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Congratulations on your purchase of this PRO-780 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-780 ideal for monitoring any kind of space in almost any lighting conditions...
even no light at all, as it can see up to 40m/130ft 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.
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.
The PRO-780 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.
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.
•
To access the zoom and focus, remove the two protective caps from the rear of the camera by
unscrewing counter-clockwise.
•
Use a flat-blade screwdriver to turn the exposed control rod. The zoom is located on the top left,
and focus on the lower right.
•
Be sure to securely replace the protective caps after adjusting the zoom and focus, otherwise the
camera will no longer be weather-proof.
2 2 2
About the Camera
The Process: An Overview
Choosing a Location
Rules is Rules
Adjusting Focus and Zoom
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