Sony Europe's Image Sensing Solutions Division has released the FCB-EX11D camera module, a lightweight, ultra-compact addition to its range of FCB block cameras.
Measuring 35.9 x 40.8 x 59.2mm and weighing 95g, the camera is suitable for miniature pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) security dome and traffic monitoring systems, as well as any application where space is restricted, such as in-vehicle and videoconferencing equipment. Despite its small size, it delivers high resolution of up to 530 TV lines, and a comprehensive feature set that includes 10x optical zoom, 12x digital zoom, enhanced spherical privacy masking, a slow auto-exposure (AE) function and a multi-line display.
Available in PAL or NTSC versions with up to 440,00 and 380,000 pixel resolution respectively, the FCB-EX11D is based on a ¼-type EXview HAD CCD sensor, which is sensitive to near infrared energy, allowing it to function in low light conditions. This capability is further enhanced by a slow auto-exposure response, which allows the monitoring of areas where lighting is prone to abrupt changes, for instance in a car park at night.
The camera includes an enhanced version of Sony's established spherical privacy zone masking technology, ensuring conformance to national and international privacy regulations. This includes a mosaic-style masking option, in addition to half-tone and coloured block masks. Masking can be automatically interlocked with the camera's PTZ operations, regardless of camera angle, in which the camera automatically adjusts the size of the masked area as the zoom is operated, and can keep masked areas covered even when the camera is circling.
The FCB-EX11D's on-screen display facilities allow integrators to provide operators with a user-friendly interface, using industry-standard VISCA commands. A high-speed (38.4Kb/s) serial data interface and TTL signal-level control, also using the VISCA protocol, allow easy systems integration. The camera also offers 16-bit free internal EEPROM space, allowing the storage of data such as product serial numbers and camera/system ID numbers.
With a wide maximum field of view of 46°, the FCB-EX11D offers a wide range of features common to Sony's FCB family of camera modules. These include an improved built-in motion detection facility and an electronic flip (E-Flip) function that can invert an image so that it is displayed correctly. This feature is vital in dome systems, to eliminate the need to provide mechanical flip capabilities when an object moves directly beneath the camera.
The module also includes picture freeze capabilities and SMART (Sony Modular Automatic Lens Reset Technology) lens control, a facility that eliminates the need to perform periodical manual resets, dramatically reducing in-service costs. In addition, it provides electronic shutter/slow shutter features, a choice of internal or external sync, and low power consumption of 1.9W with motors inactive.
