30 April 2020

New high-mount outdoor intrusion sensors being launched in EMEA

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Successfully launched in France in January, our new sleek outdoor detector QX Infinity series is now being rolled out to the wider EMEA region. QXI is a family of compact PIRs providing 12m detection area, up to 120° in width. A particular benefit of the new series is that the sensors are specifically designed to be installed at heights of up to 2.7m, discreetly fitting into any residential or commercial buildings while keeping safe out of the reach from vandals.

Our core philosophy is to detect intrusion before individuals break into the property or building. Early warning and detection is the best way to prevent crime and the new QX Infinity series complements our extensive choice of short-range outdoor PIRs by bringing four volumetric high-mount wide angle detectors:

Wired models

- QXI-ST 120°, 12m, wired, standard
- QXI-DT 120°, 12m, wired, dual-technology, with an anti-blocking feature to detect intruders attempting to deliberately mask the detector

Battery-operated (wireless) models

- QXI-R 120°, 12m, wireless, standard
- QXI-RDT 120°, 12m, wireless, dual-technology

All models are equipped with Quad technology and double layered detection so will only be triggered when both layers are activated, eliminating the detection of small animals. It can also be installed as a low mount PIR detector to create a ‘pet alley’ and further reduce the likelihood of nuisance alarms generated by animals. The QXI series features improved Super Multi-Dimensional Analysis (SMDA) logic so the alarm will not be triggered by changes of weather or vegetation sways, and Double Conductive Shielding which filters out visible light and RFI disturbance.

Installing the sensor has been made simple with an easy to open/close front cover. Other features include an Automatic Walk Test Mode, which automatically starts when the cover is closed and returns to normal mode after three minutes. For extra convenience, power to the wireless models can be shared through a common battery (CR123A) to the transmitter in the base of the device which can easily be swapped out/replaced when the need arises.

The QXI series is the ideal solution to protect the approach to warehouse and commercial buildings, driveways, houses and gardens. The sensors will trigger both intruder alarms and CCTV.


Using sensors to detect

Visual verification is becoming a ‘must’ throughout the security industry, with everyone steadily moving away from ‘blind’ intrusion alarm systems to ones that can be visually verified. While it is evident that cameras are essential to verify any alarm, the question is does it make the sensor redundant? Can the detection, lighting and visualisation be achieved by a single piece of equipment, and specifically the camera?

As much as camera technology and video algorithms have evolved, there is still both a risk and limitation in using a single technology to do everything. This is corroborated by leading cameras manufacturers investing in or acquiring sensor technologies as they understand the value of using a variety of technologies.

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Detection in difficult lighting conditions

One of the benefits of modern sensor-led detection installations is that they don’t need light to perform. The same cannot be said for cameras.

By definition, a video device cannot process what it doesn’t see. Low-light cameras and video analytics featuring additional background filters improves the performance of video capture but camera manufacturers themselves warn against the limitation of detecting motion in difficult lighting conditions. This ranges from badly illuminated corners or areas on the scene, flashing/flickering lights, headlights, moving shadows etc all of which impact camera performance.

In an outdoor environment where lighting conditions are constantly changing, using physical sensors being a PIR, Active infrared, LiDAR, Radar or fibre optics device, will considerably reduce the risk of a false alarm or missed detection.

Detection speed

In simple terms, the more a device has to multitask the more time it takes to process a response. A camera has first to process a number of frames and pixels to be able to analyse the scene, filtering information, recognising and identifying shapes and their movement, all of which takes time.

Even with modern processors, the whole video image processing affects the speed and reliability of detection and some detection can be missed. For many customers, missing an event is considerably more dangerous than a nuisance alarm. The ideal scenario is to have no missed detection and no nuisance alarms.

Our sensors are using algorithms to process data and eliminate noise but without using any predictive elements which are sometimes used in cameras to reduce the processing time. This eliminates the risks associated with guess work and improves reliability.

Detection range

Detection range is a key element of system design as it determines the different alarm zones from pre-warning to critical. What is important is to make sure that the detection ranges are consistent throughout the day and weather conditions and that ability to detect is also consistent throughout the range.

If a detection range has been specified at 30m for instance, it is critical that detection is as accurate at 30m as it is at 2m or 15m.

Video devices will use depth of field and define how many pixels an object has within the ranged defined. In the last ten years, significant progress has been made on that front and higher-end cameras have the ability to be configured for variable object size depending on the distance. Mid- to low-range cameras usually don’t have this feature, and therefore don’t capture motion with accuracy at longer ranges. The depth of field can also be shortened by decreasing light intensity, cameras might not see as far at dusk as during daytime.

Our sensors are designed to capture motion consistently throughout the detection range

Benefits of sensor-led visual verification

The residential and light commercial markets are typically using mid- to low-range cameras, which will be more likely to trigger false alarms, especially if used in an outdoor environment. By adding a reliable outdoor sensor as a trigger to the camera, the level of nuisance alarms will drop dramatically.

It is a real opportunity with a very reasonable budget to improve the reliability of intrusion detection for that sector and also give the option to extend it to the outside of the building.

For commercial and higher security sites, not missing alarms is crucial, as well as keeping nuisance alarms as low as possible. Avoiding single points of failure and disruption caused by constantly having to reconfigure the systems to adapt to changing environments are also important factors that need to be assessed.

Using high-accuracy sensors together with good quality cameras managed by a high-performance video management system will give the best of breed to the end-users.

In the last few years we have worked in close cooperation with video manufacturers and we have seen the true value of bringing the two technologies together. It is now time that installers realised the benefits that such cooperation can bring to their business and their customers.


Tech tip: Accommodating pets with indoor intrusion sensors

Many pet-owners are reluctant to switch their intruder alarm system on as they fear their pet will trigger the sensors. The definition of a pet can be very broad and even if for the purpose of this article, we are focussing on cats and dogs, their size and weight can vary considerably making the notion of pet tolerance not an exact science.

We will, however, mention a few elements and factors to consider when installing an indoor intrusion alarm system in a property with pets.

  • Number and size of pets
  • Area in the property where the pets can move freely
  • Use of technology

Number and size of pets

The size / weight of the pet and the number of them will affect the risk of setting the intruder alarm off. If you only have one pet of a relatively small size such as a cat or small to medium sized dog (a Cocker Spaniel for example), the likelihood of triggering an OPTEX pet-tolerant PIR sensor is very low.

If a group of several pets or a larger dog (such as a Labrador) is moving within the detection area, the motion sensor is more likely to trigger.

Careful planning

It is important for the installer or homeowner to define which rooms or areas the pets will have access to while the alarm system is armed. Are the animals moving freely in all the rooms or could the area be restricted to one or two rooms: such as lounge and kitchen for instance? Restricting the area makes it easier to achieve a pet-tolerant alarm system without compromising the overall security level.

To give an example, if the pet has access to the kitchen and lounge, those two rooms can be considered as a separate zone on the alarm panel and the motion sensor in each room should be set at a lower sensitivity. The other sensors in the property can be set at a higher sensitivity level(the sensitivity setting should be adjusted not just for the presence of an animal but also for other environmental factors such as climate and overall room temperature.)

In the pet friendly area, we would recommend to position a sensor carefully upon considering the activity pattern of the animal. It is important that the detection area of the sensor covers well the potential intrusion points such as doorway, windows while the sensor itself is located well out of reach of the pet (for instance, not on the shelf where your cat loves to sit).

Use of technology

At OPTEX, we provide a number of indoor sensors which feature pet tolerance. Besides our more traditional sensors: the RX-40Qz and RX-40-PI, we can name our newer series

  • RXC: RXC-ST, DT, Grade 2 up to 12m
  • FMX: FMX-ST, DST and DT, Grade 2 up to 15m
  • CDX: CDX-AM, CDX-DAM, CDX-NAM Grade 3 up to 15m or 24m (NAM)

All three series feature Digital QUAD Zone Logic, a way to segment the lens and detection area into a number of focus blocks which define the threshold to generate the alarm. A minimum of four blocks needs to be covered by the moving object to trigger the alarm. Most pets will not be big enough to cover that many blocks given a sufficient distance.

Tech Tip Quad Logic Indoor Sensor web

As well as the QUAD Zone Logic, our RXC, FMX and CDX sensors offer three levels of sensitivity settings which allow to accommodate the pet friendly area.

A pet friendly alarm system is not only about using pet tolerant indoor sensors, it is also about having an overall plan for the property to secure and understand the pet’s behaviour.