Video analytics - Expert commentary
Various vertical markets such as retail, airports, and transportation have benefited from video analytics Video analytics systems have progressed far beyond the theoretical and are now being used effectively in a range of applications. Let’s look at some of the real-world scenarios that have taken advantage of the latest video analytics systems. Video analytics aren’t just for security. For a traffic application, Agent Vi provides business intelligence on the ave...
The better the sensors, the better the analytics Garbage in, garbage out. The familiar cliché is just as applicable to the area of video analytics as any other field of computing. You simply must have a high-quality image in order to achieve a high-functioning analytics system. The good news is that video cameras, which are the sensors in video analytics systems, are providing images that are better than ever, offering higher quality – and more data – for us...
Many purpose-focused stand-alone systemsaddress business goals aside from security Transportation gets passengers and goods to their destination safely and in a timely manner. Making transportation possible are purpose-focused stand-alone systems – many that address business goals and others that achieve safety/security goals. Some systems can impact both business and security goals. For example, access control can eliminate the expense and maintenance of locks and keys...
Whether you are a contractor, installer, dealer or systems integrator depends on where you live and how you are perceived by the real world Because I have been in the industry for a considerable amount of time, I have seen quite a few changes, albeit the bulk have come over the last five or so years. Before that, the advent of the digital dialer was our big innovation – that tells anyone with any history in the industry just how far back I go! But today, change is fast a...
The focus of Fusion Centre is all about video - surveillance, analytics, verification, license plate recognition, VMS, wearable cameras and more Growing demand for surveillance that offers better quality video continues to fuel growth in the IP camera market. According to Transparency Market Research, the video surveillance market will realise a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 19 percent by 2019, surpassing $42 billion in sales. High-definition video and network-connect...
The aviation and transportation industries are using video analytics to provide operational cost savings and performance enhancement Video analytics are now increasingly being used for the critical infrastructure, airports, transportation and city surveillance sectors, among other high-value markets. These markets need robust video analytics solutions that can be integrated into an overall security solution to deliver totally reliable results without any significant level of n...
Video analytics allow users to automate the use of video and extract more value Almost anyone in the video analytics market will admit that the capabilities of the technology were initially oversold. The first generation of analytics simply didn’t work as promised, and an undercurrent of distrust of the technology in general still haunts the market. Ironically, video analytics capabilities have now matured into a robust and dependable option for a variety of applications...
With elections due later this year in the UK, Spain and Switzerland, attitudes to the prevailing political landscape of austerity are changing rapidly. Are physical security budgets in the public sector ever protected from cuts, and what is the outlook for our industry? Consider the landscape: A left-leaning party has come to power in Greece on an anti-austerity platform and with the stated intention of halving the country’s €315bn debts. Angela Merkel, the German Chanc...
Better, faster networking plays into the optimistic outlook for the transportation vertical Our market has plenty of reasons to be optimistic about the future of security systems in the transportation vertical. “Given the advances in processing power and technology, we can only imagine what the capability of an IP camera will be in five years,” comments Anthony Incorvati, business development manager, critical infrastructure and transportation, Axis Communications....
Of the many benefits offered by new and advanced IP video surveillance cameras, the ability to easily customise these devices with third party apps has the potential to change the landscape in video surveillance system design and implementation. By providing the ability to customise individual cameras with the specific functionality desired for every specific camera location, camera apps not only increase functionality where needed, they deliver tremendous savings on a system-wide...
The obstacles preventing convergence with fire systems appear substantial The IT network began as a dedicated structure within a building or facility. From this starting point, we have seen telephones, HVAC, access control and increasingly CCTV/video residing on the same platform. If today’s facility managers were offered a new building with separate networks for each type of subsystem, they would react with incredulity. The exception is fire protection, where the life-...
Airports, metro systems and other transportation centres must deploy multiple layers of access control for restricted areas. They need solutions that can accommodate high-volume traffic. Each transportation application has unique requirements, from systems that enable the use of multiple types of credentials on one reader, to reader options designed to match specific risk levels by incorporating PIN and biometric verification for higher security. HID Global’s IP-based networ...
The security landscape continues to evolve in new, complex ways for transportation customers Dealers looking to enter – or to expand their presence in – the transportation vertical must adapt to the unique needs of each transportation agency customer. Issues such as limited budgets/resources, aging technologies, operational challenges and safety issues must all be considered when designing a system to best meet an agency’s needs. Integrators should seek to i...
Video cameras are great tools for security at airports, but increasingly cameras are offering operational benefits, too. Anthony Incorvati, business development manager, critical infrastructure and transportation, Axis Communications, says cameras at airports today are often used for operations rather than (or in addition to) security. For example, cameras mounted at departure gates are not installed for security but rather for operations and maintenance, as a tool to help airlines...
Security technologies are used in a wide variety of locations and environments in the transportation vertical Transportation is among the more diverse markets within the security industry, consisting of multiple non-homogeneous segments and some varied sub-segments, too. Transportation means a lot of different things to a lot of different people. Typically, the transportation vertical includes any entities responsible for moving people and goods – that would encompass pu...
Security professionals and end users are eager to define video analytics In the era where “I” is king, video analytics have become a topic of excitement, confusion, and deliberation. All one needs to do is take a stroll through the latest security expo to recognise how popular the space is, and how difficult it is to find an adequate explanation of what they are and how they work. So what are video analytics? This is the question both end users and security profess...
Observers say improved analytic technology and better support technologies are making video analytics effective Video analytics and biometrics entered the security technology market some years ago accompanied by great expectations. Both generally disappointed security directors and end users. Manufacturers oversold video analytics as a tool that could monitor video for hours on end without losing concentration — something human security officers couldn’t do. Analy...
PSA Security Network is taking steps to help educate security professionals concerning both threats and opportunities related to cybersecurity PSA Security Network 2014/2015 Review & Forecast2014 was a year of great change and advancement in the security industry as a whole. We saw an uptick in DIY security solutions focused on residential and small commercial markets. Perhaps the biggest impact to the security market is that more pieces of security solutions are now cloud...
Organisations are looking to emerging technologies to enhance security and communications Verint 2014/2015 Review and Forecast: The overall economy was solid in 2014, with large regions and industries continuing to grow and emerging markets revealing even greater opportunity. We are seeing emerging signs of strength in industries like Higher Education that are expanding their security horizons, or taking note of global events. Additionally, security organisations continue to...
2014 was a year for eye-popping merger and acquisition (M&A) activity in the security space. The big deals of the year included some of the largest names in the industry. One name is larger than any in the security market – Google, which made not one but two acquisitions this year that could impact the future security market. It was also the year that a smaller player in the video camera market (although a huge familiar brand overall) bought a large, open systems V...
Winning companies are those that continue to be proactive rather than reactive to the changing security environment Scallop 2014/2015 Review and Forecast: In the last few years, we have seen a number of developments in the security industry – including organisations taking a more proactive approach to security. As a result, the demand for surveillance solutions has continued to grow at a high rate and, in turn, the data being collected has hit record levels. As...
Retailers can get more use from video surveillance data, ultimately targeting profitability As the holiday shopping season kicks into high gear, retail organisations have two primary concerns: making a profit on notoriously slim margins and shoring up potential areas of internal (employee) and external threats, including organised retail crime. According to the Global Retail Theft Barometer 2011, published by the Centre for Retail Research, total global shrink in 2011 cost r...
Training and education are essential elements of success in the access control market for integrators and end users alike. Whether one is a seasoned veteran or still new to the industry, continued training and education are critical given that access control technologies continue to evolve at a rapid pace. System integrators who do not take advantage of manufacturers’ training seminars are short-changing themselves and their customers, contends Robert Laughlin, president of...
Event-driven video for surveillance and recording involves using a video recorder or video management software system that is triggered by movement in the areas where cameras are located. Event-driven video can be achieved by using intelligent motion detection or video contents analytics (VCA) on the camera, recorder or PC server. Recently, performance of VCA has improved; however, some conditions can still affect detection using the camera image. Tomo Ito, Business Development Man...
Thermal cameras provide images that reliably show the presence of people in any lighting situation FLIR Systems broke a historic threshold in thermal camera pricing when it announced a thermal camera for $499 at the ISC West show in April. Before that announcement, the lowest-price thermal camera was $2,000, which was itself much lower than the $10,000 price just a few years ago in 2005. The price decrease resulted from FLIR’s R&D efforts specifically aimed at loweri...
A new Technology Report from SourceSecurity.com, produced in collaboration with Oncam Technologies, highlights how a new technology platform that combines cloud-based computing and automated on-site data collection can help businesses with remote monitoring and management. Combining inputs from surveillance systems, access control, intrusion detection systems, and video analytics, among others, the OnVu360 management platform has applications in remote business management and secur...
One alternative purpose for a 360-degree camera is the ability to provide a panoramic view in a wall-mounted orientation Surveillance cameras that capture 360-degree images are unique. However, cameras with technology that enables a user to retrospectively track an incident back in time are even more unique. This combination provides customers with total situational awareness—a field of view much larger than the capability of narrow-field, fixed-view cameras. In this art...
Thermal video analytics identify intruders despite background water movement or glare off the water Ports represent a major point of vulnerability that could have potentially devastating effects on a nation’s economy. Securing a nation's ports is essential, and port perimeter security is the first line of defence against disruption to global commerce. In this article, SightLogix CEO, John Romanowich, explains how thermal cameras with embedded video analytics have bec...
Designing a surveillance system that is accurate and cost-effective for the outdoors has been a significant challenge for the security industry. However, time-proven technologies are now available that are specifically designed to accurately detect security breaches in a wide range of outdoor environments while addressing the core issue of nuisance alarms. In this article, John Romanowich, CEO of SightLogix, lists some of the typical challenges with outdoor surveillance as well as...
Acquiring a true open platform surveillance software requires an informed decision Research reports pertaining to the IP video surveillance market repeatedly talk up the trend of "Open Platform". Keeping with that trend, it seems that every manufacturer is claiming its offerings to be IP-based and Open Platform. In the security industry these days, it has become almost embarrassing for a company to admit having a proprietary (single vendor) solution - there seems to be a...
