Ease-of-use Embedded NVRs Drive Future Video Surveillance

There are still a number of people who remains under the impression that IP cameras are too difficult to install and use – which is making the migration from analog to IP challenging-and choose to promote HD-SDI cameras instead. However, the Internet is the driving force behind connectivity and lays the foundation of the IT industry – connecting everyone globally. The core function of networking, and also the internet as communication platform was flexibility and ease of use.

The only reasonable explanation for the lack of migrating is that network video surveillance products still cannot give full play to the usability of network features. However, the emergence of embedded NVRs and related solutions was a key step in this direction. Lets take a look at some of these movements below, and what the future direction of the video surveillance industry holds.

System design based on Embedded NVRs

Lets go through the steps of a system deigned using Embedded NVRs
1. NVR embedded with PoE switch: During installation, the user only needs to connect the network camera and NVR with a single network cable. There is no need to purchase an additional switch or power supply for the camera, or any additional cable for alarm I-O,video or power.

2. NVR embedded with DHCP server: The DHCP server can automatically allocate IP addresses and other important parameters for each of the network cameras. If there are no special requirements, the user does not need to configure the network cameras individually, or even before installing them.

3. NVR embedded with UPNP and DHCP Clients: The NVR can automatically obtain an IP address from the router and perform port mapping for the NVR on the router (this requires the router to support UPNP). There is no configuration required and users can access the NVR with remote devices via the Internet.

4. DDNS-supported NVR: The user does not need to remember any complicated NVR IP addresses. By simply configuring a domain name, the user can have remote access to the NVR through the dynamic domain name.

5. NVR can decode multi-channels of HD video and connect with a HD monitor for viewing through a single HDMI/VGA connection. The embedded software can perform all essential functions such as live video, recording, playback, backup, remote access, configuration, and many more functions, making it a complete standalone monitoring solution delivering all required features.

We can see from above that it is very easy to install embedded NVR systems. If there is no need for remote access, then there will be "zero configuration", and a simple single cable installation per camera, making it quick and easy. If there is a need for remote access, only a dynamic domain name and internet connection needs to be configured. Therefore, this system has completely fulfilled the requirements of a "plug & play" solution. Without the need for a costly professional installation, the users can do it themselves and customize it to their own requirement. The demand for Embedded NVRs are becoming more known to consumers, and will see the popularity of IP based systems increasing rapidly.

What's Next for Embedded NVRs?

As far as stability of embedded NVRs are concerned, its proved to be a stable platform, however there is still a lot of space for improvement when it comes to usability. Sunell's research and development team, focusses on the following key points on this topic:

UI:
The performance of the main CPU in an embedded NVR is much greater than that of an analog DVR, and there is more room for development in terms of UI and web design. Currently, most embedded NVRs currently available in the market still continue to adopt the previous OSD interface used by DVRs, which has poor interoperability, functions that are difficult to operate, and low overall usability. Mainly, the interface styles of UI, Web, and PC client software are totally different, and clients spend a lot of time having to learn the new interfaces and features.

The embedded NVRs offered by Sunell uses Qt to achieve UI, and employs Flash technology to achieve Web interfacing, completely unifying UI/Web/PC client interface style, which in this aspect, is an important step forward.

Redundancy:
Using multiple NVRs can achieve redundancy. A system can implement multiple NVRs running simultaneously. When one NVR breaks down, another NVR can take over the tasks of the damaged NVR, thus achieving higher reliability than normal RAID hard disk redundancy, improving the space efficiency rate of the hard disk and the overall performance of the system, providing peace of mind to the client.

Fault diagnosis:
The NVR is embedded with intelligent analysis algorithms, to analyze the system operation status in real-time and generate statistical reports, warning the user in advance or report the failure point in real-time. When the NVRs are cascaded for large-scale systems, this function is especially important, as it can greatly reduce the future system maintenance cost.

Remote application:
In the future, mobile devices will become the main terminals of a system, but the screens of mobile devices are often too small. Therefore, there needs to be further exploration on how to create good application experiences when operating with small screens.

Development Trend of Video Surveillance Industry

Currently, the development trend of large scale video monitoring systems and their suitable VMS platforms is getting more and more complicated and sophisticated where, in fact, the application requirements of video surveillance is simple and clear. Systems with too many complex functions hinder the customers' willingness to use them. By using the success of standalone NVRs as an example, video surveillance companies should learn to invest more in researching and developing resources in respect to usability and the customers experience of using the system.

Summary

The prices of embedded NVRs and IP cameras have decreased sharply and will continue to do so in the near future while the products' usability has largely improved. Affordability, flexibility as well as usability, is the fundamental characteristics of the IT industry. This proves that the video surveillance industry is almost fully merged with the IT industry. The outstanding companies in the IT industry are all of great eminence in product cost control and product usability design. Therefore, in the future, only the video surveillance companies that invest heavily in the researching and developing of usability and make sustainable innovations can survive. (Martin Yang, Director of R&D Center)