Multifocal sensor system
A multifocal sensor system (also known as a multisensor system or multifocal camera) is a camera technology used in video surveillance . It is a camera system with which both large areas and large distances can be displayed with a high quality of resolution.
technology
In contrast to conventional HD and megapixel cameras, which have a single lens , a multifocal sensor system works with several lenses, each with different focal lengths. With this sensor concept, large areas can be surveyed with a single camera system.
In conventional cameras, the pixels within the sensor are used evenly, i. In other words, the available megapixels are evenly distributed over the entire image. The real scene, however, is not two-dimensional like the sensor, but three-dimensional - with the lateral and depth-perspective expansion towards the rear becoming ever greater. If the pixels are now evenly distributed on the camera sensor, this means that a much larger area with the same number of pixels is recorded in the rear part of the image as in the front part. If you try to enlarge image sections from the rear of the scene, the image quickly becomes blurred and pixelated and no details can be recognized.
A multifocal sensor system, on the other hand, guarantees a constant resolution grid over the entire object space. Objects that are further away can also be displayed with the same resolution as objects in the front area of the image. For example, people can still be clearly identified even at a distance of 160 m. The resolution that is to be achieved over a certain distance can be individually scaled depending on the project requirements.
With a multifocal sensor system, all areas of the entire surveillance scene are simultaneously mapped in maximum detail resolution and permanently recorded. This bypasses the problem of PTZ cameras, where the operator has to choose between an overview image or a detailed recording. PTZ cameras only ever record what the operator is currently seeing live. So if he zooms in on a certain scene, only that area is recorded. Any additional occurrences in the field of view of the PTZ camera are lost and can no longer be evaluated or proven afterwards. A multifocal sensor system works differently here: Regardless of which area of the surveillance area an operator is concentrating on at any given point in time, the entire process is always recorded - with the maximum resolution of details. In this way, a process, wherever it has taken place, can also be reconstructed in detail afterwards.