Destiny-IP camera range Following its announcement last year concerning the development of a range of CCTV equipment supporting TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) for video transmission, Baxall has launched the first products in the new Destiny-IP range Ñ cameras, encoders, decoders and viewing software.

"Configurable over the network to be an encoder or decoder, the Destiny-IP codecs can support PAL and NTSC multicast (UDP) and point-to-point (TCP) video and audio, control data and external alarms," Baxall explained.

"They are variable bit rate and can transmit a video stream between 8Kbps to 2.0 Mbps. The data channels can be configured for RS232/422/485 to allow for control of third-party pan, tilt and zoom (PTZ) units and domes. MJPEG or H261 are available as compression methods."

Based on Baxall's high-end cameras, the Destiny-IP cameras feature an internal encoding board for direct connection to a network. They feature the same compression and bit rate etc as with the codecs. The camera may operate as a server taking up to two binary inputs and one output.

"With the Destiny-IP software decoder, PC users scan the network for all devices and view and control any camera on the system, either as a single, full screen or as a quad display.

"Control is via a simple GUI (Graphical User Interface) that allows for PTZ functions to be controlled and camera-to-monitor switching. The great advantage is that the software will run on a PC using Windows making it cost effective and convenient."

Baxall explained that all products in the new Destiny-IP range could be used over any physical network, such as Ethernet, token ring, ISDN etc.

"They can form part of a simple-to-assemble but sophisticated CCTV system, large or small, either in a stand-alone capacity or as an extension to an existing system," it said.

The Destiny-IP range joins the award-winning Destiny-ATM products from Baxall's video networks division, which the company says has been constantly at the forefront of research and development in CCTV.