A different ball game - FC Porto Dragão Stadium

FC Porto Dragão Stadium was built in 2003 as the new home ground for FC Porto football club in Portugal. With a capacity of 51,000 seats, in 2004 it was selected to host the European Football Championships.

Following the championships, Porto Estadio, the team that manages Dragão Stadium, decided to implement a new CCTV surveillance system that would provide a reliable and high quality 24-hour surveillance to ensure maximum levels of safety for all its staff and visitors as the stadium. However, it was essential that any security solution selected was flexible and could be easily expanded when new areas of stadium needed to be managed.

To this end, Porto Estadio needed to work with a provider that could manage the schedules, budget and deliver training to encourage adoption once the technology had been installed.

Comprehensive 24-hour surveillance

Porto Estadio selected Sony Professional Services to provide a complete network of cameras connectedover an IP network that could be easily controlled using a PC.

Sony Professional Services, working with a strong network of partners, had the ability to provide all software, hardware and services required for comprehensive 24-hour surveillance of the stadium; from the initial technical consulting and software customisation.

One of the first Sony installations to use IP throughout a venue, the technology was chosen because it relays footage using digital signaling and is therefore free from the noise interference problems associated with traditional CCTV systems.

The extensive project included the installation of 140 IP cameras, appropriate all-weather housing for the cameras, the controlling RSM software, six data storage units and associated displays.

High image quality zoom range

The system is linked using a dedicated IP-network focused in two main areas and the whole operation is controlled using Sony’s RealShot software. The IP cameras provide such high image quality zoom range that one camera is powerful enough to read a newspaper situated at the other end of the stadium.

The central equipment room houses six Sony servers, a computer with four plasma screens, the control keyboard and Cisco routing/switching equipment for server management. Similarly, the glass outdoor game control room is equipped with three computers and three Sony video projectors, which effectively display the surveillance layouts in the bright room. It also houses the PA and event management services including fire safety controls for seamless coordination and integration during matches.

Sony and Alcatel provide the complete solution

Bringing Porto seamless 24hr surveillance Sony was able to deliver a system that was both easy to configure and to control. An image from any camera can be selected at the click of a button, isolated and manipulated.

The system has proved its longevity and flexibility; cameras were recently installed at a new training ground 6km away from the stadium and the data is sent back to the main control room via a telecom provider. There are also plans to increase the number cameras and the capacity of existing servers significantly.

“The decision taken by Porto Estadio was considerably influenced by the capacity of Sony and Alcatel to provide a complete solution including all the necessary services such as technical consulting, software customisation, installation, tuning and training,” said Luis Rafael Silva, Stadium Manager.