Kunming Wujiaba International Airport (KMG), located in the southeastern outskirts of Kunming City, handles some six million passengers annually. It was one of the airports used by participants and spectators attending the Beijing Olympic Games. Originally built in 1923, the airport has been renovated numerous times into a modern facility that ranks as China's seventh-largest civilian airport.

Sunell Group, a provider of security and surveillance system products in China, has installed approximately 200 Pixim®-powered security cameras in China's Kunming Airport. The combination of box- and dome-style Sunell cameras are based on Pixim's Digital Pixel System® technology.

"By incorporating Pixim's Digital Pixel System technology, Sunell's cameras help security officials at Kunming Airport to clearly capture details of passengers, luggage, cargo, and airport and airline employees, in all lighting conditions," said Ann Wu, vice president, sales & marketing of Sunell Group. "In a busy airport like Kunming Airport, which has a great deal of glass installed, capturing details in scenes consisting of both bright and dark areas is crucial for effective security."

Previously, the Kunming Airport installed CCD-based security cameras, but this older technology was in need of updating. "With the CCD-based cameras, some scenes were washed out, and the airport needed better images of passengers' faces in moments of strong glare or backlighting," said Wu.

"The wide dynamic range provided by the Pixim Digital Pixel System technology means that now the Kunming Airport cameras can see the details of both inside scenes and the outside environment, with natural color and outstanding picture quality."

The Kunming Airport installed Sunell SN-586C/B box cameras and SN-586DCBW and SN-586DCXW dome cameras in locations including the airport hall, arrival gates, departure gates, passenger check-in, passenger screening, baggage handling, public areas (including shops and restaurants) and employee areas.

"Like at all major airports worldwide, and especially at Chinese airports in this year of the Beijing Olympic Games, security cameras are taking on an increasingly important role," said John Monti, vice president of marketing and business development, Pixim. "Kunming Airport replaced its outdated CCD-based security cameras with the Pixim-powered Sunell cameras so they could discern scene details, in both bright and dark light, needed by the airport's security staff to help keep passengers and employees safe."