June 2005
2 years have passed since we first started researching available technology for afordable high resolution high frame rate solutions.
A difficult process to begin with, we can now conclude that we understand what is currently possible with latest technology and where the industry is heading for our future.

Two years ago it was not possible to achieve the high resolution and high frames rates we were setting as a target. As cameras have improved though many of the initial obstacles have been overcome and now we are able to achive a sustained rate of 1 frame per second at 6 megapixels.

Identified Applications
Traffic Monitoring
Road Auditing
High resolution security
Creative

Criteria
At least 1280 x 720 pixels
At least 1 frame every 2 seconds
Highly portable, easy to relocate
Run from 12V DC source (power supply, car battery, solar system.
Run unattended for min of two days
Acceptable budget to compete with video systems

Issues
External controller required for Digital SLR
Digital camera chosen required large enough buffer to continue to write to local storage without interuption.
Large local storage required
Compression algorithm required
Low power consumption required
Low weight
Mounting systems

Conclusion
Digital Stills
There is only one Digital stills camera currently on the market capable of the job unmodified. Some very high end market offerings could have provided the results but were considered well out of the budget criteria. We were able to achieve a sustained frame rate of 1 frame per second at 6.1 megapixels. We calculated for basic resolution of 480mb per frame to give us a total of xxx frames on the largest high speed local storage currently available (6gig CF).
IP Network
There are two IP Network cameras currently available capable of the job. For creative applications though IP Nertwork cameras still do not provide the image quality demanded from creative professionals.
Controller
The only forms of data link to computers capable of the job were in the area of machine vision and microscopy. Communications via cameralink or USB 2 were promising but generated obsticles that compromised the result including data rates, high budget requirements and inability to remotely locate.
No software tested was capable of greater than 1 frame every 4-5 seconds. Some software was configurable however transfer times accross USB caused the block.
There is only one controller currently available that fits all criteria. This unit is extremely low power, configurable, has a footprint equivalent to a box of matches and could control the camera at a sustained 1 frame per second.