We are a coal export terminal, located in the Baltic Sea, that transports, loads, and unloads coal 24/7.
All production processes are visualized using Siemens SCADA. Thus, we have multiple operator monitors and must record all actions in the event that we will need to analyze abnormal situations and mitigate human factors.
For ten years, we used an interface that converted the VGA signal to S-Video which was fed into an analogue CCTV system. The quality was below mediocre but it was the only option available to us at that time. Then we moved on by modifying a Python script to capture the raw data stream from a monitor. This was a major step up from the analogue signal, though it generated an enormous volume of uncompressed video data. In advancing to a multiple monitor setup for a SCADA operator workplace, we confronted a problem with capturing a “1 PC -> multiple monitors” video signal, as our Python script started to generate an excessive CPU load.
Therefore, we started searching for a solution. After several not-so-good products, we stopped our search at DeskCamera. The ability to capture a signal from multi-monitor setups into a compressed stream and even to hardware-offload this process was a decision-maker for us.
The support is extremely helpful and friendly, and we have been provided with the newest stable beta version, which has completely solved our problems.
Now, with the signal being fed into our Synology Surveillance Station system, all our engineers can use it for analysis and real-time monitoring.
Anton Sincov
BALTIC COAL TERMINAL JSC