Benchtest 1: Needle sharp

From the outside it doesn't look particularly unusual but it is immediately obvious from the large lens on the front that it is an integrated 'one-box' camera, and by plastering the sides of the camera with little logos the designers have gone to some trouble to point out that it's also a 'Day & Night' model, with a 'Digital Slow Shutter' and a 220x digital zoom. But these are just the high-lights on a mostly well thought out list of features.

Nevertheless we'll begin as usual with the basics and that means the image sensor. It doesn't appear to be anything out of the ordinary, just a standard ¼-inch CCD with 752 x 582 pixels and a claimed resolution of up to 480 lines, but with a low light sensitivity of 0.1 lux (0.01 lux in slow shutter mode). However, in front of the sensor is a meaty 22x optical zoom lens (3.0 to 85.8mm, F1.6 – 3.7) and this is supplemented by a 10x digital zoom.

The Day & Night function switches the camera between colour and black & white operation when light levels fall below a preset threshold, and there is a routine set of exposure features that includes auto/manual shutter and white balance. There is also backlight compensation and a questionable mirror-image mode.

It has a selectable numeric camera ID, bright-ness and sharpness controls, composite and S-Video outputs plus a remote control option (though this is more of a necessity, as we shall see in a moment).

It is a relatively plain-looking design and with no external lens it is quite compact, measuring just 53 x 42 x 120mm. The front end is dominated by the large lens while the rear end has a group of four small but well-spaced buttons for the menu, backlight and zoom functions, and three protrud-ing sockets that add unnecessarily to its length when the cables are attached; two carry the S-Video and composite video outputs, the third one is for the power and wired remote control.

The case is a one-piece alloy extrusion and the end caps are made of plastic. It looks reasonably weathertight though the manufacturer makes no claims, so take it as read that it needs to be installed inside a suitable housing if it is to be used outside or in a hostile environment.

Inside the case is an exoskeleton chassis, with all of the printed circuit boards fitted to the inside of a simple metal frame, surrounding the large lens assembly. With the chassis panels removed you are confronted with what looks like a solid block of microchips (fans of Star Trek will immediately recognise it as a scale model of a Borg Cube).

The point is it is a very well protected device that looks as though it could withstand a fair amount of physical punishment, although the manufacturer appears not to have capitalised on this worthy feature.

Set up & operation
The only thing likely to slow an installer down is the provision of a power supply. The camera uses a miniature six-pin quick-fit connector for power and remote control; a short length (approx 1m) of pre-terminated cable is included in the box but if it's not long enough to reach the external PSU (12 volt DC/4.5 Watts) then this can get messy. It would have been much better to follow the industry convention with separate terminals for the power supply connections.

Most of the camera's functions are accessible from the four buttons on the rear but for some reason there's no option to adjust the focus manually, which seems to be a serious shortcoming. There is a push-focus function but this relies on the AF system, which can be unreliable in low light or when the subject lacks contrast.

In order to set the focus accurately the optional wired remote control unit is required, and in its favour it greatly simplifies and speeds the set-up of multiple cameras, particularly if they are installed in difficult or cramped locations.

The remote, which is about the size of a small mobile phone, has six buttons including an on/off function and the elusive manual focus controls.

Since the power connection and remote control cable share the same socket on the back of the camera, the manufacturer has had to include a 'flying' DC socket, wired into the plug.

This further reinforces the argument for separate power terminals on the camera, as the installer has to equip himself with a 12-volt mains PSU fitted with a suitable DC plug. Unfortunately the instructions give no guidance and since there is no standard wiring protocol, you have to determine the socket polarity by tracing the power leads back to the plug – to save you the bother it's wired for tip positive.

Pressing the menu button displays the first six of the 12 options. They are Mirror Image (reverses picture horizontally), Slow Shutter (nine modes, two to 128 fields), Day/Night (on/off/auto), White Balance (auto/push), Shutter (eight mode, 1/25 to 1/10,000th sec), and Camera ID (000 to 255).

The remaining six options are Zoom Stop and Start (sets zoom limits), Brightness (48 steps), Sharpness (15 steps), Focus (manual/auto) and Init Set (resets to factory defaults).

Performance
Our sample produced a crisp and highly detailed image; resolution checks indicated that it was close to the manufacturer's specs at a little over 460 lines on the S-Video output. The 22x optical zoom is simply excellent, delivering a needle-sharp picture at all magnification settings and even when the digital zoom takes over, the picture doesn't start to deteriorate noticeably until at least 70 to 75x.

In good natural light and with the white balance set to auto both picture noise levels and colour accuracy are a little better than average for a general purpose colour camera, picture grain increases quite quickly as the light levels fall until it reaches the point at which the day/night switching occurs.

We felt this may be set too low and some form of manual adjustment would have been appreciated.

In the monochrome Night mode the image becomes a little washed out with a noticeable reduction in contrast – compared with several other day/night cameras we have seen recently – but it still manages to produce a useable image in very poor conditions.

As we anticipated, the mechanical assembly is very robust and the picture was unaffected by a stern beating with the Bench Test rubber mallet.

What the manufacturer says ...
Videcon plc has extended its Concept Pro range following the launch of the VCP501 ¼-inch day/night camera. With a built-in 22x optical and 10x digital zoom lens, the VCP501 offers versatile installation options at a reduced cost.

Equipped with the most up-to-date ¼-inch Sony Super HAD CCD pick-up chip, Advanced DSP and Fuzzy Picture Control, the VCP501 promotes a 470 TVL high-resolution colour picture. It is ideal for both internal and external applications, where image quality is of the upmost importance.

Available as 12v DC, the VCP501 can be controlled and set up either by the on-screen display (OSD), using the buttons on the rear of the camera, or by the set-up keypad (VCP501KEY).

The OSD allows you to select the necessary camera function, including White Balance Control, Shutter Speed, Day/Night function, BLC and DSS.

Zoom/focus controls are located on the back of the camera. These can be controlled from a telemetry system utilising the cable supplied.

Equipped with an auto-focus lens, the VCP501 will automatically give the sharpest image possible whether the light is visible or infrared.