THE MUX MARK II SURVEILLANCE CCTV SYSTEM FOR INTERNATIONAL SAFEGUARDS

Year
1990
Author(s)
Tom Kontakos - Atomic Energy Control Board
Ken Chiang - International Atomic Energy Agency
John Fung - Atomic Energy of Canada
Abstract
A multi-camera, multiplexed CCTV surveillance system for international safeguards, commonly known as the MUX system, was developed in 1985 for the IAEA by the Canadian Safeguards Support Program (CSSP). The system has been installed in several countries and has established a good performance record. Picture quality is comparable to other similar CCTV systems but, because of technology available at the time the system was built, an undesirable \"noise bar\" appears on the screen on playback. At the request of the IAEA, the CSSP undertook to improve the MUX system in the areas of picture quality, videotape review and equipment obsolescence without degrading the proven system reliability. State-of-the-art video recorders which offer standard VHS (or S-VHS) video format and variable playback speed (including stills) with a very clear picture are used in the MUX Mk n system. In addition, a fully automated technique has been developed which re-arranges the multi-camera recorded scenes chronologically for each camera. The review of these re-arranged scenes is simple and can be carried out quickly, without loss of picture quality and without the noise bar. The videotape review can be slowed down, put on pause or played back frame by frame in either direction. Various tests, such as field trial tests, are under way for in-use acceptance of the system by the IAEA in 1990.