Empowering New Functionalities Through Evolving Firmware | Oncam

Dilen Thakrarby Dilen Thakrar, Product Manager

In today’s connected world, networked technologies and mobile devices are ubiquitous and critical to our work and personal lives. And we all know why, we rely on them to help us communicate, organize and manage our day. Think about your mobile phone: it’s used for all sorts of things, from scheduling and communicating to colleagues, to news and entertainment. Where would we be without these solutions?

As owners of technology, we must ensure that our products and services are functioning correctly to ensure a smooth and trouble-free user experience. Charging a device for example is one of the simplest forms of keeping a device working correctly but updating to the latest software version is also critical. Yes, those pesky little reminders are essential to the lifecycle and health of your device.

Any modern IP video surveillance camera is managed and controlled by a type of software known as ‘firmware’. Just like other types of software, it gets updated regularly. These updates can include bug fixes, security updates and the addition of new features that will improve performance. A firmware update can significantly enhance the functionality and features of your device. With the ever-changing advances in technology, firmware updates are an Important tool to extending and expanding the capabilities of your camera.

At Oncam, we want to help you extend the life of your technologies, and that’s why we are committed to making sure your Oncam cameras are not only working optimally today but that they are continuously updated to ensure the highest possible performance and functionality are achieved. Our latest C-Series platform is built with the future in mind, with room to grow and develop as your needs change. Combine that with a desire to continually improve and enhance our feature set, you have a product that will fulfill your needs today and tomorrow. A great example of this is our latest firmware update, which includes Multi-Mode to truly transform your C-Series camera. Building on our decades of expertise in panoramic imaging we envisaged turning the C-Series into so much more than a 360-degree camera, and thanks to advanced onboard “edge” dewarping, available with Multi-Mode, we achieved It.

Multi-Mode takes the already powerful and compact C-Series to the next level, making it the most advanced and flexible camera on the market. By updating the firmware on the C-Series, Multi-Mode makes C-Series even more versatile. A camera solution that can be tailored to your needs based on your own particular use case. It can be a 360-degree camera, or a panoramic one, or even both at the same time with the ability to show different views on different streams. It can also run one stream up to 55 fps or multiple streams simultaneously up to 30 fps and be installed inside or out.

Multi-Mode adds the flexibility and versatility mission-critical organizations require. It expands the use cases possible with 360-video technology (think retail marketing, VIP guest monitoring, and operational oversight.) Stakeholders are empowered to record everything that happens within a scene with 360-degree video coverage and at the same time easily configure alternate views tailored to specific needs. With Multi-Mode, users can stream four different perspectives at any given time, including Fisheye, Panoramic+, Corridor+, T-Corridor+, and V-Cam.

 

 

All this functionality and more is only possible because of our continued investment and desire into creating new functionality through firmware (and a little help from our friends at Qualcomm!) Now, you can experience unrivalled camera flexibility, all from one camera and just with a simple update.

In delivering these functionalities, we think about how you would interact with them, ensuring that development is driven by design, to create interfaces that are intuitive and easy to interact with. In this blog, my colleague Mike, our Design Manager, explains how this process worked.

Why is this all so important? Because needs evolve. Environments, security risks, and business needs change over time. The camera that might solve your needs today might not be the ideal solution for your business in six months. By continually updating our firmware offerings, we can ensure your investment in Oncam solutions can scale and adapt to your business’s changing requirements. Whether an operator requires a 360-degree camera, a panoramic camera, or both simultaneously, we’re dedicated to exceeding the expectations of 360-video today.

Learn more about Multi-Mode.