Auto Focus vs. SmartFocus® vs. FocusEasy™
Getting the camera's image in focus is always one of the most important tasks for setting up a video surveillance system, and sometimes the most time-consuming. With ease-of-use in mind, Brickcom offers 3 technologies to help the user with focus adjustment: Auto Focus, SmartFocus®, and FocusEasy™. Auto Focus works with the motorized lens module to focus the image automatically and look for the best focus at all times. SmartFocus® also works with the motorized lens module, but focuses the image just once and is aimed at speeding up the installation. FocusEasy™ works with the standard lens and makes the manual focus adjustment easy; the user can get it done in 1 minute without any assisting equipment or people.
It is common that two or more people work together to focus a camera, with one person on the site adjusting the camera lens, and another person in the central room checking the image on the monitor. Due to the communication difficulties and video transmission latency, focusing the camera in this way can be very time-consuming. A CCTV tester can facilitate this process, but the image displayed on the CCTV tester may be sub-optimal due to the limitation in size and resolution of the CCTV tester monitor, and thus may mislead the installer.
Auto Focus, realized with a high-end motorized lens module, does the focus adjustment automatically and spontaneously. When a focus change condition is detected (ex. an object is moving from a distant place toward the camera), Auto Focus will find the new focus for the scene right away. The following Brickcom cameras support Auto Focus: PZ-040D/E, OSD-040D/E, OSD-200A. For these cameras, the user sends the optical zoom-in/zoom-out commands to the camera over the network connection, and then Auto Focus takes care of the focusing work. This means the user can stay in the central room commissioning all the connected cameras instead of moving from one camera location to another.
SmartFocus® is a special Brickcom camera feature for the motorized lens. Different from Auto Focus, SmartFocus® focuses the image automatically just once, and then stays at the point until the next time the user does the optical zoom-in/zoom-out. SmartFocus® strikes a balance among the hardware cost, hardware warranty, and usability. Since the motorized lens module doesn't need to look for the best focus whenever the scene changes, the motorized lens enjoys a longer life. The following Brickcom cameras support SmartFocus®: OB-100Ap, OB-130Np, OB-300Np, OB-300Ap, OB-500Ap, FD-130Np, FD-300Np, FD-300Ap V3, FD-500Ap, VD-130Np, VD-300Np, VD-300Ap V3, VD-500Ap. For these cameras, the user sends the optical zoom-in/zoom-out commands to the camera over the network connection, and then SmartFocus® finishes the focusing work and stays at the position until the next optical zoom-in/zoom-out command. Similar with Auto Focus, the user can stay in the central room commissioning all the connected cameras instead of moving from one camera location to another.
FocusEasy™ is Brickcom's unique feature designed to make the manual focus adjustment easier and faster without any assisting persons or equipment. Even a first-time user can focus the camera in 1 minute with the help of FocusEasy™. The way FocusEasy™ works is like the car reverse radar. During the focus adjustment process, FocusEasy™ informs the installer of the progress via the buzzer. The farther the image is from the focus, the longer the intervals are between the beeps. When the image gets closer to the focus, the beeps go faster. Once the image is focused, the buzzer makes a long beep for 3 seconds for notification. A FocusEasy™ camera works with the standard C-mount/CS-mount lens, therefore is lower-cost and higher-warranty than the Auto Focus and SmartFocus® cameras. The following Brickcom cameras support FocusEasy™: FB-300Np V2, FB-300Ap V2, FB-500Ap V2, OB-302Np V2, OB-302Ap V2, OB-502Ap V2, FD-302Np V2, FD-302Ap V2, FD-502Ap V2, VD-302Np V2, VD-302Ap V2, VD-502Ap V2.
A comparison table for these focus adjustment methods, and the supported cameras, is shown below for more information.
