Product Review : Pelco SD4-W0

SD4-W0 by Pelco, the miniature version of the Spectra full dome security system, shares most of the features found in its bigger counterpart. Here is a review of most of its well-known features.

Appearance

Perhaps one of this product’s main selling points is its appearance. This indoor dome camera from one of the top security camera manufacturer is designed to perform its functions in a low profile manner. It is small in size 6.2 x 5.1" (157 x 130mm) and light in weight at just 1.8 lbs. It is sleek and simple and is available in 2 colors – white and black. For a more discreet monitoring, option for a smoked bubble casing is also available.

Pan Movement

A very useful feature in this PTZ camera system is its capability to continuously rotate at a 360 degree. It also has an automatic flip feature that allows it to rotate at 180 degrees. This enables viewing of a subject that passes directly under the dome camera. What this means is it can cover a wider area compared to other security cameras in the market.

Pan speed can also be adjusted depending on the monitoring needs. This feature is highly useful in stores wherein traffic or flow of people vary every day. Pan speed can also be adjusted in proportion to the zoom. For an image on zoom, it is just logical to use a fast pan speed when zoomed out to cover more area. Pan speed can be adjusted to as slow as .4 degree per second to as fast as 140 degree per second. 

Camera and Lens Features

It employs an image sensor size of ¼-inch interline CCD which is more than sufficient in providing quality digital output images. Its horizontal resolution-- 470 TV lines (NTSC) and 460 TV lines (PAL )--and effective pixels -- 768x494 (NTSC) and 752x582 (PAL)-- can be considered average compared to high resolution cameras.

The camera has no night vision features and requires a minimum illumination 3.0 lux. This means that it needs a very, very bright full moon multiplied 3x to be able to capture images. This is a fairly good deal since a family living room has 50 lux.

Total lens zoom function is average at 80 (10x optical zoom and 8x digital zoom). Lens has automatic with manual override focus and iris control.

Verdict

Overall, this surveillance dome camera is functional with a few extras. For its price range, it is a good deal and is definitely worth a shot.