BriefCam Release Notes

BriefCam Release Notes Filter

Date
Software Version
Category
Description
Release Topic

March 2022
Version: 6.2
Infrastructure
Configure Server Logging Tool – This tool lets you update the configuration of the BriefCam Server’s log files (Logconfig.xml) from one location.
Administrative
Version: 6.2
Infrastructure
Move Storage Tool – The Move Storage tool enables you to update the BriefCam shared directory to another location and give the directory a different name (when required).
Administrative
Version: 6.2
Installation, Configuration, and Scalability
BriefCam now supplies an installer for installing and configuring NGINX.
Installers
Version: 6.2
Installation, Configuration, and Scalability
BriefCam now offers more robust scaling of Face Recognition Matching service instances across multiple physical machines for very large watchlists in large scale environments.
Large Scale Deployments
Version: 6.2
Analytics
An improved network for the Appearance Similarity feature is now being used improving accuracy by 20% (in mean average precision (MaP) – a metric often used for measuring object comparison). In addition, v6.2’s detection rate has improved by 50% while maintaining the same level of false detections.
Accuracy
Version: 6.2
Installation, Configuration, and Scalability
Check Prerequisites Tool – BriefCam now offers a tool to check that the hardware and operating system parameters on a machine meet the BriefCam’s prerequisites before running the BriefCam installers.
Installers
Version: 6.2
Infrastructure
Log Collector Tool – BriefCam now offers a tool to easily gather the logs to be attached to a Support ticket.
Administrative
Version: 6.2
Infrastructure
Faster Filtering Experience – The improved filtering enables a fast and reactive user experience and makes the scaling experience better. The first time that you open a case, all the objects are loaded into memory (which may take some time) and then filtering is performed in-memory, which makes the filtering at least twice as fast than with previous versions (depending on the number of objects that are being filtered).
UI Enhancements
Version: 6.2
Analytics
The average reload time of the RESEARCH apps (Research_DB & Research) has been reduced by half as well as the load time for the RESEARCH dashboards.
RESEARCH
Version: 6.2
Analytics
All of the expressions used in the RESEARCH module were reviewed and improved where necessary to ensure that good practices are met and complex syntax was made simpler.
RESEARCH
Version: 6.2
Infrastructure
Administrators can now replace discontinued/broken cameras on their own without it affecting the license count. This is valid for cameras that use the same name.
Administrative
Version: 6.2
Infrastructure
New interactive exercises have been added to the User Training on training.briefcam.com. In addition to our many training videos, you can now try out BriefCam by walking through typical uses cases. You’ll try your hand at finding suspects, contact tracing, discovering trends in retail settings, and much more.
Documentation
Version: 6.2
Analytics
Next Gen Engine (Real-time Linux-based) – The new OX6 next-gen engine for real-time processing, performed on alert processing servers running on Linux, uses a state-of-the-art approach and more modern technologies to provide better accuracies and new capabilities and features.
Next Generation Engine
Version: 6.2
Analytics
The VMS Adaptor service was added for the Next-Gen engine which translates the Windows SDK method of working to Linux based. It is the bridge between existing integrations plugins and RTSP live streams expected by the Next-Gen engine.
Next Generation Engine
Version: 6.2
Analytics
The Task Management service was added for the Next-Gen engine which distributes processing tasks to the processing servers in Next-Gen environments.
Next Generation Engine
Version: 6.2
Infrastructure
The new Quick Start Installation and Configuration Guide makes it easy to follow through the steps for installing and configuring BriefCam in an all-in-one environment. The guide can be found in the documentation.zip file.
Documentation
Version: 6.2
Integration
The BriefCam Open API (BOA) now includes an API method that exports the User Audit Log.
API
Version: 6.2
Integration
The load time of cases was reduced when using BOA. Note that now if you want request details to be included in the API response, set the new BOA.LoadCaseInternals environment setting (in the BriefCam Administrator Console) to true.
API
Version: 6.2
Integration
BriefCam v6.2 was tested and certified to work with Salient 5.5.
VMS Integration
Version: 6.2
Integration
BriefCam v6.2 was tested and certified to work with Genetec 5.10.2.
VMS Integration
Version: 6.2
Integration
For Genetec integrations, additional data is sent in the alert to the VMS allowing for better decision making when connecting to command-and-control systems.
VMS Integration
Version: 6.2
Infrastructure
There is a now a new template named OX6 Main Server, which is for use with the Next-Gen engine.
Administrative
August 2021
Version: 6.1
Infrastructure
Scene geometry saved across tasks: The scene geometry is now saved across different tasks of the same source (camera). Therefore, a new geometry warmup is not needed for each task, which enhances BriefCam’s performance, especially for size, speed, and proximity detection
Performance
Version: 6.1
Infrastructure
The placement of geo-filters (Area, Path, and Line Crossing) set in RESPOND rules and RESEARCH dimensions remains aligned across archive and live streams even when there are different resolutions (but the same aspect ratio).
Performance
Version: 6.1
Infrastructure
The new XYLocations.SampleRate environment setting lets the administrator change how often (in seconds) an object’s XY location is sampled. This lets the administrator prevent the unnecessary use of CPU resources.
Performance
Version: 6.1
Analytics
The Proximity filter can now be set together with the geo-filters (Area, Path, and Line Crossing) and all the global filters except License Plate Recognition and Count.
RESPOND
Version: 6.1
Analytics
The People Counting alert thresholds were changed to allow for working with a smaller number of people in the frame or an area. The valid values for the Above threshold are now 0-250 (instead of 5-250) and for the Below threshold are 1-250 (instead of 5-250).
RESPOND
Version: 6.1
Infrastructure
Timestamps now include seconds in the Object pane, when uploading a video from a file or the network, in the original video title, and in bookmarks.
UI Enhancements
Version: 6.1
Infrastructure
An end time was added to bookmarks and when playing a close-up clip of an object.
UI Enhancements
Version: 6.1
Infrastructure
Faces displayed when selecting the Show Faces button can now be filtered and exported by minimum star quality (1, 2, or 3 stars).
UI Enhancements
Version: 6.1
Infrastructure
You can click on the Status tab to sort the requests according to the request status. They will appear in the following order or vice versa: Queued, Processing, Error, Partial Error, Cancelled, No Objects, Success.
UI Enhancements
Version: 6.1
Infrastructure
For Proximity, Appearance Similarity, and Face Recognition filters, you can click on the zoom button to see the entire thumbnail.
UI Enhancements
Version: 6.1
Infrastructure
For Proximity and Appearance Similarity filters, the thumbnail for people is aligned and now shows the top of the image
UI Enhancements
Version: 6.1
Infrastructure
the Real-Time Activities screen was improved, There are now columns for the camera name and task ID.
UI Enhancements
Version: 6.1
Infrastructure
the Real-Time Activities screen was improved, The items in the Status column now include more informative statuses. This enables the administrator to easily see whether the real-time tasks are running properly
UI Enhancements
Version: 6.1
Infrastructure
The administrator can limit the client login to a single method (Basic, LDAP, or SAML) using the new Common.ClientAuthenticationMethod environment setting.
Administrative
Version: 6.1
Infrastructure
The maintenance setting for BI assets and RESEARCH visual layers was split into two, Maintenance.BIAssetsRetentionDays setting + Maintenance.BIVisualLayersRetentionDays setting
Administrative
Version: 6.1
Infrastructure
The default value of the Maintenance.ServiceInstancesRetentionMinutes environment setting was changed from 1,440 (1 day) to 43,200 minutes (30 days).
Administrative
Version: 6.1
Infrastructure
The new ResearchDetailedLoadDays setting controls the data loaded from the RESEARCH app (based on the timestamp field and not the VMS time).
Administrative
Version: 6.1
Infrastructure
A loader is now displayed when opening or filtering a case with many objects, until all of the objects are displayed
UI Enhancements
Version: 6.1
Infrastructure
Review – a loader and an initiating process is now shown from when a user submits a request until the request is processed
UI Enhancements
Version: 6.1
Infrastructure
Real-time activities are now retrieved at a much quicker rate improving support of large data sets.
Performance
Version: 6.1
Installation, Configuration, and Scalability
RESEARCH data is now stored in two data models: Detailed + Aggregated
Large Scale Deployments
Version: 6.1
Infrastructure
To enable users to access the aggregated data, the administrator needs to change the QlikEnableAggregatedDashboards from false to true
Administrative
Version: 6.1
Infrastructure
The administrator can also set whether the Detailed or Aggregated mode will be open by default using the RESEARCH.DefaultDashboardMode environment setting.
Administrative
Version: 6.1
Analytics
The Aggregated mode includes two sample dashboards: Retail Trends (Aggregated) and Smart City (Aggregated
RESEARCH
Version: 6.1
Installation, Configuration, and Scalability
The new Lighthouse service was added to support large scale distributed environments
Large Scale Deployments
Version: 6.1
Installation, Configuration, and Scalability
The following installers were upgraded: PostgreSQL plugin (the new installer uses PosgtreSQL 10.16.2, a newer version) + Milestone plugin + Milestone Embedded Client plug
Installers
Version: 6.1
Integration
There is a new Genetec plugin for use with Genetec 5.9.2 and above.
VMS Integration
Version: 6.1
Infrastructure
The default folder for the Web Services logs was changed from C:logs to C:Program FilesBriefCamBriefCam Web ServicesLogs.
Administrative
Version: 6.1
Integration
BriefCam v6.1 was tested and certified to work with Milestone 2020R3 and Milestone 2021R1.
VMS Integration
Version: 6.1
Integration
BriefCam v6.1 was tested and certified to work with Genetec 5.10.
VMS Integration
Version: 6.1
Integration
In Genetec integrations, configuring the RTSP authentication is now done one time in the BriefCam Administrator Console instead of on each server separately.
VMS Integration
Version: 6.1
Integration
The Digifort integration now supports the H.265 and MPEG4 format.
VMS Integration
April 2021
Version: 6.0
Infrastructure
The filters and sorting are now maintained when clicking the refresh button.
Administrative
Version: 6.0
Infrastructure
The items in the Status column now have icons and color coded to make it easier to quickly view the statuses.
Administrative
Version: 6.0
Infrastructure
On-demand activities are now retrieved at a much quicker rate improving support of large data sets.
Administrative
Version: 6.0
Installation, Configuration, and Scalability
the RESEARCH installer was updated. Note that the new RESEARCH installer supports upgrading
Installers
Version: 6.0
Integration
There is a new API, from the Hub to a 3rd party system, called the Hub Outbound API. This includes all the data sent in a regular Outbound API
API
Version: 6.0
Integration
A face quality score (of between 0 and 1) was added to the RESPOND Alerts Outbound API and the Hub Outbound API for each face that is included in an Outbound API alert.
API
Version: 6.0
Installation, Configuration, and Scalability
multi-site customers can now centrally view RESPOND alerts generated at the remote sites and analyze aggregated business intelligence (BI) data gathered from all sites using central RESEARCH dashboards
Large Scale Deployments
Version: 6.0
Infrastructure
Facial Recognition – We set the false alarm rate to 1% and found that our detection rate improved from 80% to 97.6%. We set a detection rate of 95% and found that our false alarms were reduced from 60% to 0.5%.
Performance
Version: 6.0
Infrastructure
Facial Recognition – we found that in most cases, our new accuracy for people wearing face masks is similar to our old accuracy for people not wearing face masks
Performance
Version: 6.0
Infrastructure
The entire documentation set, including a new Troubleshooting Guide, is now available by clicking the Help icon (?) from BriefCam
Documentation
Version: 6.0
Analytics
Two new dashboards were added: Retail Trends Across Sites + Visual Layers
RESEARCH
Version: 6.0
Analytics
The # of Unique Identities on a Specific Route measure was added.
RESEARCH
Version: 6.0
Analytics
Additional dimensions and measures were added to support multi-site deployments.
RESEARCH
Version: 6.0
Analytics
In the Filters visualization, a Site filter was added to support multi-site deployments.
RESEARCH
Version: 6.0
Analytics
Out-of-the-box dashboards contained a Source filter
RESEARCH
Version: 6.0
Infrastructure
When processing a long video (24 hours or longer by default), a message appears letting the user know that the processing may take a while
Functionality Improvements
Version: 6.0
Infrastructure
When applying the Sources filter, the Time Range, Size, and Speed filters are not reset and remain selected.
Functionality Improvements
Version: 6.0
Infrastructure
Performance of the case alert loading time and the server load during fetching were improved.
Performance
Version: 6.0
Infrastructure
In the REVIEW module, when filtering for Sources, sources that are not selected are now hidden and not just greyed out.
UI Enhancements
Version: 6.0
Infrastructure
When searching for a case, the search results include case descriptions in addition to the case name.
UI Enhancements
Version: 6.0
Infrastructure
The default of the Mismatches Allowed setting for the License Plate Recognition filter was changed from 3 to 0.
UI Enhancements
Version: 6.0
Infrastructure
In the Alerts tab, it is now possible to search for sources in the Sources filter
UI Enhancements
Version: 6.0
Integration
BriefCam v6.0 was tested and certified to work with Qognify VisionHub 5.2.
VMS Integration
Version: 6.0
Infrastructure
The following new services were added to support multi-site deployments: Multi-site Site BI Export Service, Multi-site Hub BI Data Gateway, Multi-site Hub SSO Gateway, Outbound API Gateway
Administrative
Version: 6.0
Infrastructure
There are two new templates available in the Administrator Console to make setting up the required services easier for both the Hub and sites.
Administrative
Version: 6.0
Infrastructure
You can now cancel all tasks associated with a specific case with one click.
Administrative
Version: 6.0
Infrastructure
By default, the newest requests now appear first.
Administrative
January 2021
Version: 5.7.1
Infrastructure
The number of sources in a case is now displayed at the top of the REVIEW Sources pane. The number of sources can also now be seen in the Cases view.
UI Enhancements
Version: 5.7.1
Infrastructure
In the OX.ini file, the value of the MinSupportedFps setting was changed from 4 to 0.
Functionality Improvements
Version: 5.7.1
Installation, Configuration, and Scalability
To better support the use of load balancers, a health check of the web services was added.
Large Scale Deployments
Version: 5.7.1
Installation, Configuration, and Scalability
A new environment setting was added, named QlikAPIServer, for internal communications with the RESEARCH platform
Large Scale Deployments
Version: 5.7.1
Installation, Configuration, and Scalability
The new advanced installers use PowerShell
Installers
Version: 5.7.1
Infrastructure
A list of all the service communications was added to the BriefCam Microservices white paper. The list shows all the communication between BriefCam’s microservices, including the inbound port that each of the services listen to, and the clients who communicate through each port.
Documentation
Version: 5.7.1
Infrastructure
A new ÒCertified and Supported GPUsÓ section has been added to the User Manual.
Documentation
Version: 5.7.1
Infrastructure
A new ‘Fields in Expressions’ section was added to the User Manual’s RESEARCH Solution section.
Documentation
December 2020
Version: 5.7 HF1
Infrastructure
The face thumbnails are compressed by default to 90%.
Performance
Version: 5.7 HF1
Integration
With every Smart alert, when the BriefCam engine identifies a ‘person’ object and has a captured face, the outbound API now includes a URL to the person’s face.
API
Version: 5.7
Installation, Configuration, and Scalability
Prometheus¨ and Grafana dashboards for large scale monitoring
Large Scale Deployments
Version: 5.7
Installation, Configuration, and Scalability
GrayLog for large scale logging
Large Scale Deployments
Version: 5.7
Analytics
BriefCam now has a better approximation of size and speed based on an improved geometry model of the scene.
Accuracy
Version: 5.7
Analytics
Flow counting, of people passing a line, has been improved. The performance has improved especially with the detection and tracking of persons in overhead cameras as well as for angled cameras
Accuracy
Version: 5.7
Infrastructure
To benefit from these enhancements, the administrator uses two new checkboxes in the BriefCam Administrator Console: Overhead (This checkbox should be selected for overhead cameras.) + Counting (This checkbox should be selected for angled cameras used for counting)
Administrative
Version: 5.7
Analytics
BriefCam now handles even more types of face covers and more colors and patterns.
Accuracy
Version: 5.7
Infrastructure
In the REVIEW and RESPOND modules, the Source filter is now searchable, and there is an option to select all matching results.
UI Enhancements
Version: 5.7
Infrastructure
The user interface is now also translated into Hebrew.
UI Enhancements
Version: 5.7
Infrastructure
To further improve security, the BriefCam password policy has been updated.
Functionality Improvements