Site control unit for video security system

A site control unit (SCU) for a premises monitored by a video security system comprising:

• means acquiring video images of scenes of the premises;
• a processor performing intelligent image processing on said video images to provide an indication of a possible intrusion of the premises, said processor eliminating possible causes of false and unwanted alarms and providing said indication only when motion within a scene is detected by said processor and classified as being human motion, or motion from an unknown cause;
• and,
• a recorder recording said image if said processor provides said indication, said recorder producing a snapshot of the scene in which the motion is detected, and the site control unit authenticating the snapshot for evidentiary purposes.

A site control unit (SCU) located at a premises being monitored by a video security system comprising:

• means acquiring video images of scenes about the premises;
• an image processor processing said video images to eliminate possible causes of false and unwanted alarms of an intrusion of the premises and reliably detecting actual intrusions, said processor including video masking means filtering known motion present within a scene observed by said imaging means, detection means detecting movement in unmasked portions of the scene, and recognition means classifying the cause of said movement as being either human or non-human, an indication being given only if said cause is classified as as being a human intruder on the premises, or an unknown cause;
• and,
• a video recorder recording images of actual intrusions and supplying said recorded images to a security system operator for said operator to inform authorities of an intrusion, said video recorder producing snapshots of a scene in which an intrusion is detected, authenticating said snapshots, and transmitting said snapshots for viewing by said operator.

A method of monitoring a premises to detect an intrusion of the premises comprising:

• observing the premises with an imaging means and obtaining images of scenes about the premises observed by said imaging means;
• processing said images to eliminate possible causes of false and unwanted alarms of an intrusion of the premises including distinguishing between human and non-human motion, detecting an actual intrusion resulting from human motion, and providing an indication when an intrusion is detected;
• and,
• recording an image of said intrusion and supplying said recorded image to a security system operator for said operator to inform authorities of said intrusion, recording said image includes producing snapshots of the scene in which said intrusion is detected, authenticating said snapshot, and transmitting said snapshot for viewing by said operator.