Merit Lilin has been in the CCTV business for three decades but it’s only been in the last few years that the company has come on strong in the custom integration business.
Initially partnering with Control4 for home automation, Lilin now offers Crestron drivers for its cameras and NVRs and the rest of the major home control companies will have them soon.
, But don’t call them drivers. The term irks group vice president Jason Hill, who told us at ISE 2015 that integration with Lilin doesn’t require complicated “drivers” to make them work with third-party control systems.
More appropriately, Lilin has “hooks” for companies like Control4 – and most recently Crestron – to latch onto Lilin surveillance products, of which there are plenty.
And considering the hundreds of products Lilin makes, says Hill, “there are only two drivers [he cringes] needed: one for cameras and one for NVRs.”
That’s because all of the processing is performed internally – in the cameras and networked video records (NVRs) themselves.
Lilin Loves the Custom Install Channel
For example, Lilin recently introduced a 360-degree camera with some pretty complicated algorithms for video analytics and de-warping. All of that data-crunching occurs in the camera itself, meaning the technology is attached to any Lilin camera “driver” written for third-party controllers.
The same goes for any Lilin technology employed in its NVRs.
Well established in the security industry, Lilin kind of lucked into the integration business, Hill says.
“I guess we’re really good at this but we didn’t really know it.”
While Panasonic used to dominate the CCTV category among home systems integrators, their disappearance opened the doors wide for a good surveillance company that would pay attention to the channel.
“We’re the only manufacturer really putting an effort into this sector,” Hill says. “We love it.”
At ISE 2015, Lilin is showing its new custom-finished camera housing (like camouflage), the new 360-degree product, and a pinhole camera that few others offer.
“There are only three pinhole cameras that use IP,” Hill says. “And no one else has one that supports custom integration.”
The cameras came in two parts: the head and the base, where the video is processed. One wire connects the head and base, which can be powered via PoE or standard electric.
Lilin at ISE 2015: Stand 10-N114 (Control4)
(Julie Jacobson, CEPro)
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