Hybrid CCTV system from Bosch monitors CBS Studios
(01/10/2007)

Based in Studio City in California’s San Fernando Valley, CBS Studio Center is one of the foremost film and TV news and entertainment production facilities in the US. The facility comprises 18 sound stages and outdoor sets covering a total area of more than 16,000 square meters.

The area is monitored by a hybrid (analog/digital) CCTV system provided by Bosch Security Systems. It comprises more than 150 cameras of the AutoDome and Dinion types with associated encoding, decoding and video management systems. High-resolution video is streamed to Bosch’s VideoJet 8008 IP multi-channel encoders, which convert analog camera signals into digital format and transmit them across CBS Studio Center’s network.

PC workstations are used to control live viewing and playback of digital video. Bosch VIP XD IP decoders transmit video to a monitor wall in the facility’s command center comprising 12 Bosch analog monitors. Video is recorded with a centralized network video recorder (NVR), while the VideoJet 8008s’ internal hard disks can also record video in the field at the network’s edge.

This design ensures that video is not lost even if the network fails or there is downtime for scheduled maintenance. In this situation, security personnel can retrieve video recorded by the VideoJet 8008 encoders for viewing once the network is restored. The hybrid analog and digital IP solution enabled CBS Studio Center to use the existing analog cameras, while also benefiting from the portability and flexibility of an IP recording infrastructure.

The new system allows CBS Studio Center to easily add cameras. Network switches and VideoJet 8008 encoders are housed in 15 locations throughout the facility, allowing cabling for new cameras to be connected locally, instead of the entire distance to the command center. CBS Studio Center plans to install 15 additional cameras before the end of the year.