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What our experts say …

Appearances can indeed be deceptive, and at first glance the Samsung SDC-415 looks for all the world like just another compact colour camera. However, there is much more to it than meets the eye, but you would be excused for wondering what that might be. And if you remove the case lid, all you see is a lot of empty space.

In fact more than three quarters of the case volume is filled with nothing more technically advanced than fresh air, though to be fair markings on the printed circuit board suggest that some of the space at least is set aside for a transformer and power supply components for the mains powered version (our sample was the 12 volt DC model).

The only signs that the SDC-415 is anything more than just another elaborately cased board camera are a cluster of five small buttons on the back panel; we'll look at what these do in just a moment, but first a quick rundown of the headline features.

It's billed as a 'day & night' camera though it differs from many of the models we've seen recently in that it doesn't have enhanced infrared sensitivity with a mechanism that flips the IR filter out of the way as the camera changes from day (colour) to night (black & white) mode.

Nevertheless, it is well equipped for night time operation. The 1/3-inch Sony Super HAD CCD operates down to 0.3 lux but this falls to 0.0002 lux when all of the low-light image-processing systems kick in. Resolution is claimed to be in excess of 520 lines from the CCD's 752 x 582 pixel array.

Exposure options include provision for a video or DC controlled auto iris lens, or it can use a standard lens with exposure handled internally by an electronic iris and auto, flickerless or manual shutter control (1/50 to 1/120,000 sec in 12 steps). There's also what appears to be an unadvertised manual 'slow' speed shutter option for further increasing low-light sensitivity. This is on the main shutter menu and goes from x2 to x128 in 12 steps, but there's no mention of how to use it in the instruction manual.

The camera's white balance system is switchable between full auto, auto tracing and manual. It has a 3-stage backlight control, AGC and SSNR (Samsung Super Noise Reduction) plus auto and manual sensitivity controls. There's also provision to display a camera ID of up to 15 characters, manually switch between colour and black and white operation, set internal or line-lock sync, adjust sharpness and switch between a normal and mirror-image video output.

So far nothing too much out of the ordinary, but we've left the best until last, and the SDC-415 has two unusual extras. A motion detection system uses four variable sized targets, each of which can be reduced to a few pixels or expanded to fill the whole screen. When movement is detected in any of the target areas, a flashing warning appears on the screen for approximately five seconds. Unfortunately there is no provision for adjusting sensitivity, prolonging or locking the warning message or triggering an external alarm. Nonetheless, it's still potentially a very useful feature.

The other oddity is a privacy mask and this clearly shares much of its firmware with the motion detector. It uses four translucent masks, similar to the motion detection targets, and these can be sized to obscure any part or parts of the image.

It is an unremarkable shape but the cosmetics are quite eye-catching and the SDC-415 is the first camera we can recall to sport a snazzy metallic paint finish, that wouldn't look out of place on a high-end saloon.

The casework is all-metal - including the end caps - and it looks and feels really solidly built. The C/CS lens mount is a model of simplicity with a lockable threaded collar taking care of back-focus adjustment. A mounting plate with a standard 1/4-inch BNC thread is fixed to the underside of the case but this can be moved to the top panel for suspended wall or ceiling mounting.

The auto-iris lens socket is on the right side and on the rear panel there's a single BNC socket for the composite video output, a set of screw terminals for the DC power supply, a switch for selecting DC/Video control, a power on LED that flashes when the video output is interrupted, and the five buttons mentioned earlier.

Inside the case there are three PCBs. On our DC powered sample the largest one - mounted on the bottom the case - is used to connect the rear panel PCB containing the switches and connectors, to the front PCB, which supports the CCD and all of the video processing circuitry.

Setup and operation

Pressing the middle of the five buttons brings up the first page of the menu-driven on-screen display. There are eight options, selected using the up/down buttons and an on-screen cursor. The first item, labelled 'Lens', switches between manual and video controlled auto iris operation. 'Shutter' switches flickerless, auto and manual setting modes.

The 'White Balance' options are auto, auto tracing and manual, the latter leading to a sub menu for fine-tuning red and blue levels.

The next three are 'Backlight', 'AGC' and 'SSNR' and each of them has four settings: off, low, middle and high. The 'Sensitivity' menu has selections for off and auto operation and the last entry on the first page is 'Special', which when selected leads to a second menu page with a further eight selections.

These are 'Camera ID', 'Color' (on or auto), 'Sync' (internal or line-lock, on AC powered models), 'Motion Detection', 'Privacy', 'Mirror', 'Sharpness' and 'Reset'. Pressing the central button a second time, after the main menu appears, brings up a brightness level control.

Menu operation is simple and intuitive, though clearly most of the functions are only adjusted after the camera has been installed.

This means that some care needs to be taken when planning the installation, to allow access to the controls on the back of the camera. It's also necessary to use a local video monitor in order to be able to assess the impact of any changes to the exposure settings, configuring the motion detector and privacy masks.

Performance

Low light sensitivity is outstanding, producing a very useable image down to near-dark conditions, though it is clearly dependent on a lot of image processing and the slow-speed shutter.

This results in a fair amount of noise, in spite of the best efforts of the SSNR system, which robs the image of fine detail; movement can be quite blurry.

Nevertheless, it is still a lot better than you would expect from a colour camera and even without a switchable IR filter it still compares favourably with day/night models we've tested recently.

In good natural light the image is very clean and resolution is more or less as advertised at just over 500 lines. The exposure systems track changes in light level without any problems and the auto-tracing white balance system deals efficiently with different types of scene lighting.

One hundred percent tube lighting gives the picture a slight greenish tint but this can be compensated for using the manual WB controls. The only small disappointment was the backlight control, which is not especially effective, though careful alignment - to avoid too many bright lights or windows - and experimenting with the settings should ensure a reasonably well-balanced image.

Mechanical stability is excellent and the video output was undisturbed by a few short sharp taps from the Security Installer rubber mallet.

What the manufacturer says ...

We are dispelling the myth that Day/Night cameras are expensive and can only therefore be used for a limited number of applications", says Simon Shawley, Samsung Techwin's UK Sales Manager.

"The SDC-415 is packed full of high specification and technically advanced features and yet it has a price tag that matches basic monochrome cameras offered by our competitors. For the first time there is a Day/Night camera available that is affordable regardless of the application or the quantities required.

"The SDC-415 produces superb colour images during the day but when lighting levels fall below 0.3 lux it switches to night mode to deliver ultra clear monochrome images. Samsung Techwin's SSNR technology, which dramatically reduces "noise" so that the SDC-415 can deliver high quality images regardless of the lighting conditions, also reduces the file sizes of recorded images.

"The SDC-415 offers 520 TV lines and Wide Dynamic Range capability as standard and incorporates WIII, a powerful new image processing chip that intelligently analyses images captured by the camera and by taking into account the prevailing lighting ensures that high quality images can be displayed and recorded at all times.

"The combination of superb Samsung Techwin technology and a very competitive price should ensure that the SDC-415 finds its way onto any installer's or specifier's shopping list."