Raytec are proud to present the industry’s first ever Lighting Standard for Video Surveillance Applications – ‘POWERS’.
Raytec are proud to present the industry’s first ever Lighting Standard for Video Surveillance Applications – ‘POWERS’.
It is designed to enable consultants, installers and end-users to more easily specify and compare the performance of different illuminators. Raytec are hosting a webinar on the history, theory and practice of the new standard for all security professionals.
Historically, there has been no standard way to specify and compare different lighting products designed for video surveillance and their performance claims - particularly infra-red lighting. This ultimately causes confusion and potential disappointment for customers.
Lighting manufacturers currently publish very limited information – in the majority of cases they merely quote a maximum lighting performance distance. With the absence of standardization, one manufacturer could claim a significantly different performance distance when compared to another manufacturer for a product that delivers exactly the same output. Security professionals are therefore unable to safely rely on the lighting performance claims of the manufacturer.
Calculating accurate lighting distances should be based around achieving a standardized level of light power on scene at your required distance – which in turn helps to ensure a standardized quality of image every time. But what is classed as acceptable light power on scene and what technique has been used to measure and calculate this?
Distance is only one area of lighting performance to consider. Determining angle output is another vitally important area which is currently left open to wildly different interpretation by manufacturers. In addition, there are other criteria to consider which all affect the true performance and overall ‘cost’ of your illuminator. These include: flexibility and adaptability, integration capability, consumption, environmental impact, reliability, lifetime, warranty, customer support and lighting partner credentials.
After facing this challenge almost daily for the last 25 years, the Directors at Raytec took the initiative to launch the first lighting standard for video surveillance applications – ‘POWERS’ which addresses all of the above issues and more.
Tony Whiting, Raytec’s Managing Director (joint) and one of the pioneers of the POWERS standard shares his thoughts on its launch - “We are delighted to be the first manufacturer to tackle this head on by publishing an easy to use guide which outlines key criteria for you to consider when choosing and comparing any lighting product and partner. The standard provides security professionals with an understanding as to how their chosen lighting product will perform and sets a lighting quality benchmark to help customers make an informed choice”.
Industries such as the traditional White-Light industry (street lighting/urban/commercial lighting etc.) have long established standard testing methods which all manufacturers adhere to, meaning that all illuminators can be accurately compared.
Raytec have invited all the major lighting manufacturers to play an active role in helping to formulate this new standard and are delighted to advise that they have generally agreed with the proposed POWERS standard. Hopefully, in time, all reputable manufacturers will commit to measuring their lighting performance in accordance with the standard and publish the proposed information so that customers can have consistent and reliable information on which to base their choices.
Tony goes on to say “We can also guarantee that at Raytec we are working hard to ensure that the standard becomes widely adopted and used for the benefit of everyone across the industry”.
In addition, Raytec will offer testing of third party products in accordance with the standard, so where there is no published information available, Raytec will measure the product and provide the relevant information.