Swann PRO-781 User manual

PRO-781 Dome

M781CAM190312E

English

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About the Camera

Congratulations on your purchase of this PRO-781 from Swann! You’ve chosen

well: we think this is one of the ﬁnest vari-focal CCTV video cameras available.

The adjustable lens and on-screen menu system make the PRO-781 ideal for

monitoring any kind of space in almost any lighting conditions... even no light at

all, as it can see up to 30m/100ft in complete darkness!

Our two cents: you’ve spent the money on a great camera. It’s worth spending a

bit of time making sure it’s set up right. This manual will take you through what

you need to do to get the camera delivering high quality images, and will let you

know a little about how you can tweak it further.

The Process: An Overview

1. Choose a spot for your camera. This will be inﬂuenced by what you need

to monitor, the places nearby which could support a camera, the lighting

conditions of the environment and so on.

2. Connect the camera to a monitor. We suggest connecting it directly to a

monitor during setup, and to your DVR (or other recording device) afterwards.

Having a monitor on hand in the same location as the camera is a real time

saver during setup.

3. Set the zoom. This will set the viewing angle of the lens, which determines

how much the camera can see (page 3).

4. Set the focus. This will allow you to choose which parts of what the camera

can see is in focus. In actuality, you’ll probably go back and forth between

steps 3 and 4 until you’re happy with the image (page 3).

5. Connect the camera to your DVR (or other recording/monitoring device) -

see page 4.

Choosing a Location

The PRO-781 is very ﬂexible, and can be installed practically anywhere. Some of

the things you’ll have to consider when choosing a location are:

• What you want to monitor, and where you’ll get the best view of it.

• How you’re going to connect the camera to your monitoring system.

• How to keep the camera out of harm’s way. Up high in protected corners is a

good option.

Rules is Rules

Regardless of all the tweaking of the lens and image processing you do, there are

a few immutable things that are true for all cameras, CCTV or otherwise.

• The closer the camera is to what you want to see, the more detail

you’re going to get. You can make some alteration by tweaking the zoom,

but there’s no substitute for proximity.

• Areas with varied lighting conditions are hard to view completely,

with any camera. If the bright bits are exposed correctly, then the shadows

will “black out”. If the shadowy areas are exposed correctly, then the bright

bits will overexpose and “white out”. Aiming the camera at an evenly lit area

will always give the best results.

• That “image enhancement” stuff that they do on CSI or 24 is all lies. You

can’t zoom in indeﬁnitely on a video image. Licence plates are only readable

from a few meters (a dozen or so feet) away. If someone’s head is represented

by three pixels, that’s it. Sorry. This is technology, not magic. This is a great

CCTV camera, but it’s still just a video camera - it can’t see that much better

than you can! Still, it does make for good television.

Adjusting Focus and Zoom

• To access the zoom and focus, remove the dome cover. To open the dome

cover, use the included star-key tool.

• Use a small ﬂat-blade screwdriver to turn the now exposed control rods. The

zoom is located on the top left, and focus on the lower right.

• Be sure to securely replace the dome cover after adjusting the positioning of

the camera, or the zoom and focus: otherwise the camera will no longer be

weather-proof.

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The zoom and focus controls are located on the interior of the dome, just above

the lens. You’ll need to remove the cover of the dome (using the included star-key

tool) to access them.

Important: When you change the zoom, you’ll also have to change the focus.

Why? Lenses are complicated, and all the bits are joined together. Changing the

zoom will also change the focus. In fact, it can sometimes feel like the controls are

reversed, so profound are their effect on one another.

ZOOM: The right hand dial

(when viewed from the

front, as shown to right)

controls the level of zoom.

You can vary the viewing

angle between 23° and 81°.

This is an approximately

3x optical zoom, which

operates in a similar manner

to the zoom on your digital

camera. Basically, zooming

in makes everything appear

to be larger, at the expense

of the viewing area.

Check out the diagram

to the lower right for a

visual representation of the

zooming process.

The smaller viewing angle

(marked 23°) represents

the camera’s view when

“zoomed in”, and the

larger angle (81°) represents

the camera’s view when

“zoomed out”.

You can set the zoom to

either of these extremities,

or anywhere in between.

Focus Zoom

Adjusting Zoom and Focus

81°

23°

FOCUS: The left hand dial controls the focus (see diagram, opposite).

Adjusting the focus control is kind of like trying on a different pair of glasses -

it can make sharp things look blurry and blurry things look sharp. It’s not quite

magic, but it’s pretty close.

Basically, once you’ve set the zoom, twist the focus knob until what you want to

see doesn’t look blurry anymore. If you can’t turn the knob any more one way, go

back the other.

You can only have so much in focus at once - photographers refer to the size of

the area in focus as the “depth of ﬁeld”.

The diagram to the lower right shows a couple of different focusing options. The

shaded areas represent the depth of ﬁeld. As you can see, there is no hard edge,

some things are “more” in focus than others.

Note that this is for illustrative purposes only - there are many factors which

contribute to depth of ﬁeld which vary from location to location.

A: The lens is at its widest, and

focused on an area relatively close to

the camera. The depth of ﬁeld is quite

large.

B: The lens at its widest with focus set

to “inﬁnity”. Anything in the shaded

section will be in focus, and this focus

extends to inﬁnity (that is, things in

the far distance will also be in focus).

However, things in the distance might

be too small to see the detail you

require.

C: The lens at its tightest, focused

on an area close to the camera. As

you can see, the more the lens is

zoomed, the smaller the depth of ﬁeld

becomes.

D: The lens at its tightest with focus

further from the camera. At this

distance, the actual depth of ﬁeld is

much larger, but it doesn’t extend to

inﬁnity like it does when the lens is

wide.

A C

B D

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INPUT

2A. Connecting Directly to TV

2B. Connecting to Your Existing DVR

Connect a BNC to RCA

adapter and connect to video

input on your TV or VCR

Connect the BNC extension

cable to an open channel on

the back of the DVR

Plug in the camera

power adapter into

a wall socket

Connect the camera’s DC

and BNC socket cable to the

extension cable’s DC and BNC plugs

Connect the extension cables

DC socket to the DC plug on

the power adapter

Connection Guide

The green plug is used to connect the OSD (on-screen display)

controller. This is an advanced feature, and recommended only

for experienced users. To access a comprehensive guide for the

advanced features of this camera, log onto our website at:

www.swann.com/osdpro

INPUT

2A. Connecting Directly to TV

2B. Connecting to Your Existing DVR

Connect a BNC to RCA

adapter and connect to video

input on your TV or VCR

Connect the BNC extension

cable to an open channel on

the back of the DVR

Plug in the camera

power adapter into

a wall socket

Connect the camera’s DC

and BNC socket cable to the

extension cable’s DC and BNC plugs

Connect the extension cables

DC socket to the DC plug on

the power adapter

888

Troubleshooting

Problem: At night, all I see is white.

Solution: The camera is most likely looking through a window. At night, the

infrared light the camera uses to see in the dark can ‘bounce back’ off a reﬂective

surface (such as glass, water, spider webs, some ceramics and so on) and effectively

blind the camera. If you want to see outside, mount the camera outside - we made

it weatherproof for a reason!

Problem: I see only a blank screen where my image should be.

Solution: Check the wiring to the camera, and ensure the camera is being

supplied power from the included power adapter. Try using a different video lead,

or connecting the camera to a different television or monitor. Be sure there are no

devices interrupting your signal, such as a DVR or VCR that isn’t outputting the

signal correctly.

Problem: I can’t see anything at night.

Solution: The maximum range of the night vision is just that, the maximum range.

If there’s nothing in this range, you won’t see anything. Also, some dark objects

(like the proverbial black cat) may not reﬂect enough light to be seen except as a

silhouette if the background is brighter. Some objects which can easily be seen in

visible light don’t reﬂect much infrared light.

Problem: My image just doesn’t seem as “nice” as it should.

Solution: That’s one of the ironic things about so many conﬁgurable options on

a high-end camera. You’ll probably need to tweak a couple of things before you’ll

get a really “good” image. The following page contains some tips to help get you

off to a good start...

Everything looks blurry/soft.

You probably need to adjust the focus (the knob on the right). This is simply a

matter of removing the dome cover, and turning the control knob one way until

you ﬁnd the best focus point or it won’t turn any more. Detailed instructions for

setting the focus can be found on pages 4 and 5. Then, turn it back the other way.

If there is no “sweet spot” then this indicates one of two things.

1. Your lens might be dirty. Clean the front of it with a dedicated lens cleaning

cloth (available at any camera store). Avoid using solvents or cleaning

chemicals, as these can leave a residue.

2. You might be trying to focus on something outside the “depth of ﬁeld” -

objects need to be at least a certain distance from the camera for you to be

able to focus on them. Typically, this will be only a few feet (about 1m) but

this distance can increase dramatically if the lens is zoomed in, or in low light

conditions.

3. Be sure to replace the dome cover securely once you’ve set the focus!

The On-Screen Display

We’re constantly on the lookout for ways to incorporate more features and more

advanced technologies into our products. So here’s one we’re excited about:

the PRO-781 features an On-Screen Display (OSD) that you can control with the

included control unit.

As this is a new, powerful feature, we couldn’t possibly ﬁt the full explanation of

everything it can do into this booklet. So, we’ve created an online guide you can

access at:

www.swann.com/osdpro

Of course, you don’t have to use this feature at all. The PRO-781 will work

perfectly well if you never even connect the controller – it’ll adjust all of its settings

automatically.

101010

Mounting

To mount the camera, use the supplied mounting hardware (screws). If you’re

mounting onto a wooden surface, you can drive the screws directly into the wood.

You may need to drill guide holes ﬁrst, particularly if mounting the camera onto

hardwood. If mounting on masonry or similar surface, use the included wall plugs.

The camera mounts to the ﬂat surface, such as the underside of a ceiling or a

sturdy wall.

• Using the included star-key tool, remove the dome cover.

• Choose the most appropriate port to run the cable out of.

• If you’re going to run the cable into the roof or ceiling cavity, then

prepare a hole in the ceiling which will line up with the hole in the

top of the dome base. Use a high-quality sealant to ensure complete

waterproofness.

• If you’re planning to run the cable on the exterior of the ceiling/wall,

then undo the small protective cap on the side of the dome base and run

the cable out that way. Note that this will reduce the weather resistance

of the camera unless it is properly sealed with a high-quality sealant.

• Attach the dome base to the celing using the included mounting screws.

• Aim the camera, and adjust the zoom and focus controls to get the image that

you want. It can be really helpful to have a television or monitor on hand so

you can see what you’re doing! Help from an able assistant never goes astray,

either.

• The dome cover only mounts one way - that is, the cable-out port on the

side of the dome base means that the cover will only slide on when correctly

oriented. If you’ve changed the default position of the camera, this may mean

you’ll need to re-orient the plastic dome cover.

• On the underside of the dome cover there are two screws which are

responsible for holding the plastic dome in place.

• Using a precision screwdriver, loosen the two small screws, and slide the

tabs aside.

• Rotate the plastic component of the dome so that the transparent

window lines up with the orientation of the camera.

• Re-orient the tabs and tighten the screws to hold the plastic dome in

place.

• Re-attach the dome cover, and secure in place by tightening the screws.

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