The bench test 1: Getting serious

What our experts say…

Far be it for us to criticise the design of Panasonic's WV-CW960 dome camera (but we will anyway...), but we reckon it looks a whole lot more imposing without the plastic sunshield. If you're looking for a dome with attitude that says 'I'm watching you mate', then the unadorned CW964 with its tough-looking finned alloy body is definitely worth considering.

Even with the sunshield in place it still has a commanding presence, and at almost 400mm from top to toe it is clear that Panasonic is not aiming it at the discreet, unobtrusively styled and proportioned end of the dome camera market. With no real pressure on space the designers have not been held back by the need to save weight or compromise on materials and it has a feature list to match, beginning with a high-performance day/night camera module.

The camera is equipped with a 3.8-114mm (F1.2 to 22) lens with a 30x optical zoom (10x digital) giving a horizontal field of view that varies from 1.8 to 52 degrees (tele to wide setting, 1.4 to 40 degrees vertical). Immediately behind the lens there's a servo driven infrared filter for the day/night switching function.

The image sensor is a 1/4-inch Interline Transfer CCD with 752 x 582 pixels, resolution is in the region of 480 lines in colour 'normal' colour rising to 540 and 570 lines respectively in colour 'high' and Black and White modes. Minimum illumination in colour mode is a respectable 0.5lux and this drops to 0.04 lux in B/W mode (with help from the camera's processing and AGC circuitry).

Advanced image processing is behind a number of the camera's key features, and these include Panasonic's highly configurable Super Dynamic III exposure system, with a user definable mask for compensating for excessively bright or contrasty areas of the image. There's also 'streak free' adaptive digital noise reduction, image hold prior to repositioning, image stabilisation, 300x digital zoom, digital flip, to track subjects or objects as they pass beneath the lens, privacy zone masking, motion detection and auto tracking, to name just a few.

The camera lives inside in a squat cylindrical housing, a bit like a fat pancake, and this is mounted in an elaborate looking cradle formed from cast alloy. Both the pan and tilt mechanisms use worm-gear reduction drives, with some quite complicated looking contrivances, designed, we presume, to smooth out the motion. Whatever the explanation it is a very impressive looking piece of kit and surprisingly nimble, able to pan and tilt (under preset control) continuously through 360 degrees at up to 400 deg/sec.

The direct drive mechanism also permits unusually fine control, down to just 0.065 degs/sec for really precise positioning and tracking. Up to 250 preset positions and patrols lasting up to two minutes can be stored and recorded when paired with a compatible system controller, which in our case was the Panasonic WV-CU161C.

As we mentioned earlier the camera housing is a substantial finned alloy construction, which apart from looking quite aggressive also acts as a heat sink. It is a complex one-piece casting and makes a big contribution to the camera's ruggedness and vandal resistance, though for some reason the transparent dome is only held in place by four ordinary Philips screws.

Clearly it's not a problem when it is mounted in a high or inaccessible location, but even so wouldn't it have been better to use tamper-resistant screws on such a vital component?

Inside the housing the pan-tilt mechanism is mounted on a simple metal chassis that bolts to pillars moulded into the side of the housing. Above that is a single PC which is responsible for communications, connections to the outside world and power supply regulation (24 volts AC in the case of the CW964; its stable mate the CW960 is mains-powered).

The camera supports RS485 control protocols, via its built-in data port or, in the case of our setup, sent down the video cable. Anti-drop wires secure the camera and dome cover and the top support mounting bracket with its multi-way connector employs a simple bayonet type fixing system for rapid installation and removal.

It's an all-weather design, rated to IP66 standards. All joints are sealed and weatherproofed by rubber gaskets, including the transparent dome cover. Two built in cooling fans and a set of heating elements means it can operate in a wide range of temperatures, from -40 to +50 degrees centigrade.

Setup and operation

The camera's PIN code protected on-screen setup menu is accessible from the controller and the opening page contains eight options, each leading to a series of sub-menus.

At the top of the list is 'Camera' and this includes the setup for the camera's on-screen ident, ALC control (Super D3 switching, masking and level adjustment), electronic shutter (off, auto manual 1/120 to 1/10000th sec in 8 steps), AGC (off, low, mid or high), Sensitivity up (x 2, x4, x6, x10, x16, x32, auto), Synchronisation (internal or line-lock), White balance (auto-tracing or push-set), Dynamic Noise Reduction (high or low), Resolution (normal/high), B/W mode (on/off/auto, level, duration), Autofocus mode (auto /manual), Zoom limit (x1 to x300 in 40 steps) and image stabiliser (on/off).

The next item on the main menu is Pan/Tilt Setup and this leads to two pages of sub menus with options to define Preset and Home positions, enable Self Return, select Autopan mode, set a Patrol, define Privacy Zones, Image Hold and Digital Flip enable, switch proportional Pan/Tilt on or off, define Area Titles, limit Tilt Angle and engage Self Cleaning. The latter gives the slip rings a quick wipe over once a week to ensure noise-free video, data and power connections.

Panasonic's WV-CW960 dome camera is a cut above the average…

Menu three is concerned with Alarm setup. The first of the three sub menus is for Motion Detection configuration (variable sensitivity, dwell and recovery times and an 8 x 6 'target ' grid). Incidentally, two Motion Detection modes are available; Mode 1 responds to movement, Mode 2 is triggered by any attempt to tamper with the camera, by spray-painting or obscuring the lens. Sub menu 2 deals with enabling or disabling the alarm when the camera is on the move, between preset positions, and configuring the camera's four alarm input and output connections.

The fourth menu is entitled 'Special'. This usually means the odds and sods or settings that do not fit easily into the other categories but it seems to us that Chroma Gain, AP Gain and Pedestal adjustments wouldn't have looked out of place on the Camera menu. The remaining items are for positioning on-screen displays, compensating for faulty pixels, resetting factory defaults and displaying the camera's serial number. The last few items on the main menu cover Scene Selection, Language setting (English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Russian, Chinese & Japanese), Quick Setup menu and Password Lock.

Navigating around the menus using a set of cursor buttons on the control unit is reasonably fast and intuitive, which is how it should be from a company with so much experience in these matters. The on-screen menu displays are a good size and in spite of there only being one text colour (white) it remains clear and legible, even against bright backgrounds. Panasonic are also past masters in the art of instruction manual writing and this one is no exception; it's in more or less proper English (which always helps...), it's comprehensive, well laid out with lots of illustrations and reasonably accessible.

Performance

Straight away it's obvious that the CW960 is a cut above the average. Image quality is outstanding, fine details and textures are crisply rendered, giving the picture a real sense of depth. In good light colours are sharp and natural looking and the various processing and exposure systems work hard to deliver a vibrant, well balanced image across a very wide range of lighting conditions.

The 30x optical zoom is a major bonus and whilst we're no great fans of digital zooms, because image quality is so good, the inevitable degradation when it kicks in becomes less significant and it's still producing a useable image at more than x100 magnification. There are some internal reflections coming from the dome cover but they are no worse than most rival designs and only really become noticeable when the dome is struck by direct or reflected sunlight.

In most conditions the autofocus is fast, responsive and generally very reliable; it only starts to struggle in very low light or where there's little or no contrast between the subject and background, at which point it is necessary to control it manually as the AF system has a tendency to 'hunt' when it looses lock.

As light levels fall the exposure systems have no trouble keeping up; there is a small but steady increase in noise and grain but it is always well controlled and never becomes intrusive, even around the day/night switchover point. The auto white balance system is largely unfazed by tube lighting or tricky mixed lighting situations.

Advanced features like auto-tracking work quite well and have a lot of potential, though it's not an exact science and in the real world would have to contend with an almost infinite range of variables, from the size and contrast of the subject to lighting conditions and speed of movement, so it may be unwise to base any purchasing decisions on this facility without doing some research.

On the other hand the basics – Pan Tilt & Zoom, preset positioning, patrol, auto pan etc – are fast and work extremely well, thanks in no small part to the super-smooth mechanics. In this respect it's a real Jack-of-all-trades (and master of pretty well all of them) with the ability to precisely zoom in on a small distant object or follow a fast moving subject.

Mechanical stability is excellent and neither the image nor PTZ control faltered when the camera was subjected to a sound beating from the SI rubber mallet.

What the manufacturer says ...

At the forefront of surveillance technology, Panasonic's WV-CW960 integrates weatherproof housing, a 360 degree high-speed pan and tilt base, and a 30x optical zoom lens, to bring surveillance footage to life.

Featuring the pioneering Super Dynamic III technology, the WV-CW960 has overcome the age old problem of conflicting and contrasting lighting conditions by comprising a number of high-performance features such as the pixel based 160x Dynamic Range, to ensure unprecedented image realism is achieved at all times.

The WV-CW960 incorporates an Auto Image Stabiliser, to prevent blurring from high winds or from vibration; Scene Change Detection, to identify and raise awareness of interference or sabotage of the unit; and an Auto Tracking function that prompts the camera to automatically follow the largest movement in the image, panning and tilting to keep the subject central in the surveillance image. This makes the WV-CW960 the first and only camera to have all these three features built in as standard.

A key feature of the WV-CW960 is its defiance against tricky weather conditions. Rain resistant, the camera can be installed under eaves, on external walls or rooftops, and in other outdoor locations. A built-in sun shield is also featured to ensure it can cope equally well in sunny conditions, permitting camera locations which are in direct sunlight. Also equipped for temperature changes, the housing's built-in fan and heater allow an operating temperature range of -40c to +50c.

Alongside the host of reliable, practical features, the WV-CW960 also guarantees continuous, 24 hour surveillance. When darkness falls, the camera automatically switches to B/W mode and in daylight, it automatically switches back to colour mode.