COMBINED WIDE ANGLE AND NARROW ANGLE IMAGING SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR SURVEILLANCE AND MONITORING

A surveillance and monitoring system and method for monitoring an area which includes a first imaging system having a wide-angle field of view approximately equal to or greater than the area. The system also includes one or more second imaging systems having adjustable view settings, each of one or more second imaging systems being positioned to view portions of the area and being capable of producing images of the portions with a resolution greater than the first imaging system. The system also includes one or more controls for controlling the adjustable view settings of the one or more second imaging systems so as to obtain high-resolution, magnified images of regions of interest within the area being monitored. The adjustable view settings may include pan, tilt, and zoom settings for adjusting the panning, tilting, and zooming of one or more second imaging systems with respect to the monitored area. In the method, a global image of the area being monitored is sensed with a first imaging system having a field of view approximately equal to or greater than the area, a region of interest is detected within the global image, and one or more detailed images of the region of interest with at least one of one or more second imaging systems are sensed. At least one of the detailed images may have a higher resolution than that of the global image.