ISC West 2011 just wrapped up last week. This years’ show was well attended, and our booth was busy the entire time. We introduced a number of new products and features at this show, including:

exacqVision Start VMS Software
Combining the ease of use of exacqVision VMS software with the essential features necessary for low-cost video surveillance, exacqVision Start VMS software is ideal for stand-alone installations of 30 cameras or less. The complete supported list of IP cameras can be used with an easy auto-scan to detect and configure. Live views, saved views, exacqRecall instant playback, video search, POS/ATM search, configuration, all included. Windows, Linux or Mac.

In addition to the exacqVision Start client, the web viewer is included, as are the exacq Mobile iPhone, iPad and Android apps. exacqVision Start is available on the entire EL-Series of embedded Linux appliance servers, or can be installed on third-party servers.

A review of exacqVision Start from IPVideoMarket.Info can be found here. exacqVision Start will be released in early May.

exacqVision Pro 4.6
We featured the upcoming exacqVision Pro 4.6 release, available through the exacqVision Certified Reseller channel. New features we showed include Audit Trail, a new Enterprise Camera Management feature, a re-designed Notifications setup page, and support for the new panoramic cameras from Scallop Imaging, in addition to a number of new supported IP cameras. exacqVision Pro 4.6 will be released in early May. We also showed an exacqVision Pro 4.7 feature: dewarping support for lenses and cameras from Immervision and Sentry360. Version 4.7 is targeted for late May.

exacqVision Hybrid and IP Servers
The full line of exacqVision Hybrid and IP Servers was featured.

exacqVision EL-Mini – The EL-Mini is our newest, lowest-cost IP appliance server. With the ability to connect up to 24 IP cameras, the EL-Mini is ideal for low-cost installations. The embedded Linux operating system and exacqVision software are on a solid-state drive, for high reliability. The Intel Atom processor runs cool with very low power consumption. Up to 2 TB of hard drive video storage are available. The EL-Mini is perfect for either exacqVision Pro software or exacqVision Start software. The EL-Mini is shipping now.

exacqVision ELS-R – New in the EL-Series of embedded appliance servers is the exacqVision ELS-R. An update to the current EL-S, the ELS-R adds two front removable drive bays, providing internal storage up to 4TB, and the ability for user configurable storage options. exacqVision ELS-R is shipping now.

exacqVision Z-Series – All Z-Series line of Hybrid and IP enterprise servers now come standard with 8 IP camera licenses, with the ability to connect 96 IP camera licenses total. All Z-Series servers also now come standard with Three Years of exacqVision Pro software updates. This is on top of the Three Year hardware warranty.

Three Years Warranty & Software Updates – The entire line of exacqVision servers now include Three Years of exacqVision Pro software updates standard, on top of the Three Years hardware warranty.

exacq Mobile
Our latest exacq Mobile apps for iPhone, iPad, Android phones and Android tablets were featured. The new exacq Mobile apps have added the ability to control triggers, and sport a more intuitive user interface. All exacq Mobile apps are available on the iTunes App Store and the Android Market at no charge, and work with any exacqVision deployment.

Around the show floor
exacqVision was featured in a number of booths around the show floor. IDenticard introduced new integration of exacqVision with their PremiSys access control system (picture). S2 Security was featuring exacqVision integration with their NetBox and Pronto access control systems (picture). PlaSec was featuring exacqVision integration with their Classic Appliance and Enterprise Appliance access control systems (picture). Paxton Access was featuring exacqVision integration with their Net2 access control system (picture).

On the IP camera front, Exacq was one of the sponsors of the ONVIF Interoperability Showcase. Pictures from that event are here and here. exacqVision was featured in a number of IP camera vendors’ booths, including StarDot and Vivotek.

Pictures from the show
Here are some of the pictures from the show floor. You can view the complete album of pictures on our flickr page.
Click each picture for a larger view

One of the most important parts of the conference is the training sessions. We held one of our day-long exacqVision technical reseller training sessions on Tuesday, where we had a pre-registered full house as well as some dealers who added the course on-site.

Wednesday morning was the Vendor Awards Banquet, the result of PSA member surveys ranking vendors on overall products, support, pricing, and service to the membership. We were very honored to receive the "Superstar Vendor Achievement Award" this year, the highest award PSA offers. Our sincere appreciation goes out to the entire PSA member base for this award.

After the awards breakfast was the trade show. This was the first year at the Rosemont Convention Center, and the upgraded facilities were a great change of pace. We had a packed booth the entire show, and the increased space and wider aisles were most welcome. We showed our latest exacqVision Version 4.1 features, as well as a sneak peek of the upcoming Version 4.2 features, including Sanyo IP camera support and ONVIF support, using Bosch and other ONVIF-compatible cameras. We also were using IP cameras from Axis, Vivotek, IQeye, Panasonic, ACTi, Sony, and Arecont Vision, who was also right across the aisle from us.

Additionally, we also featured our iPhone & iPad surveillance app, which allows full connection to all exacqVision servers, live viewing with multiple camera layouts, and search and playback of recorded video.

Sam Pfeifle of Security Systems News gave his take on the show in this blog post. Wednesday night was the popular PSA-TEC Jam Session, and Sam was live-streaming the band over his iPhone via ustream.com. He posted archival video of that event here.

Our thanks once again to the entire PSA organization for the great job they did with this years’ well-run event. Below are some pictures and a video from the show floor. Click on each for a larger image.

Version 2.10 can be downloaded here.  Key Features in the Version 2.10 Release:

• ACTi Megapixel – Support added for the new line of megapixel IP cameras from ACTi
• Vivotek – new Vivotek IP camera models supported
• Axis & ACTi – New resolution modes supported
• New Media Formats – DVD+R and DVD+RW formats now supported for exporting video
• New System Configurations – New 4U chassis, up to 8 TB storage

Here are some of the new features in detail:

ACTi Megapixel Support
ACTi has recently launched a new line of megapixel IP cameras.  We support this entire new line, which includes the following models:

ACM-5601
ACM-5611
ACM-3401
ACM-3411
ACM-4200

Vivotek New IP Camera Support
We also have added support for the latest models in the Vivotek IP camera line, which includes these models:

IP7151
IP7152
IZ7151

Axis & ACTi – New Resolutions Supported
exacqVision now supports 1280×1024 and 1280×720 resolutions on all Axis and ACTi megapixel cameras, in addition to all of the other previously-supported resolution modes. 

Both the Axis and ACTi megapixel cameras produce faster frame rates when running in the 1280×720 mode vs. higher-resolution modes.

New Media Formats
Support has been added for the DVD+R and DVD+RW media formats for exported video.  exacqVision also supports DVD-R, DVD-RW, CD-R and CD-RW formats.

New System Configurations
We have expanded the chassis offerings for our exacqVision NVR servers and Hybrid Servers.  A new, matching 4U-height chassis configuration is now available, in addition to the 2U chassis and the space-saving desktop chassis.  The new 4U chassis allows for increased storage options up to 8 TB on storage, as well as RAID-5 storage options.  The spec sheet for this new offering is here, or you can click below.

Recent Releases
We have continued to make rapid progress with exacqVision, with incremental releases hitting about every 2 months.  Here are some highlights of the most recent releases:

exacqVision Version 2.9 release (January 7, 2008)
exacqVision Version 2.8 release (October 31, 2007)
exacqVision Version 2.7 release (August 8, 2007)
exacqVision Version 2.6 release (June 19, 2007)
exacqVision Version 2.5 release (May 7, 2007)
exacqVision Version 2.4 release (March 27, 2007)

As always, the latest versions of exacqVision client and server software can easily and quickly be copied over existing versions while retaining all user settings.  The latest version can always be downloaded from our Downloads page, or you can click on ‘Check for Updates‘ within the ‘About‘ box in the exacqVision software.

The next release, Version 3.0, will coincide with the ISC West show in Las Vegas, April 2-4, and will have some major feature additions.

Version 2.8 can be downloaded here.

Key features in the Version 2.8 Release:

• Multi-Monitor Drag-and-Drop – drag any video camera into any monitor in a multi-monitor client
• Instant Zoom Box – instantly zoom in on any selected area of the screen on both live and playback
• New IP Camera Support – support added for Vivotek IP cameras, as well as the new Sentinel Series of external IP cameras from IQinvision
• Exhanced Axis IP Camera Features – support for Axis’ new HTTP Digest Authentication
• Expanded PTZ Procols – Bosch, GE-Impac, GE-ASCII PTZ protocols added
• Searched Image Export Enhancements – quick copy searched image to clipboard

Here are some of these features in detail:

Enhanced Multi-Monitor Mode
Drag-and-Drop videos between monitors
Version 2.8 has significant enhancements for running multiple monitors on a client station.  Perhaps the most significant is the ability to drag any video camera – either the video window or the camera name from the camera tree – into any other viewing pane of any other monitor.

Creating video walls, or having specific functions in each monitor: viewing in one, search in another, event monitoring in another, the multi-monitor mode of the exacqVision client is very powerful.

Video Demo – We’ve created a video demonstrating the capabilities of the exacqVision multi-monitor mode, which you can view here:

Instant Zoom Box
Press Control-Z in the exacqVision client, and use the mouse to draw a rectangle around any area of an image for instant zooming to that section of the image.

Enhanced Axis IP Camera Support

Security – To further strengthen the security of their video products, Axis added support for HTTP Digest Authentication in most of their products. HTTP Digest Authentication is used for more secure authentication over both HTTP and RTSP.  exacqVision Version 2.8 now supports Digest Authentication in Axis cameras.

Enhanced PTZ Presets – Version 2.8 adds more robust PTZ preset modes for the Axis 212, 215 and 233D cameras.

New IP Camera Models Supported

Vivotek – Added support for the entire line of 6000-series and 7000-series Vivotek IP cameras.

IQinvision – Added support for the new Sentinel Series of all-weather outdoor POE IP cameras.

The complete list of exacqVision supported IP cameras is available here

New PTZ Protocols Supported
Additional PTZ protocols for analog PTZ cameras for use on exacqVision Hybrid Servers have been added.  These new protocols include Bosch, GE-Impac, and GE-ASCII.

exacqVision Linux Status
We are getting closer to officially releasing the Linux version of exacqVision.  For our current Linux Beta Testers, we have updated the exacqVision Linux release to Version 2.8 as well, and you can download that using the same download links we provided you initially.

The first release of exacqVision Linux will be based on the Ubuntu 6.06 distribution, and will be identical in form and function in every way to our Windows version of exacqVision.  Both client and server will be available in Linux versions across our product line.  You can freely mix and match: Windows clients can be connected to Linux servers, and vice-versa.

We anticipate releasing exacqVision Linux by the end of November, 2007.

We continue to make a great deal of progress with our feature set.  We released Version 2.0 in December of 2006, and have had steady releases every few weeks since then.  Here’s our growing list recapping some of the recent release highlights:

Version 2.7 Release, August 8, 2007
- Virtual Matrix Switching & Event Monitoring
- Increased Data Authentication
- Playback Enhancements
- Panoramic Camera Support

Version 2.6 Release, June 19, 2007
- exacqReplay
- Joystick Support
- Shortcut Function Key Support
- New Wide-Screen Modes

Version 2.5 Release, May 7, 2007
- Bandwidth Throttling
- View Tour & Enhancements
- Enhanced exacqRecall

Version 2.4 Release, March 27, 2007
- Arecont & Panasonic IP Camera Support
- Audio support on Axis Cameras
- Time-Lapse Mode
- Pre-Motion Recording

Going back further, we had IP Camera Finder in Version 2.3 (Feb 07), Multi-Monitor support in Version 2.2 (Jan 07), and many, many other enhancements and bug fixes.

As always, the latest versions of exacqVision client and server software can easily and quickly be copied over existing versions while retaining all user settings.  Version 2.8 of exacqVision is available on our Downloads page.