Velleman HOMEGUARD VCC2 User manual

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VCC2 – HOMEGUARD 4-PORT DIGITAL SURVEILLANCE SYSTEM
1. Introduction
To all residents of the European Union
Important environmental information about this product
This symbol on the device or the package indicates that disposal of the device after its lifecycle could harm the
environment.
Do not dispose of the unit (or batteries) as unsorted municipal waste; it should be taken to a specialised company
for recycling.
This device should be returned to your distributor or to a local recycling service.
Respect the local environmental rules.
If in doubt, contact your local waste disposal authorities.
Thank you for buying the VCC2 4-port digital surveillance system. You can now protect your home with the
powerful PCI surveillance capture card. The device supports real time display monitoring and
simultaneous recording for up to 4 security cameras. Powerful security functions includes motion
detection recording, remote internet monitoring access and a video file database management system.
You can protect your home and family through the internet wherever you are.
Make sure the device was not damaged in transit. If the device is damaged, you should contact your dealer and
refrain from using it. Also check the contents: PCI board, manual, software CD.
a. Features
•simultaneous recording / display of pictures of up to 4 cameras
•Display capability
One screen/quad screen/sequence display mode support
Full screen display support
Camera ID, date/time status OSD window display
•Recording capability
Instant/scheduled/alarm/pre-alarm recording
Pre-Alarm recording to record before alarm event has happened
Adjustable recording frame rate
Linear or circular(overwrite) mode support
Multiple camera independent recording
Time stamp support
Camera ID, start date/time logged into database
Audio recording support by sound card or HomeGuard
Selectable recording drive
•Motion detection
Sensitivity setting
Detection interval setting
Recording time extension setting
Detection area setting
•Playback capability
Powerful video search engine: it can be searched by time mode,
date mode, event mode, camera ID and so on.
Scroll bar to search the footage
Absolute date/time and length display

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Playback speed control
Rewind/Replay control
Snapshot support during playback
Print support for image capture
Zoom function
•Security management: password protection in program start up, configuration setting and program
off. Allows user to enter this program by offering different passwords with different authorisation
levels.
•Remote monitoring support
b. Specifications
Resolution: 640 x 480
Display frame rate: up to 30fps (NTSC), 25fps (PAL)
Recording mode: up to 30fps (NTSC), 25fps (PAL)
Recording mode - super mode: 640 x 480 (NTSC/PAL)
- high mode : 384 x 288 (PAL), 320 x 244 (NTSC)
- low mode : 192 x 1244 (PAL), 160 x 120 (NTSC)
Analogue video: 4 analogue video input BNC ports
Video system: NTSC, PAL multi system support
Recording file size: 400MB per day, based on low mode and 1fps
Remote streaming video file format: MPEG4
Compression type: MJPEG
c. Minimum system requirements
Pentium III 800 or higher, 128MB of RAM or above, Microsoft Windows 98SE/2000/ME/XP, one PC2.1
bus slot. CD-ROM drive, sound card (option for audio capture).
2. Installation
a. Hardware Installation
1) Shut down your computer before you plug in the VCC2.
2) Open the computer case.
3) Plug the VCC2 in a free PCI slot.
4) Connect an external camera video source.
5) If needed, connect a microphone.

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b. Driver Installation
1) Please make sure the VCC2 is already plugged into the computer.
2) Turn on the computer.
3) The system automatically detects the new hardware (Multimedia Video Controller). Please choose
"Install from a list or specific location (Advanced)" and click "Next".
4) a) Please choose "Search for the best driver in these locations".
b) Please choose "Include this location in the search".
c) Insert the "Multimedia Installation Kit" CD-ROM into your CD-ROM drive.
d) Type "E:\ Homeguard\Driver\win2k_XP" if you are using Win2k or XP.
Type "E:\ Homeguard\Driver\win98_ME" if you are using Win98 or ME.
(assuming CD-Rom drive is Edrive), click "next".
5) a) When Windows XP shows a message about this software not being Windows certified just click
"Continue Anyway" (HomeGuard has been thoroughly tested by engineers, and it will not cause
any harm to your system).
6) Complete the video capture driver installation by clicking "Finish".
7) The system automatically detects new hardware (Multimedia Controller). Please choose "Install
from a list or specific location (advanced)" and click "next".
8) a) Please choose "Search for the best driver in these locations".
b) Please choose "Include this location in the search".
c) Type: "E:\HomeGuard\Driver\win2k_XP" if you are using Win2k or XP.
Type: "E:\ Homeguard\Driver\win98_ME" if you are using Win98 or ME.
(assuming CD-Rom drive is Edrive), click "next".
9) When Windows XP shows a message about this software not being Windows certified just click
"Continue Anyway".
10) Complete the audio capture driver installation by clicking "Finish".
c. Application Software Installation
1) Please insert "Multimedia Installation Kit" CD-ROM into your CD-ROM drive, run "E:\
Homeguard\AP software\setup.exe"; (assuming CD-Rom drive is Edrive), click "next".
2) Welcome, click "next".
3) Information, click "next".
4) Select component;
NTSC: please choose "Pico2000_104 (NTSC Application)".
PAL: please choose "Pico2000_104 (PAL Application)".
Click "next".
5) The options key information, click "next".
6) Choose destination location, click "next".
7) RegSvr32, click "OK".
8) RegSvr32, click "OK".
9) RebootDialog, click "OK" to restart the system.
10)After having restarted the system, please run "E:\HomeGuard\AP software\English Pack.exe".

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3. Operation
a. Starting
1) Please click the "Pico2000" icon, after having started the application, you will see the main screen.
2) Please click "Logon", the logon screen will be shown, please click "OK" (password is not required in
the first start up).
3) All active functions are shown.
b. Display
A display panel is provided in the upper right hand corner of the main screen so that the user can
interact with the unit more easily. The 'DISPLAY' panel consists of 'display mode' buttons, 'camera'
buttons and a 'sequence' button (see figure below).
All of the push buttons have their individual built-in indicator lights. When a button is pressed, it is on,
when you press it again it is turned off. The indicator light will light up or go out accordingly.
Tip: You can see which camera(s) is /are being displayed by looking at the "DISPLAY" panel indicator
lights. You can also press these buttons to start displaying that particular camera immediately.
Tip: no camera button can be selected prior to the mode selection. The user should click on one of the
display mode buttons first.
1) 1-Screen Mode
•Click the 1-screen mode button on the display control panel to select this mode.
•Only one camera can be selected for display.
•Click the camera button to select the desired camera to display in this mode.
•The button you have clicked will turn yellow.
2) 4-Screen Mode
•Click the 4-screen mode button on the display control panel to select this mode.
•Four cameras can be selected for simultaneous display.
•Click the camera buttons to select the desired camera(s) to display in this mode.
•The buttons you have clicked will turn yellow to indicate that the camera(s) is/are displaying.
Rapid Zoom: You can jump to the 1-screen display mode immediately. Simply double-click on the desired
image on the screen and this image will be shown in "1-screen mode" immediately.
Press a camera button in order to
display the images of that
particular camera. The yellow
light indicates that the camera is
displaying.

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3) Full Screen Mode
•Click on the "Full Scrn" button in the lower right hand side corner of the main screen to display the
recorded image(s) in full screen.
•All the control panels and the buttons will be hidden and only the recorded image(s) will be shown in
the screen in order to make full use of the displaying area of the monitor.
•Right-mouse click on any part of the image to return to the normal control panel display.
4) Sequence
•Click the "SEQ" button on the display control panel set the sequence function to ON or OFF.
•The button will turn yellow to indicate that the sequence function is selected.
•The sequence function applies to all display modes, except for the 16-screen mode.
•The user can select individual camera(s) for sequencing display.
Note: When the unit is in sequence mode, all the camera selection buttons on the display panel will be
blocked. You can click the "SEQ" button to turn it off to regain manual access of the camera
selection.
c. Motion Detection
An advanced digital video-processing algorithm is used to implement the motion detection function in
the DSR.
The motion detection function is designed to automatically detect any activities within a selected
detection area(s), and to start recording of that camera when activity is detected inside the detection
area(s).
Right-click the mouse button on the video screen of the camera you want to set
motion detection.
A “Motion detection setting” dialog box will pop up for motion detection setting.
1) Setting the Detection Area
Simply click on any spot to select/de-select the grid(s) to form detection area(s) of
any shape in the video screen for motion detection. The 'Select all' button is used
to rapidly select the whole video screen for detection. The 'Clear all' button is used
to de-select all selected areas.
2) Indicating the Detection Area
If you want the detection area to be shown on the video screen during normal
operation, click the 'Show at all times' button.
If you don't want the detection area to be shown in the video screen during normal
operation, click the 'Not show' button.

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3) Setting the Motion Detection Sensitivity
Click the 'Sensitivity Setup' button to display the 'Activity Blocks' to set the sensitivity. The 'Activity
Blocks' will superimpose on the moving object to highlight the activities on the video screen. You can
adjust the sensitivity by using the sensitivity control box. Click the up button to increase the sensitivity
and click the down button to decrease the detection sensitivity.
The sensitivity value displayed in the control box, is an arbitrary value, indicating the relative detection
sensitivity. Adjust the sensitivity by monitoring the 'activity blocks' on the screen to make sure that the
sensitivity is optimally adjusted for motion detection and without false alarm. The user can use the
'Show within detection area' button to confine the 'activity blocks' to the selected detection areas.
4) Setting the Detection Interval
The occurrence of motion is the detected by correlating the successive video frames. In the "Detection
Interval" control box you can adjust the detection interval between these successive frames. The
detection interval is set in units of 100mS. The default value is at 200mS.
5) Recording Time Extension
The motion detected in the detection area(s) will be used as an event to trigger the alarm recording of
the corresponding camera. Once the recording has started, it will continue recording even after the
motion has stopped (= recording time extension).
This extension time can be adjusted by using the 'Post motion rec.' control box. The time interval is
indicated in seconds and is shown in the control box. The default value is 3 seconds.
6) Enabling the Motion Detection Function
Click the 'Motion Detection Enable' box to enable the motion detection function once you have set all the
parameters. (User can temporarily disable the motion detection by unchecking the 'Motion detection
enable' box. All settings of the motion detection will stay unchanged, which makes it easier for the user
to re-enable the motion detection afterwards). Click the 'Close' button; the corresponding camera button
in the display panel will light up with a yellow grid to indicate that the motion detection function has been
enabled. The detection area will be shown in the video screen if the 'Show at all times' button is
clicked.
Yellow grid i
ndicates that
the motion detection is
enabled.

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Tips:
-Use motion detection recording instead of using scheduled recording in order to use the
recorder storage space efficiently.
-Think of using the motion detection in a low activity area and let the DSR (Digital Surveillance
Recorder) monitor the area for you.
-If you use motion detection you will be able to find useful footage more easily through the
search engine.
-Set up the motion detection correctly to prevent too many false alarms from occurring.
-Think of using the alarm scheduler to arm the motion detection so that it can start e.g. after
office hours.
7) Alarm Status Indication
- The status indicators in the "Display" control
buttons are for motion detection status
indication.
- The indicator will light up if the motion detection
is enabled.
- There are three possible alarm settings: no
alarm, alarm set but out of scheduled time and
alarm armed.
- Grey indicator colour: no alarm is set.
- Red indicator colour: motion detection is armed,
the alarm recording can be triggered at any
time.
- Blue indicator colour: motion detection is set but the alarm recording can only be triggered during the
scheduled time period.
d. Recording
STORAGE DRIVE
'Normal' mode of operation: automatically detects available fixed hard disk(s) in the unit for recording.
'Archive' mode of operation: directly records onto the active removable hard disk in the unit.
Notes: The active (selected) drive should be properly assigned before the overall backup and restore
operation is executed. Assign the target drive inside the 'Insert drive' message box by clicking the
'Swap Drive' button while the system is operated in 'Archive' backup mode. Go to 'Option Setting' for
further details.
RECORDING TYPES
Four different recording types are available: Instant recording/scheduled recording/alarm
recording/pre-alarm recording.
MULTIPLE CAMERA RECORDING
All cameras can record independently. Each camera will record into individual
video files. The camera-ID, start date/time and the recording mode of the
individual camera will be logged through database management.
Alarm armed
(red)

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RECORDER CONTROL PANEL
There is a "RECORDER" control panel with 4 camera buttons which can be set on and off. Each
button has a different colour to indicate the different recording types and status. The available
indicator colours are red, light blue, yellow and green.
Only one recording type is available to each camera at one time and its priority is as follows:
RED: Alarm recording, initiated by alarm input or motion detection.
LIGHT BLUE: Indicates the pre-alarm function of that camera.
YELLOW: Instant recording, which is initiated by clicking the camera button on the recorder panel
manually.
GREEN: Scheduled recording, which is controlled and started by the programmable timer.
1) Instant Recording
Instant recording is the most interactive way and an easy to use recording method.
-It is designed to start recording instantly to capture some unexpected special events.
-It works complementary to scheduled recording.
-You can simply switch the video recording on or off by clicking the camera button on the
"RECORDER PANEL".
-The button you have clicked will turn yellow as an indication that this particular camera is under
instant recording.
-The instant recording parameters of each camera can be programmed (please see 'Instant
Recording Setting' for parameter setup.)
Note: The instant recording video will be chopped into files of 15 minutes in order to keep the files at an
accessible size.
Tip Instant recording can be used to work at a fast frame rate for a short recording time while
scheduled recording uses a lower frame rate for a longer period of time.
Click on any camera button to start instant
recording of that camera.
Click this button to start instant recording of all
cameras. Click it again to stop recording.

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2) Scheduled Recording
-A programmable timer is used for scheduled recording.
-The DSR supports both weekday and weekend scheduled recording.
-The timer will start and stop scheduled recording according to your input.
-A green indicator shows that the camera is recording under timer control.
-The default recording duration is 0, which represents infinity or continuous recording.
- During scheduled recording, you can manually override and start the instant recording mode by
pressing the camera button on the 'RECORDER PANEL' and the light will turn yellow to indicate that
the camera is in instant recording mode.
- However, it will automatically resume scheduled recording once you click the camera button to turn
off that camera. The indicator will turn green again.
- Please see 'Scheduled Recording Setting' for the setup and an example of scheduled recording.
Note: Only by using the logon username 'SUPER' can you gain access to the configuration settings for
scheduled recording.
Note: The instant recording video will be chopped into files of 15 minutes in order to keep the files at an
accessible size.
3) Alarm Recording
- Alarm Recording will be triggered by motion detection.
- Once the alarm is triggered by the motion detection, the corresponding camera will start recording
automatically.
- A red light indicates that the camera is now in alarm recording mode.
- The alarm recording function of an individual camera can be disabled. The alarm recording duration
and the frame rate of each camera can be programmed individually.
- Please see 'Alarm Recording Setting' for setup details.
Note: Only by using the logon username 'SUPER', can you gain access to the configuration settings for
scheduled recording.
4) Pre-Alarm Recording
- Pre-alarm recording works together with alarm recording, which enables you to capture images
before the alarm event has happened.
- Pre-alarm allows images to be temporarily recorded for a short period of time (1 to 60 seconds) in
normal conditions. Once an alarm has been triggered, the pre-alarm images become permanent
files which can be retrieved and played back with the 'Play Back' function.
- The pre-alarm function is set in 'Alarm', 'Recorder Setting' in the 'Utility' menu.
- You can activate the pre-alarm function if the alarm function is selected.
- Please see 'Alarm Recording Setting' for setup details.
5) Scheduled Alarm and Motion Detection
A programmable timer is implemented for scheduled alarm and motion detection.
Please see 'Alarm Recording Setting' for setup details.

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6) Recording Audio
HomeGuard has an audio function to record audio trough one of the cameras. Click Utility > Option
Setting > Audio Setting in the main screen.
The user can install a microphone through the computer's sound card (MIC in) or the HomeGuard board
(MIC in). To set the audio recording function, go to Utility > Option Setting > Audio Setting and choose
how the camera's audio is connected to the PC (computer's sound card or Homeguard board).
Before you can activate this function, make sure the sound board is installed and properly configured so
that the microphone can record sound.
Each card provides one audio channel that can be attached to any selected camera(s) for recording.
7) Archive Mode
Click Utility > Option Setting > Backup in the main screen. There are two different configurations for
recording and making backups of the videos.
Normal Mode: It will record the video onto the fixed hard drive (S). If required, you can backup the
recorded video onto a removable IDE drive through the housekeeping function in the Utility menu. The
raw copy of the video can be deleted during the backup process.
Archive Mode: It will record the video onto the assigned removable IDE hard drive(s). When it is about
full, it can be removed from the recorder for additional archiving to DAT or other backup media.
The Digital Surveillance Recorder will maintain continuous recording onto an alternate removable drive
during the archiving operation.
When the videos on a removable drive are obsolete, they can be immediately erased before recording
is resumed on this drive.
The recording configuration of the DSR should be selected at the very beginning of overall system
operation. The normal mode is set by default. To switch to the archive mode, go to the 'Backup
Function' in the 'Option Settings' menu. You will need to have two removable configured IDE hard drives
to support his mode.