Historic Polish Stadium Gets Terrific Value from VIVOTEK Camera-based Surveillance System
Testimony
Background
Ernest Pohl Stadium in Zabrze, Poland is a multi-purpose stadium built in 1934 and used mostly for football matches. The stadium recently sought to replace its existing surveillance system with a newer one.
Challenges
Much of the impetus for a new system stemmed from changes in Polish law, which introduced more stringent standards for the admissibility of video and photographic evidence in a court of law. To be specific, the video and images provided by the stadium's existing surveillance system proved of insufficient quality for use in legal cases, such as those stemming from thefts, vandalism, and hooliganism that occurred in the stadium. Moreover, even when incidents occurred during afternoon games, when lighting conditions are ideal, the cameras did not provide enough clarity to enable police to make positive identification of suspects, let alone serve as evidence in a court of law.
With miscreants emboldened by the police's inability to make arrests based on surveillance video footage from the older system, law-abiding spectators were increasingly threatened. A more effective surveillance system would not only protect the stadium from property losses and other damage, but protect spectators' safety.
Solution
Two SD7323 cameras were chosen as "master" cameras providing a broad overview of the entire stadium. Przemyslaw Kusmierski, project planning director at distributor CODE, explains that the SD7323 is perfectly suited for such applications because of its powerful 35x zoom: "You can get the big picture, and then use the zoom to zero right in on locations where it looks like trouble might be starting." Four SD7151 cameras, with their 18x zoom, are used for a similar role, but covering the perimeter of the stadium.
For views of various sections with sufficient detail to identify individuals, the stadium is using 18 IP8161 and 19 IP7161 cameras. With their high-definition two-megapixel resolution, they handily overcome the limitations of the stadium's original surveillance installation, which could spot trouble, but do little to identify offenders. The new cameras' wide field of view is perfect for expansive open environments like the stadium, as is the ePTZ function, which lets operators focus on specific target areas without physically moving the camera. According to Kusmierski, another huge advantage of IP8161 is its integrated BNC cameras, which enabled it to be connected directly to analog monitors-a valuable feature for the stadium, as it preserved the considerable investment it had in a large number of such monitors.
The project has proved a tremendous success, receiving a great deal of positive feedback from investors, stadium management, the police, and even the city government. Kusmierski also relates, "There was a lot of competition for this project because of its size and high profile, so we had to keep our bid very low to win the bidding. But I think the stadium has been very happily surprised that with the VIVOTEK cameras, they can get such high quality without it being very expensive."
Ernest Pohl Stadium in Zabrze, Poland is a multi-purpose stadium built in 1934 and used mostly for football matches. The stadium recently sought to replace its existing surveillance system with a newer one.
Challenges
Much of the impetus for a new system stemmed from changes in Polish law, which introduced more stringent standards for the admissibility of video and photographic evidence in a court of law. To be specific, the video and images provided by the stadium's existing surveillance system proved of insufficient quality for use in legal cases, such as those stemming from thefts, vandalism, and hooliganism that occurred in the stadium. Moreover, even when incidents occurred during afternoon games, when lighting conditions are ideal, the cameras did not provide enough clarity to enable police to make positive identification of suspects, let alone serve as evidence in a court of law.
With miscreants emboldened by the police's inability to make arrests based on surveillance video footage from the older system, law-abiding spectators were increasingly threatened. A more effective surveillance system would not only protect the stadium from property losses and other damage, but protect spectators' safety.
Solution
Two SD7323 cameras were chosen as "master" cameras providing a broad overview of the entire stadium. Przemyslaw Kusmierski, project planning director at distributor CODE, explains that the SD7323 is perfectly suited for such applications because of its powerful 35x zoom: "You can get the big picture, and then use the zoom to zero right in on locations where it looks like trouble might be starting." Four SD7151 cameras, with their 18x zoom, are used for a similar role, but covering the perimeter of the stadium.
For views of various sections with sufficient detail to identify individuals, the stadium is using 18 IP8161 and 19 IP7161 cameras. With their high-definition two-megapixel resolution, they handily overcome the limitations of the stadium's original surveillance installation, which could spot trouble, but do little to identify offenders. The new cameras' wide field of view is perfect for expansive open environments like the stadium, as is the ePTZ function, which lets operators focus on specific target areas without physically moving the camera. According to Kusmierski, another huge advantage of IP8161 is its integrated BNC cameras, which enabled it to be connected directly to analog monitors-a valuable feature for the stadium, as it preserved the considerable investment it had in a large number of such monitors.
The project has proved a tremendous success, receiving a great deal of positive feedback from investors, stadium management, the police, and even the city government. Kusmierski also relates, "There was a lot of competition for this project because of its size and high profile, so we had to keep our bid very low to win the bidding. But I think the stadium has been very happily surprised that with the VIVOTEK cameras, they can get such high quality without it being very expensive."
