Matrox scan converter transforms video analysis at Sussex Police

Almost seven out of ten major crimes are solved using multimedia evidence by capturing the crime itself on digital media, or tracking the movements of the suspects before or after an attack.

The Audio and Video Unit at Sussex Police plays a vital role in this process. Its core mission is to assist police officers with the collection, viewing, editing, enhancement and storage of digital and analogue multimedia evidence in accordance with Home Office legislation.

The Audio and Video Unit receives footage from numerous CCTV and surveillance systems using a variety of encoding technologies to capture the images to files.

“Usually, the video material comes with a media player that enables us to view it. However, when the video is required as evidence or for broadcast as part of an appeal, we have experienced problems in making high-quality copies while maintaining the integrity of the source material,” explains digital media officer, Tim Puckey.

“We looked at various solutions, but regularly ran into codec issues where the video would not play accurately due to format mismatching.

Commonly-used codecs in the material we receive run into the hundreds.

“The Matrox Convert DVI Plus scan converter has provided the answer. It can output everything the computer plays, which means we can use any media player (eg, WMP, VLC, Tecton), accurately draw a region of interest (RoI) on screen and output as composite analogue video or digital SDI (serial digital interface). It gives us a high-quality digital option, plus the freedom to move to 1920×1080 HD resolution. This is of particular interest to our colleagues who provide material to local television companies and programmes such as BBC TV’s Crimewatch.”

Sussex Police currently uses two Matrox Convert DVI Plus units and plans to install ten more units at a number of locations across Sussex.

Its use in custody suites will enable near instant video output to be provided for interviewing suspects, reducing the need to bail them and call them back when the video is ready for viewing. This will obviously speed up the justice process and reduce costs.

The units will also be deployed in each of the force’s major crime team units for use in major investigations and one will also be provided to Brighton and Hove CID, the busiest of the divisional CIDs.

“Quality is vital and the Convert DVI Plus now makes much of the work that had to be carried out by over-stretched specialists achievable by police officers and staff after minimal training,” explained Mr Puckey.

“This means that monitoring and outputting the huge amounts of video that we deal with today can be carried out far more effectively.”

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Tel: +44 (0)1895 827220

Email: video.info.emea@matrox.com

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