DVR has variable, high frame rate

247Security’s Zeus DVR is the company’s highest functioning product to date, according to Vice President Robert Scott. He says the DVR has a variable and high frame rate, which is important for capturing different types of activity inside and outside of the bus. Zeus will operate from one to seven cameras and support hard drive and solid state storage. In addition, Zeus will operate with 50% less power consumption compared to other systems, facilitating a lower operating temperature.

“A cooler system means longer life to the hard drive, making for a much more stable system,” Scott says.

Zeus supports 247Security’s MiniTrack GPS management solution and its Drive Safe package, which is a G-force triggered event system that enables users to monitor and record driver performance.

The company’s Touchdown video management solution performs a remote DVR health check daily, and users will receive an alert if something is wrong with the system. Touchdown also wirelessly transfers video while capturing GPS data that can be analyzed using MiniTrack. All DVR maintenance can be done remotely through Touchdown.

Visit www.247securityinc.com/td for more information about Touchdown. 

Windshield-mount DVR monitors driver behavior

AngelTrax’s new mobile DVR, the CoPilot, includes built-in GPS and G-force and has the same feature base as the company’s Hybrid Quest and Vault DVRs.

“The CoPilot mounts on the windshield right behind your [rearview] mirror, so it focuses on the kids,” President Richie Howard explains. “It’s a two-camera system, and you can add two more cameras and it becomes a full-fledged DVR running on solid state media.”

One of the CoPilot’s two cameras monitors the exterior of the bus, and Howard says that the interior camera focuses on the driver’s behavior, too.

AngelTrax’s Quest DVR is available in one- to four-channel versions, while the Vault has up to eight channels. They feature wireless compatibility and are capable of live video streaming, among other functions.

Howard says Hybrid Quest, the Vault and the CoPilot are MOTOTrax ready. With this video surveillance management tool, users can view such data as the status and location of their vehicles, recent panic events and system health alerts.

System offers GPS search capabilities, maintenance-free operations

Apollo’s RoadRunner mobile DVR uses advanced compression methods to record up to 120 images per second, and it can record months of video with storage up to 2.0TB. The MRH4 Series records up to four cameras and audio, and the MRH2 Series records up to two cameras and audio.

Company officials say the DVR includes optional GPS, which provides historical mapping features and speed graphs. By selecting a location on the map or a desired speed, video from that location or speed is instantly provided for easily identifying students at pickup and drop-off locations and investigating speed complaints.

The system also includes license-free software with maintenance-free operations, such as fleet-wide time synchronization, remote updates and scheduled system health checks. Users can set alerts for system failures, hard drive status, camera obstruction and other events.

Four-channel systems feature embedded GPS

Fortress Mobile Systems offers a hard drive-based video surveillance system (the FM623G) and a Secure Digital (SD) card-based system (the FM621G). Sales Manager Frank Bowden says the video retrieval process is the same for both systems, but the capacity of the hard drive system is larger.

“We’re carrying SD cards up to 64GB. The SD card system provides a convenient data retrieval process, but if a file is not marked, there’s a risk of it being recorded over in a shorter period of time,” Bowden explains.  

He notes, however, that the SD card system costs less than the hard drive system.

The FM623G hard drive system and the FM621G SD card system enable users to simultaneously view four channels of video and a selected audio channel. They feature H.264 compression, eight independent sensors, and a calendar and event search. GPS is embedded in both systems, and maps can be printed that show a vehicle’s location at a specific time.

In addition, reports can be printed with a variety of information, including stop-arm activations and a vehicle use statement.

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DVRs offer GPS, pre-configured event notification and dual streaming

Radio Engineering Industries’ (REI) HD400 DVR utilizes up to four interior and/or exterior cameras, and the HD800 DVR utilizes up to eight cameras. Each DVR can be integrated with GPS.

“Our DVR and software solution makes finding specific video segments within your recorded footage easy,” National Sales Manager Chris Shigley says. “For example, if you wanted to find the time a vehicle reached a specific speed or when the vehicle stopped and had the stop arm out, you can search for the occurrence or configure an alarm, which automatically notifies you. This also applies to when the bus crossed into or out of a specific geographic area, hard stops or other G-force-related events.”

REI’s DVRs are built with dual streaming functionality for 3G/4G and WiFi network compatibility.  The DVRs can record at a high-quality setting of D1 30 frames per second and the highest resolution, while also passing a second data stream to the network at a completely different quality setting. By customizing the dual streaming, you’re better able to manage your bandwidth for wireless networks.

Systems help in enforcing good driving habits, student management

Rosco’s Dual-Vision XC is a two-camera system that offers more than 160 hours of continuous video recording that enables fleet managers to mark events and review video of driver behavior.

Driver training feedback is provided in real time. If a predetermined speed limit and/or G-force setting is exceeded, the driver is notified with an audible “chime” as a reminder to enforce safe driving habits. Dual-Vision XC also records student behavior on the bus, and offers post-route GPS tracking and routing.

Rosco is also field testing the Smart-Vision STSK6630 Mirror/Monitor Combo System, and Director of Sales and Marketing Peter Plate says it will be ready for production by Nov. 1.

The STSK6630 serves as a reverse/backup camera system for school buses, where the reverse image is shown on the mirror/monitor when the vehicle is shifted into reverse. It has a second, optional camera input that provides a view of the students inside the bus in difficult-to-see areas, such as the rear seat.

“The interior camera could be placed anywhere in the bus,” Plate says. “An additional camera and harness is required to be installed, along with a switch that the driver would use to turn on the optional camera image.

DVR records more than 120 hours of video

Safety Vision’s SVR-4100 solid state DVR records up to four video and audio channels in H.264 compression format for an up to 80% reduction in file size over MJPEG, and a 30% reduction over standard MPEG4 at the same quality, according to Marketing Manager Melissa Foteh.  

Resolution, frame rate and quality settings can be configured for each channel, and include separate settings for continuous and event recordings.

“The DVR can record more than 120 hours of footage on a 32GB SD card,” Foteh adds. “Features include wireless or manual data retrieval, GPS for mapping data, speed tracking and system health status.

Recorded video and metadata on the SD card can be searched and reviewed by the company’s ForeSight-SD software.

The SVR-4100 is also equipped with eight sensor inputs and four auxiliary outputs for automation capabilities. When combined with four serial communication ports, managers can create real-time alerts for various issues.  

A panic button with an LED status indicator is optional.

DVR integrated with video management system

Seon Design has added the Explorer TX8, an eight-channel mobile DVR, to its line of video surveillance solutions. The TX8 delivers advanced quality video with up to 30 FPS (per camera) at 720 x 480 resolution.

“It’s got great resolution and high-quality recording, and it is value priced,” says Lori Jetha, marketing communications manager, adding that the TX8 has a fail-safe design with dual hard drives and enables real-time viewing of video.

The TX8 is also GPS and WiFi ready, and it gives bus operators features like geo-fencing and a built-in G-force sensor for AVL integration and monitoring driver behavior.

The DVR is integrated with Seon’s vMax Commander video management solution, and the newest is version 4.0. Jetha says that when combined with the Smart-Reach wireless solution, vMax Commander can automatically download recorded video to their computer, eliminating the need for manual retrieval of hard drives from the bus.  

“It will also give you a health check of your system, including DVR temperature, individual camera and hard drive status,” she adds.