| The Japanese multi-industry giant is conducting a massive advertising campaign for cars. Security equipment, manufactured under the Mitsubishi Electric brand, does not need such active promotion on the consumer market: professional equipment is a more conservative, although no less dynamic sphere. The new line of video recorders, perhaps, does not contain loud innovations, despite the fact that hundreds of original patented technologies are used in the design. Everything new is associated with a certain amount of technical risk. In the security business, there are enough operational risks, and therefore the “hardware” should simply and honestly stand at its post. Doing what it is ordered.
No matter how much industry experts predict the imminent demise of hardware video recorders, it is still too early to talk about their write-off. NVRs have not yet been able to justify the hopes of the professional community, and the introduction of PC-based video recording systems is successfully slowed down by the remarkable qualities of the Most Common OS. Network cameras are unfurling their banners, but their victorious march is far away: there has not yet been a decisive market battle. Hardware DVRs are also quite consistent with the typical business ideology: “a specific employee must be responsible for everything.”
Each specific model of video recorder is based on the experience, approach to business and ideology of the manufacturer. Recently, two polar opposite groups have emerged among the mass of video recording devices present on the market. Let's call them “consumer goods” and “high end”. For reasons of political correctness, we will not give examples, given that our smart reader is used to putting everything on the shelves on his own.
Consumer goods
The case has a very whimsical design, not necessarily well thought out, but visually attractive. Ergonomics are rated in the range from “okay” to “horrible”. The software is half-unfinished and crashes under serious loads. The firmware is updated at intervals from several months to several days. These updates, however, have varying success, and therefore security systems that rely on mass-market DVRs spend a considerable percentage of their precious working time in a state of maintenance. In other words, they are taken out of service. Such products are usually manufactured in pursuit of volumes, and their deliveries are calculated in wagons. This is the lower layer of the market for technical security equipment. Undemanding customers are still safer to invest in a consumer-grade recorder than to have no video recording equipment at all. This approach (from the manufacturer's point of view) has additional advantages. For example, the efficiency of changing the model range (order blue cases instead of green ones), the ability to regulate prices within fairly wide limits and close connection of the consumer to the company's technical support. For little money, the consumer, however, bears some additional risks: in addition to the likelihood of failure of individual devices and a drop in the overall combat readiness of the security system, there is also the burden of constant resource costs for communication with technical support.
High end
It differs from “consumer goods” as much as a seasoned engineer with experience differs from a senior student working part-time for a crust of bread. A typical “top-end” DVR is a relatively flat box of a somewhat gloomy appearance with a very small number of controls. Heavy, durable, most often with one-time “upload” software. Characteristics related to the quality of the video image are not even discussed. A lot of effort and money has been invested in ensuring technical reliability. The hardware is thoroughly and long tested: as a rule, with the final version of the firmware. The components of the hard drives are a small-scale special order from a famous manufacturer, the firmware of the controllers is kept secret. In terms of pricing, it is a complete analogue of high-end audio equipment. The entry-level model of such a DVR costs several tens of thousands of euros. Those who cannot afford such a purchase, scold the brand behind its back, but pronounce the name with bated breath. Typical advantages of high-end devices are really high technical characteristics, proven reliability and significant savings of the user's resources on maintenance procedures. There are also disadvantages – insufficient mobility of the model range, relatively rare updates of the lines, lack of the latest “bells and whistles”.
DVR for every day
Between “consumer goods” and “high end” is the space occupied by devices that are optimized to varying degrees in price and quality. That is, real “workhorses”, DVRs for every day. If we try to position the new line of Mitsubishi Electric video recorders in this scheme, we will get a herd of good “workhorses”, supporting the level of performance of the industry high end and significantly inferior to it in price. In terms of status, it is an analogue of Hi-Fi in the field of audio equipment. High fidelity and reliability for reasonable money are the key to mass use and a good reputation. The scheme is calculated perfectly: to reduce the risk of failures without raising the price.
In the Russian market, Mitsubishi Electric offers its customers the option of supplying a number of DVR models without hard drives. It should be noted that this somewhat reduces the fault tolerance of the products. Installing “native” hard drives with modified controllers in video recorders is a more expensive pleasure. And in domestic conditions, situations often occur when it is more profitable to purchase HDDs as consumables at the nearest computer components store than to invest in even “correct” but more expensive drives. More profitable – first of all from the point of view of those who make the decision to purchase. In this case, it is necessary to take into account the importance of the object for the protection of which the DVR is purchased. The technical documentation provides a list of HDD models recommended for installation. Going beyond its limits is technically possible, but undesirable. For the same reasons that the Chinese brake hose for the “Zhiguli” is inappropriate in the L200: due to the dubious component, the reliability of the entire product is reduced. In addition, the manufacturer spent a lot of working hours of test laboratories to maintain the list in working order – and these costs are, in principle, included in the price of the device.
…and check again
Testing is one of Mitsubishi Electric's “hobbies”. The testing methods for prototypes and production DVRs developed in the company's research centers include not only the traditional set of tests for temperature stability, failure-free running time, and impact resistance. More specific tests are also carried out – for example, for resistance to strong electromagnetic fields. Why? At today's level of technological development, the emergence of portable, highly focused microwave emitters is quite likely. To exclude the successful use of electromagnetic radiation to deliberately disable security equipment, the products must be appropriately protected.
The company works very closely with a number of vertical markets – on a global scale, focusing on certain niches has become the industry norm. Mitsubishi Electric brand video recorders are widely used in retail and construction enterprises, in transport and in educational institutions. And the banking sector dominates in sales: ATM networks are ideally suited to the company's technical and marketing policy. Increased reliability of equipment and software, as well as the ability to combine large quantities of DVRs into systems play a key role in creating an attractive product image. The next factor is price: due to relatively large production volumes, selling prices for products can be kept low.
DVR certification also deserves special mention. Depending on the purpose of specific models, video recorders must meet certain requirements. Some types of certification (Russian GOST, British Kalagate) are determined by the specifics of national regulatory legislation. Industry standards are also taken into account: the UVV-Kassen certificate is issued for compliance with German safety regulations for banks. The fact of passing tests and confirming compliance with certain technical standards is not just evidence of the formal suitability of Mitsubishi Electric products for certain applications. For example, independent certification from the British Image Interpretation Bureau Kalagate confirms the possibility of using images recorded by Mitsubishi Electric video recorders as evidence in criminal and civil courts in the United Kingdom. But it is also evidence that the quality of the “picture” of the device is high enough, and the means of protection against unauthorized access are powerful enough to exclude intentional interference with video data for the purpose of changing them.
All about science
The editors were unable to obtain figures or even percentages of Mitsubishi Electric's R&D expenditures, which they requested from the head office. The cautious Japanese politely responded to a number of our questions: “Cannot disclose the figure”. Having turned to the information posted on the corporate portal, we discovered a truly global scale of research and development operations – divisions are located in Japan, France, Great Britain, and the USA. A special center in Kamakura (Japan) is engaged in the design of physical devices and interfaces.
In the conditions of a multi-industry corporation, maintaining its own R&D departments is apparently quite profitable. By unifying procedures, for example, assessing the ergonomic characteristics of prototype solutions, significant resource savings are possible. And scientifically based corporate requirements for quality, reliability and productivity exceed the most stringent industry standards of those sectors that Mitsubishi Electric product lines are aimed at. Ensuring a reserve for key indicators is much more profitable than in each specific case reworking ready-made technological solutions in order to “jump” to certain parameter values.
The reputation of a Hi-Fi video surveillance manufacturer obliges us to do a lot. Avoiding sometimes unnecessary image “bells and whistles” typical of “high end” companies, Mitsubishi Electric carefully monitors the functioning of the product it produces and maintains feedback with the global user community. The goal is to constantly update the existing model range by improving existing products and creating new ones that are even more user-friendly and adequate to customer needs. Mitsubishi Electric was one of the first to respond to the offer to participate in a partnership project with the Security News newspaper. Since November this year, video recorders of the latest line have been sent to independent public testing in the editorial laboratory. We are looking forward to the first results. And we hope that Mitsubishi, as always, will be on top.
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