Enhanced optics provide ultra clear images Lighting design service now available AWARD WINNING BRITISH MANUFACTURER Unit 2, Birch Business Park, Whittle Lane, Heywood, Greater Manchester, OL10 2SX, UK gjd.co.uk info@gjd.co.uk +44 (0) 1706 363 998 Clarius PLUS Advert - April Issue Artwork Detektor Int.indd 1 29/03/2017 11:19 dete kto r in te r n at i on al • 23