Experience Comprehensive Surveillance Coverage with the Uniview Dual Lens PTZ Camera

Uniview’s Dual Lens PTZ camera is the perfect solution for anyone looking to enhance their video surveillance system without sacrificing coverage or detail. Traditional PTZ cameras can be vulnerable to predictability and gaps in coverage, but the Dual Lens PTZ c amera addresses these issues by combining a high-definition PTZ with a second fixed lens camera for comprehensive coverage.

This 4MP high-definition PTZ has a powerful 25x zoom, giving you an incredibly detailed and versatile field of view. But it also has a second lens built into the camera: a 4MP high-definition fixed lens for capturing a wide view of the entire surveillance field. This means the Dual Lens PTZ camera allows you to easily monitor and track activity while maintaining a comprehensive view of your surveillance area. Plus, with both cameras built into a single camera body, installation is faster, easier, and more affordable.

In this article, we’ll take a closer look at the unique features of the Uniview Dual Lens PTZ camera and how they can help you improve your surveillance system’s breadth and depth of coverage.

The PTZ Conundrum: Limitations and Possible Solutions

Everyone loves a good ol’ PTZ. There’s nothing like the flexibility of panning, tilting, and zooming across your video surveillance field to give you detailed video capture and efficient monitoring. But PTZs have one major drawback: they can’t see everything everywhere all at once.

Let’s say you set your PTZ up on a patrol schedule, moving from one preset to another over the course of a given amount of time. This opens up your surveillance system to two major weaknesses: predictability and lack of coverage. I like to call this the classic PTZ Conundrum.

If I’m an intruder with a plan to burglarize your property, I can easily use these weaknesses to my advantage. I can watch your PTZ’s patrol, learn the individual presets and the time between movement, and come up with a plan to slip in unnoticed while the PTZ is focused somewhere else.

Solution One: Install a Generic Secondary Camera

In the past, the best way to overcome this limitation was to have two cameras installed in one place: a PTZ for flexibility, and a fixed lens camera for comprehensive coverage. With a second camera added to the system, I wouldn’t be able to slip in as easily, even if the PTZ was focused on another part of your property. This is because my intrusion will still be picked up by the backup camera.

But this introduces another limitation. Even if I sneak onto your property under the eye of your backup camera, I’m evading the detail of your PTZ. Depending on the distance between me and your camera, you may not have a detailed enough recording to identify me or to have incriminating evidence.

Solution Two: Invest in a Specialized Secondary Camera

In the past, the best way to overcome this limitation was to have a very specialized (and expensive) camera with the ability to link up with the PTZ and communicate back and forth. Now we have all of our bases covered. If I sneak onto the scene while the PTZ is pointed away from me, the specialized camera will see me and tell the PTZ to stop what it’s doing and pay attention. The PTZ’s patrol would stop immediately, allowing the PTZ to focus on the important event. With this setup, you’ll be much more likely to have useful footage.

But this introduces another limitation: cost. By the time you purchase a high-end PTZ and a high-end panoramic camera capable of this kind of linkage, you’ve already spent multiple thousands of dollars just to solve the PTZ Conundrum. So most people had to settle for the first solution: installing a generic backup camera to record a wide, less-detailed version of the scene.

If you’re stuck in the PTZ Conundrum, I have great news for you! Uniview’s Dual Lens PTZ camera offers a new solution to the PTZ conundrum. One that maintains all the benefits of solution two without the added cost and extra equipment.

The Dual Lens PTZ Camera: Comprehensive Coverage For Your Surveillance System

I hope you’re able to see by now just how important it is to have comprehensive coverage in your surveillance system. Anything less than comprehensive and you’ll notice important events starting to fall through the cracks. So how does Uniview’s Dual Lens PTZ security camera increase coverage of your surveillance system? There are two different ways you can approach this: individual coverage or collaborative coverage.

To explain these better, let’s use a metaphor. You have one fire truck with two firefighters, each equipped with their own hose. To put out the fire, the two firefighters can work separately to cover more ground, or work collaboratively to double their efforts. It’s the same for this camera. Let’s dive a little deeper.

Independent Coverage: Maximizing Your System’s Breadth

Both the PTZ and the wide angle lens are excellent cameras in their own right. When you isolate the lenses and look at the features they offer, you’ll see that each camera can effectively work alone.

Both cameras have a high-definition 4MP resolution for crisp details and excellent imagery. They both have excellent night vision, remote viewing capabilities, and a wide range of AI-powered intelligent events. This means you can set up both cameras to perform different functions.

Returning to our fire truck metaphor, this method involves the two firefighters working independently to put out different areas of the fire. Their efforts are divided, but they’re able to cover wider ground this way.

For instance, you can have the PTZ set up to focus on a particular part of your scene with a line crossing detection event set up to trigger based on pedestrian movement. Meanwhile, the wide angle lens can have an intrusion detection box looking for both pedestrians and vehicles. You have a ton of potential here to expand the breadth of your surveillance coverage.

Collaborative Coverage: Maximizing Your System’s Depth

As we’ve seen, both of these cameras are powerful enough to stand alone. But the real power of this dual lens PTZ camera comes when you set up the two lenses to work together. With this method, you’re unable to set up individual intelligent events on your PTZ. But the tradeoff is worth it, because you’ll be able to facilitate communication between the two lenses, allowing for seamless and gap-free surveillance.

Imagine the two firefighters bringing their efforts together to focus on putting out one area of the fire. They aren’t able to cover as much ground, but instead they’re able to double their efforts and get more done together than they’d be able to do individually.

That’s the idea behind the panoramic linkage capabilities of this dual lens PTZ camera. With panoramic linkage enabled, your wide angle lens will be able to keep an eye out for any important events. Once an event has been triggered, it can tell the PTZ to focus on the area in question and start tracking the person or vehicle that initially triggered the event. With this, you can put your PTZ on a patrol without having to worry about missing anything, because the seamless linkage between the two lenses will ensure comprehensive coverage at all times. While the independent coverage was able to add more breadth to your surveillance system, panoramic linkage is able to add more depth.

Sample Imagery from the Dual Lens PTZ Camera

Check out the images and video below to watch this camera in action. Since this camera has two lenses, it takes up two channels on the NVR, so each of the images and video clips below were taken from two separate NVR channels, each with the same IP address.

Click the images below to view their full resolutions

The Wide Angle Lens

Wide angle lens during the day (4mm focal length)

Wide angle lens at night (100' IR Range)

The PTZ Lens

PTZ lens zoomed out during the day (4.8mm focal length)

PTZ lens zoomed in during the day (120mm focal length)

PTZ lens zoomed out at night (330' IR range)

PTZ lens zoomed in at night (330' IR range)

For the best viewing experience, watch the following video in full screen at the highest resolution.

Enhanced Features

You can already see how powerful this camera is when you leverage the two-in-one panoramic linkage functionality. But there’s so much more to talk about with this camera! In the next few sections we’ll talk about this PTZ’s long-range night vision, its large collection of AI-powered events, and its active deterrence functionality.

Long-Range Infrared Night Vision

You may be wondering how exactly the night vision works when you’re working with two lenses. How many Infrared LEDs are there on this dual lens PTZ camera, and how far can it see at night? As we’ve mentioned before, each of these lenses are essentially standalone cameras built into the same housing. So it makes sense that both lenses would have their own IR LEDs with their own range of night vision. How does this work?

The wide angle lens on top has its own infrared LEDs, allowing it to see up to 100’ at night. This is a standard infrared range for most basic, fixed lens security cameras. With a 100’ night vision range, you’ll be able to see everything in the immediate vicinity of your surveillance field.

The PTZ lens also has its own infrared LEDs, which are much more powerful. The PTZ night vision range extends up to 330’. The LEDs are located just under the PTZ lens, so that as the camera pans and tilts, the IR lights will always be pointing in the direction of the camera.

Why do the two lenses have a different IR range? Well, when the PTZ is facing the same direction as the fixed lens camera, it doesn’t really matter. The fixed lens camera will be able to take advantage of that full 330’ IR range, rendering its own 100’ IR LEDs useless. But when the PTZ moves around to face a different direction, the wide angle lens on top is still able to see at night. You can think of these 100’ IR LEDs as a backup, ensuring that you have consistent and comprehensive surveillance coverage 24/7, even in pitch black darkness.

AI-Powered Analytics

Like you would expect to see on any of Uniview’s higher end cameras, both lenses have a full range of intelligent events. By the way, this is one main feature that separates this PTZ from the lower end mini dual lens PTZ model. With the mini PTZ, only the fixed lens supports intelligent events.

Supported intelligent events include…

Line crossing
Intrusion
Area entrance
Area exit
People counting
Crowd density monitoring
Auto tracking
Panoramic linkage

Embedded with deep learning artificial intelligence, these events will only trigger based on motion that you tell it to watch for, whether that be human motion, motor vehicle motion, non-motor vehicle motion, or any combination of these. With deep learning artificial intelligence, you’ll be able to cut out the majority of false alarms, leading to more efficiency and more confidence in your security system.

Active Deterrence

In addition to its AI-powered analytics, the Uniview Dual Lens PTZ camera also offers an active deterrence feature. This allows you to use flashing strobes or audible warnings to deter potential threats or incidents. This can be especially useful in situations where you want to deter burglars or intruders, or simply alert people to the presence of the camera.

The active deterrence feature can be triggered by any of the AI-embedded intelligent events above. You can customize the camera’s response to specific situations, ensuring that it is providing the level of protection and deterrence that you need.

Overall, the active deterrence feature of the Uniview Dual Lens PTZ camera provides an additional layer of security and protection for your business or property.

Enhance Your Security System with Comprehensive Coverage

The Uniview Dual Lens PTZ camera is a powerful and advanced surveillance solution that provides comprehensive coverage for your surveillance needs. Whether you set up this camera to enhance the breadth or depth of your video surveillance system, you won’t be disappointed with the results. These two powerful lenses with their enhanced features provide more protection for your business or property with less space, less installation work, all at a lower cost. With its dual-lens functionality, deep learning AI, intelligent events, and active deterrence features, the camera is able to adapt to a variety of surveillance scenarios and provide optimal coverage and protection. Whether you are looking to monitor a large outdoor area, track foot traffic in a retail store, or simply deter burglars and intruders, the Uniview Dual Lens PTZ camera has the features and capabilities to meet your needs.

If you are interested in learning more about the Uniview Dual Lens PTZ camera, we encourage you to check out our website or reach out to our team for more information. We are always here to help you find the best security and surveillance solutions for your business or property.

Let us know in the comments down below how you would use this dual lens PTZ camera in your own video surveillance system!