Technology & Trends - IP cameras

Video surveillance technology continues to evolve at a strong pace with improvements in resolution, integration, intelligence and bandwidth utilisation – all of which contribute to better overall security and cost-efficiency. As the video surveillance category continues to grow, we spoke with Jeff Whitney, Arecont Vision’s Vice President of Marketing, about some of the factors driving the market.   Maturity of integrated systems There continues to be a great deal...

2015 was a year of consolidations: The spring of 2015 recorded the highest acquisition rate for a six-month period in 10 years. There were single-digit market growth rates reported in video surveillance due to price erosion affecting revenues. Video solution providers are expanding into access control, and both are slowly but steadily moving into the cloud. Users want the efficiency benefits of converging access control with video verification and unified operation. There are more cloud offering...

The year 2015 has been notable in several ways. Industry changes include a rise in Chinese manufacturers in the mid- to low-end market, more mobile devices providing video surveillance, and the rise of omnidirectional and higher-megapixel cameras. Unexpectedly, the industry also saw an increase in popularity of do-it-yourself security systems and the speed with which Chinese companies saturated the marketplace with “good enough” products. Omni-directional cameras Oncam welcomes th...

As 2015 comes to a close, it’s a good time to look back at how our industry has changed this year and what we can expect for 2016. Specifically in the area of video surveillance, the trend toward higher resolutions continued this year. Whereas a few years ago, 720p was the most popular resolution for HD cameras, 1080p has now become the standard choice, and even higher resolutions, such as 4K ultra HD cameras, are seeing increased sales. Integrators are also using a broader mix of cameras...

The security industry continued to grow in 2015, although it was a bit slower than expected. Most noticeably, we saw a lot of M&A activity throughout the industry, including our own new ownership under Canon. Business continues as usual, and we have and will maintain our separate brand. The industry also experienced more price pressure on hardware than in previous years. Axis U.S. expansion plans 2016, IP video, IoT The discussion of price versus value will be a common one in 2016. There...

Technology can safeguard other motorists, and help highway authorities to communicate with wayward drivers to avoid accidents There has been a spate of accidents worldwide in which cars have been driven either knowingly or unwittingly against the flow of traffic and into oncoming vehicles. Existing and imminent technology from the security sector can prevent such occurrences, alerting responsive drivers to their error and safeguarding other motorists. I write this shortly af...

A lower bitrate reduces bandwidth andstorage requirements High definition and megapixel cameras provide more detailed images with more useful information, but this can come at a cost. The volume of data being transported and stored rises significantly. The bandwidth demand that this places on the network and the increase in required storage capacity adds significantly to the total IP system costs. The best place to reduce these costs is at the source – in the camera &nda...

Modern home security systems have come of age with innovative technologies that enable homeowners to have complete control over every aspect of the system. MOBOTIX’s Keith Jernigan Sr. and Hunter Fort explore the immense capabilities smart video surveillance technology to make a huge impact on the home automation systems by driving down energy costs as well as storing massive amounts of data. Home automation is not as new as most people would imagine. It has been around for several decade...

Ethernet switches are often overlooked andsometimes deemed a cheap connectivity pointwith little to no importance The Ethernet switch is a critical link between cameras, network video recorders (NVRs) and computers that need access to video feeds. The Ethernet switch not only provides the data connectivity but often the power to the IP cameras via Power over Ethernet (PoE). Ethernet switches are the fundamental backbone of a Local Area Network (LAN) and the critical connectivi...

Safer has built a reputation of notcompromising on quality for a low price,leading to increases in overseas sales in 2015 Unfazed by the number of companies following the footsteps of Hikvision and Dahua and launching their own branded product lines, one Chinese company insists on carving out its name in the manufacturing sector. Established in 2002, Shenzhen Safer Science and Technology, or Safer as the company is commonly known, acknowledges that it cannot c...

CPSE Shenzhen showcased security productsacross 11 halls. The show is arguably thelargest and most influential in Asia  China is the largest security market in the world. This makes the annual China Public Security Expo (CPSE) a force to be reckoned with and a place to be seen for every security company. Boasting 11 halls over an area of 110,000 m2 and more than 6,000 booths, CPSE is listed as one of the largest and, certainly, one of the most influential s...

Major art heists often feature audacity that defeats even the most thorough security protocols  Museum security, like art, is ever-changing. Traditional security practices like manned guarding alone are not sufficient to keep thieves at bay. Modern security technologies such as video surveillance, motions detectors, intruder alarms and other physical security devices also play an equally important role in securing museums and its art work. Regrettably, having all the...

The IP surveillance market is taking anunusually long time to reach maturity, partiallydue to lack of industry standards  Video surveillance has been a growth industry ever since the release of the first IP security camera in the mid-1990s. Generally, high-growth industries are immature, meaning they have not yet reached a state of equilibrium. This is particularly true in the IP video surveillance market where many new companies enter the market takin...

In the last 10 years CCTV manufacturers havebegun offering video search solutions aimedto reduce time and effort involved in searches Petabytes of security video recorded around the world every day. Obviously, we feel more secure knowing that we can “turn back time” and investigate the past – at least in situations for which video surveillance exists. However, people who have experience requesting CCTV footage would say: “This takes way too much time.&...

NVRs make it easy to benefit from HD solutions and integrations to access control, alarm systems, intercoms and other technologies Developments in the IP video camera market have a direct impact on the other components in a system. With the emergence of higher definition cameras – whether 4K cameras or 8K or even higher – the market now needs back-end devices that can perform the decoding work. Also, more intelligence is needed, including smart functions such as pe...

How do you get all of your various vendors, services, resources, manpower, and technology to integrate and work together? Creating an efficient operating environment in physical security is no small feat - especially when the organisation undertaking such an endeavour has a nationwide presence. How do you get all of your various vendors, services, resources, manpower, and technology to integrate and work together? How do you aggregate all of the data being recorded into in...

As technology advances and more surveillance features become available, it can be difficult for security integrators to know which system will fit their customer’s needs It’s no secret that Internet Protocol (IP) cameras are on a steady march to replace analogue video. Network-centric surveillance cameras bring a host of value to the protected premises, above and beyond traditional physical security. Now, cameras are increasingly used for safety, such as in liabili...

VIIDOS were established to deal with thehuge increase in surveillance dataavailable to investigators We need CCTV footage to reveal the true story of what happened before, during, and after a crime. We need to put those forensic images before the court in a manner that has integrity and obeys the rules, codes and legislation that have evolved in this rapidly changing digital era. To do that successfully, we must consider all the contributing elements of a CCTV i...

Ballantyne has created the "Three Vectors of Value" for video surveillance - Awareness, Evidence and Behaviiour   The annual global expenditure in new video surveillance systems is currently estimated at about 20 billion USD and grows at a rate of better than 15% per year. To those of us in the business, these figures both encourage and validate. The expenditure is impressive, but only because commensurate value is delivered. That is, we expect expenditure and value to ba...

The potential costs and consequences of hackers getting through firewalls and onto the user’s computer networks can be devastating Theft of NATO data. Leakage of emails. Hackers setting up a live streaming website for over 100 New York City private webcams and even hacking the infrastructure servers of the U.S. government. As news of malicious takeover of private and corporate networks as well as incidents of malicious software programs, referred to as malware, conti...

NVR appliances ease analogue to IP transition by providing end users with a hybrid-ready product There should be a palatable migration path from a large installed base of analogue to the latest IP technology. The biggest missed opportunity related to network video recorder (NVR) NVR appliances in the video surveillance marketplace is effectively using existing analogue camera investments while transitioning to the network. For example, IP encoders can be utilised as a brid...

Have interactive services lost their edge? Are users discouraged and disenthralled? That’s a myth that needs busting, because security companies continue to have success offering these solutions to customers. Alarm companies who began their business with traditional intrusion detection continue to deliver interactive services as part of a total, connected home solution. Companies like Complete Security Systems, Marlboro, N.J.; Marshall Alarm Systems, Yorktown Heights, N.Y.; and The Securi...

ASIS is a great opportunity to not only learn about new technologies first hand, but also to benchmark offerings against competitors  Now in its 61st year, the American Society of Industrial Security (ASIS) Seminar & Exhibits is more than an end-user show. Many systems integrators also attend, walk the show and even exhibit to meet with potential customers and perhaps see technology they may need to apply to their clients’ security challenges and issues. This ye...

The research from Australia shows “significant growth” in the use of CCTV by councils New research from Australia shows “significant growth” in the use of CCTV by councils and an increase in the size and sophistication of systems. The research, contained in a report by the Australian Institute of Criminology, was designed to measure the use of CCTV by local councils in Australia using an online national survey of local government, to gauge the extent an...

IP video recording systems offer high-resimaging, speed & analytics to its end users  Familiarity with analogue systems Familiarity is one factor in the slow conversion of casino customers to IP technologies. Many end users and integrators are comfortable with and have long-term experience with the more simplistic analogue systems. However, as IP systems continue to become easier to install and maintain with more plug-and-play technology, this dynamic shoul...

 IP is here and is continuing to proliferate in the security industry and its next major advancement is in pure IP access control IP technologies in the security industry are nearly ubiquitous today. End users and integrators have adopted and embraced IP cameras, building automation systems, wireless mesh networks, alarms, monitoring, and regularly view all of these technologies from the palm of their hand, on their smart phone. The technologies are easier to install, oft...

Increases in the number of cameras and storage capacity have created an overabundance of video information that is difficult to manage  Investment in video surveillance technology continues to increase as technology improves and security equipment becomes more affordable. Companies invest in video surveillance primarily to protect people and property, for both deterrence and more crucially for incident response. While there’s no doubt that the systems can provide a...

A 360-degree technology solution can be installed across the gaming floor, integrated right into the VMS and used for forensic purposes New 360-degree cameras are providing new video surveillance benefits to the casino market. MGM Resorts International has rolled out Oncam’s 360-degree technology solutions to the Aria, MGM Grand, Bellagio, Mirage and New York-New York properties along the Las Vegas strip. More specifically, the surveillance team at the Aria manages more...

The height strip camera blends into the storeenvironment, conducting covert surveillanceundetected by potential criminals  Video security systems could see a spike in Taiwan’s store security market, as more manufacturers start to release covert “height strip” cameras. These cameras offer an inconspicuous surveillance solution for Taiwan’s huge number of convenience stores, who are easy targets for criminals. One of the first things that...

Successful video infrastructure management requires visibility into the network’s behaviour The importance of video in an organisation has been growing over the past several years, almost exponentially. In retail, video images can help detect or deter theft by employees and patrons. Casinos use video partly due to state regulations, to ensure gaming activity is free of deceit or fraud. Branch offices use video to communicate with the head office. Schools use video for di...