Taking a step back into time, the characteristics of human body infrared radiation were employed by the security industry and used as a base for the development of PIR (Passive Infrared Detector). Infrared waves radiate from the human body at 3~50μm, among them, 8~14μm occupies 46 percent, and the peak radiation is reflected around 9.5μm. Utilizing this infrared radiation characteristic, the human race is the steadiest infrared radiator as a homothermic being. An infrared thermography detector cannot emit any energy but passively receive and detect radiation from certain conditions. The detector will acclimate a few seconds after installation, and on-site infrared radiation will maintain the same state without any humans or animals entering into the detecting area. Once someone enters it, the optical system will focus on it and create mutative electrical signals via the pyro-electric transducer component, therefore triggering an alarm. The disadvantages of these kinds of products are obvious, a high rate of false alarms, which could easily be affected by thermal sources such as air-conditioners and heaters, the existence of detecting dead zones, indirect visualization, no confirmative circumstance after detecting and alarming, as well as having the need of on-site observation or cooperative use of visual monitors.
The visualized processed image emitted by an infrared detector is referred to as thermography. Radiating capacity of different objects, even different parts from the same object is diverse, as well as their reflection to radiation. Utilizing radiation differentiates objects from their environment, and also differentiates from each part of a scene. Thermography can present each scene as part of radiating fluctuation to display the thermal energy distribution of the scenario. It is like a third human eye being able to visualize the imperceptible world beyond human recognition.
Using a camera of infrared thermography makes of an optical imaging lens. The infrared detector will then receive the infrared energy emitted from the target, which transforms the energy into an electrical signal via the detector. Criterion visible infrared thermography can be transformed after enlargement and image algorithm processing. This thermography corresponds with the thermal distribution field of object surfaces; it is a thermal distribution graph of each part of infrared radiation from the target object.
Critical components and infrared thermal imaging camera technology include: infrared focal plane detectors, image processing algorithms, electrical processing circuits, thermal imagery lenses, production adjusting technology and detection, and thermometry algorithms.
As core component detectors include cooled and non-cooled, it is mainly applied for commercial utilization. Detector technology has been developing for decades, it was typically applied in the military field for a long time. In the late 80s, focal plane arrays (FPA) with gaze-type area array technology appeared and developed, which accelerated the application of thermal imaging technology in the commercial field.
Detector units (pixels) utilize temperature sensitive micro-bolometers of thermistor material or pyro-electric crystalline materials on the basis of pyro-electric effects are closely laid on the focal plane of FPA. At present, materials including polycrystalline silicon, vanadic acid anhydride, ferroelectric film, etc. are frequently used. Each FPA pixel can detect the smallest unit of infrared energy, and each pixel is an independent thermometry point. The more pixels that are detected that includes thermometry points equals imaging effects. Major pixels of thermal imagery detector are: 60×60/80×80/120×12 0/140×140/180×180/160×120/240×180/320×240/384×288/420×315/64 0×480, etc., liketotal amount of pixels of 420×315 is 132,300 (420 pixels×315 pixels=132,300 total pixels). Detectors with low pixel numbers are mainly used for short distance detection of handheld devices, and detectors with medium and high pixel numbers are mainly used for image observation and medium and long distance detection.
Image processing algorithms and electrical processing circuits are critical technologies of productization. Infrared radiating energy received by detectors are transformed into electrical signals by electrical processing circuits, the signal is inputted to read out circuits after enlargement processing, then transfer Analog to Digital (A/D) and send it into processing chips of videos and images to algorithms that will process it and do video composition. The infrared signals irradiating from objects that are detected are extremely weak and lack gradation of stereo visible light images, thus a series of algorithms process things like image brightness, contrast, uniformity, visualized false colors and others that are used for these requirements. In this process, circuit design is particularly important. Besides solving electronic noise and disturbances, specific attention should be paid to thermal noise influences, and good denoising features that will contribute to better product performance. Image algorithms include: non-uniformity revising, defective pixel replacement, automatic dimming, image enhancement, thermometry, false-color coding, infrared thermometry analysis in real time, image compression, code processing, and others, and then eventually receive continuous thermal images.
Product adjusting technology and detection are core technologies for each supplier, and public information about these technologies are quite rare. Depending on self-established product adjustments and detecting procedures, Sunell efficiently distinguishes between each single detector and guarantees uniformity of delivered products.
Instinctive and unique characteristics of infrared thermal imaging cameras determine its qualitative features, detecting and finding targets to recognize active humans or animals instead of quantitative detail identification. It includes the three foll owing merits compared with traditional visible light cameras:
I. Available For any Light Environment
Traditional camera shoots rely on natural or light environments, but infrared thermal imaging cameras can gather images clearly from infrared thermal energy radiating from objects without any other light. Infrared thermal imaging cameras are available for any light environment without being influenced by bright light. It can clearly detect and find targets in the day and recognize disguised and covert targets. Thus it can actually perform 24 hour monitoring during day and night.
II. Monitor Distributing Temperature
Fields of Target Thermal Energies Infrared thermal imaging cameras can display the field temperature of objects and turn the invisible temperature distribution of object surfaces into visible thermal images. Through monitoring temperature fields, abnormal temperatures can be detected immediately to prevent hidden dangers, like fire disasters. Meanwhile, these received thermal temperature fields will not likely be influenced by diverse uncommon light (like glare, stray lights and others) because for visible light cameras, relative images are simpler and more suitable for some image processing intelligent analysis software.
III. Capable of Real Cloud and Mist Penetrability
Light and near infrared rays will beinfluenced from atmospheric factors such as, clouds, mist, smoke and dust, but for thermal infrared from 3~5 micron meters (medium wave infrared channel) and 8~14 micron meters (long wave infrared channel) these factors are transparent. Therefore, traditional cameras can hardly shoot a clear image in cloudy and misty conditions, but thermal imaging cameras can accomplish it efficiently.
In conclusion, infrared thermal imaging cameras can collect, process, and visualize images of infrared thermal radiating phenomena which are invisible, untouchable, and extensively exist in nature, and ultimately delivers us a more visible thermal world, just as a third eye provides vision to the world.
2014/09/30
A shortcut to shift from old system to megapixel hd security
With the development of the security
industry and popularization of security system, to popularize and apply the
previous analog standard monitoring because analog limitation and transmission
distance, they already fail to meet the requirements of users to effectively
implement security, it also makes it imminent to upgrade the old securitysystem to HD.
But after so many years of accumulation,
the original monitoring system has been in the numerous buildings laid a lot of
coaxial cable (video), two conductor (line or the power cord), the original
pipeline and decorate also has ended, the secondary wiring is very difficult to
form a network, and service life of these cables is far from, how can upgrade
hd without changing the original circuit design, shorten the construction
period of the project, reduce the construction cost and personnel cost?
TREND AHD High Definition series products
follow analog coaxial transmission way and the method, it can realize up to 500
meters lossless transmission in a normal 75-3 similar axis, beyond the hd video
transmission technology of the existing transmission limit, can realize low
cost, long distance, without delay, high efficiency, anti-interference and easy
implementation of mega pixel hd video transmission. Can reduce the complexity
of the construction deployment, decrease the complementary material cost and
the complexity of maintenance, as well as the technical requirements of
construction personnel, very suitable for upgrading of the old system, but
without changing the original system, on the basis of the standard definition
easily upgrade to HD.
In addition, the quality of high-definition
and standard definition price let 1080P IP66 AHD Camera in home security and industrial markets have very big
development space. AHD camera and dvr in the analog price of the equipment can
achieve high-resolution, for traditional analog monitoring equipment
businesses, without any increase in any can be smoothly on the basis of cost
and technology into the field of high-definition. Friendly price let security
old analog system upgrade is no longer a dream, to let users easily get into
the HD vision.
2014/09/29
The knowledge point you must know about HD AHD
The birth of AHD is to solve the transmission distance limitations that exist in the HD-SDI products and resolution. According to the security industry insider, TREND 1080p AHD high definition camera module can realize lossless transmission on average 75-3 similar axis for up to 500 meters, which become the perfect choice for hd surveillance.
At the same time, it expanded the transmission bandwidth, implements the bearing 720p / 1080p resolution video, and inherits the advantages of analog monitoring as well. The video signal without coding, reserve the detail of the original video information completely and truly high-definition condition and without the effect of time delay; 38 * 38 standard plate type, convenient and assembled into various shapes of the whole machine, a unique product for the merchants and customers products as resolution can reach 1 megapixel, 1.3 megapixel, and the image lossless. Support both ICR infrared filter plate automatic switch and function of automatic color turn black, day and night monitoring, can satisfy the demand of different monitoring environment, its transport distance far exceeds the HD-SDI systems, using the normal 75-3 similar axis can be as far as 500 meters of lossless transmission, operation just like traditional analog products, plug and play, convenient and simple.
AHD high definition image effect is compatible with the traditional analog hard disk video recorder, convenient and quick. it is suitable for both Banks, roads, hospitals and places of high requirements for video monitoring, can also be applied to general monitoring sites, such as region, supermarkets, family. AHD is the perfect combination of practical and economical, is truly the hd populist extreme experience.
http://www.gwsecu.com/solutions/356.html
2014/09/28
More intimate ONVIF let NVR and IP cameras
NVR development at present mainly divided into two major categories, one is connected to the level of embedded NVR, it’s mainly aimed at the research and development of a NVR mainstream IP cameras.
Another kind is aimed at the community level and peace city large NVR, its main use is based on high-end server software and hardware structure, on the premise of the traditional NVR software operation interface, based on data protection in the previous disk array, the large NVR system with powerful data processing function equipment.
Due to the high speed development in the field of security, the widespread popularity of hd monitor, 1080p realtime h.264 poe 32 channel NVR into access NVR, convergent NVR, NVR and core type. Now the main force of center storage management equipment is mentioned in the NVR products.
The core technology of NVR
NVR include: the basic function of IPC access, audio and video data broadcast service (live), audio and video data storage and retrieval (search) and playback (playback), support alarm processing and related logging and query, etc.; In addition to the basic function of the key technologies, such as the most basic of h. 264, MPEG4, MJPEG video coding compression technology support, high-definition cameras HDMI, DVI, VGA output formats such as support, in the aspect of data processing, raid 0, 1, 5, 6, 10, such as technical support, the playback time of streaming media technology support, forward streaming media technology, as well as the background database and the platform architecture, etc.
NVR technical bottlenecks still exist
NVR has ten years of development, but there has always been their technology technical difficulty, it displays the following points:
1. Because of the high frame rate high pixel front-end equipment using, so we need more efficient decoding protocol, transmission and data encapsulation protocol. NVR should have capacity of reliable, rapid growth in technology, virtualization, cloud storage, such as NVR can be a single, convenient way to meet people into the system, in view of the massive storage capacity and need to handle huge amounts of video data, NVR software need a efficient data retrieval and management techniques;
2. Intelligent video analysis technology is the important area of future development. Hd technology greatly improve the quality of the video monitoring image and clarity, allowed to deepen the details of the video image for precise analysis.
3. For the level and the core level of the NVR its key nodes of redundant reliability is the guarantee key elements of the system is stable and reliable. Key nodes include various nodes of key components of the equipment itself and the core equipment.
4. The data safe and reliable data protection technology, as well as the era of big data in the data encryption technology, which is also one of the technical bottleneck and key processing.
If NVR will quickly replace the DVR
At present, under the simulator and the development of the IPC coexistence, it’s hard to say who will replace who, but because the market classification, for minor occasions and cost, the influence of simulation system of equipment including DVR is still hard to exit the market, in the case of large system and high-end market, see the IP system will unify the whole country at present, the mainstream of 1920x1080 hdmi NVR for ip camerawill gradually occupy the high-end market.
http://www.gwsecu.com/solutions/355.html
2014/09/26
Dahua shares launch 6A2 wiper series infrared hd intelligent track PTZ dome camera
Recently, Dahua co innovation pushed out 6A2 wiper series infrared hd intelligent track PTZ dome camera. As a new generation of hd smart ball, highly integrated hd products, infrared, panorama head, intelligent wiper linkage and electronic through fog, and other functions, will be widely used in public security, finance, transportation, intelligent buildings, urban areas such as wisdom, to bring customers more professional, more convenient, more intelligent, more intimate experience of monitoring.
The intelligent track PTZ dome camera comes with 1.3MP / 2.0MP / 3.0MP three forms. Product support panorama ptz linkage, intelligent tracking, lower stream, electronic image stabilization, through fog, ROI focus, virtual joystick, superposition of images, three stream, ROI, GB/T 28181, ONVIF, optical zoom, 18 times / 20 times / 30 times. In terms of structure design, this series of products with industry-leading integration of multiple shock, drop off, waterproof design, solve the turbulence environment of vibration PTZ dome camera the reliable operation of the problem.
Panorama PTZ linkage
Product integrated dahua latest patented technology - panoramic linkage function, break through the traditional control method, a second rapid positioning, manipulation of the intuitive and fast. After click the panorama head button, the equipment can rotate a full 360 ° angles, automatic image capture the Angle, and then through the seamless Mosaic algorithm will be taken images into a panorama of combination, Panoramic view through the box to choose the location, quick positioning to the scene as the monitor screen; Can click the preset point in panorama, a call to the specified preset; Can click on the cruise group in panorama, linkage cruise lines.
Intelligent wiper
Regular support, single, wiper intelligent control scheme for many times, can remove water and dust on the surface of the glass, clean and maintenance cost, completely solve the weakness of the ball mill can’t clean the lens and the infrared lamp rapid aging and PTZ dome camera lens fog problem.
Electronic through fog
In recent years, the meteorological field of PM2.5 vocabulary becomes popular issues concerned by the society. Droplets and solid particles in the air is not only endanger human body health, cause haze caused by frequent traffic accidents, but also make the quality of outdoor surveillance video is decreased obviously. In haze weather, the image color dark and low contrast, details of some important goals is submerged in the fog is difficult to detect, the practicability of video monitoring system be badly affected. Dahua 6A2 wiper series IR HD Intelligent Track PTZ Dome Camera, based on the atmospheric transmission model, to distinguish the different regions of the image depth of field and fog density filtering processing, at the same time, the fusion image enhancement and image restoration techniques, obtain accurate, natural images to penetrate the fog, in rain, fog, haze, dust weather provide clear thorough monitoring experience, the product research and development and production of successfully broke the fog’s influence on video monitoring, so as to break the function of electronic security field through fog technology bottleneck.
http://www.gwsecu.com/news/353.html
2014/09/25
Evolving Technology and Expectations Drive Video Content Analysis(VCA)
Expectations fr new and exciting technology often far exceed the reality. This was the case for video content analysis(VCA), also known as video analytics, when it first landed in the security market. Sci-fi movie expectations that VCA would be able to perform security surveillance miracles put a big dent in the acceptance and adoption of the technology. But as they say, we live and learn. And while there may always be some flaws, the benefits of video analytics far outweigh the imperfections.
Video analytics vendors readily admit that VCA technology will never be 100 percent accurate, but very few things in life ever are 100 percent guaranteed. Accepting the flaws, working with them, and understanding them are the best way to truly take advantage of all video analytics has to offer. It is with these things in mind that has driven market acceptance of VCA technology in the security industry.
Computer processing power has very much had a direct impact on video analytics, much in the same way it affects computers. Limited processing power means limited means to process algorithms. That is why improved processing power has helped drive change in video analytics. "The locomotive pulling the train of change in VCA technology, in our view, has been the growth in ubiquitous processing power, allowing increasingly more sophisticated algorithms to be applied to the problems at hand," said Eric Olson, VP of Marketing at PureTech Systems. "The advances in computing power, including using cloud computing, have opened up the opportunity to analyze mass quantities of video with better algorithms and much faster real-time." Improved processing power and more CPU availability also allows for more accurate computing, according to Steve Viegas, Director of OEM Sales at IntelliVision Technology. Additionally, increased processing power has also helped big data processing, according to Shiliang Pu, R&D Director of Hikvision Digital Technology, which has facilitated "video surveillance transit from traditional passive surveillance to intelligent proactive surveillance, significantly helping to save on overall labor force, cost and time, and increase both security and non-security values."
Increased use of IP networks, as well as improved picture resolution, has also contributed to change in the VCA market. "The picture material, its quality, and its resolution have increased significantly over recent years. Due to the increased usage of IP networks, it has become easier and easier to access whatever picture content is required, and this is normally already provided in digital format," said Frank Brandtner, Head of Administrative Product Management at Geutebruck. Another company that highlighted improved picture quality as a key factor in VCA improvement is Aralia Systems. "As higher spec cameras begin to fill the market, end users will want to exploit them to their full potential and run more sophisticated video analytics," said Eleanor Wright, Product Development Executive of Aralia Systems.
Continued growth and maturation of the video surveillance market was also pointed out as a key point for change in the VCA market. The global market for video surveillance equipment is expected to grow by more than 12 percent in 2014 alone, according to IHS Technology. This double-digit growth provides a huge market for the growing trend of edge-based analytics. IHS forecasts the market for video surveillance devices with chargeable VCA to expand in 2014, particularly in applications where end users need advanced and reliable analytics. Furthermore, as competition in the video surveillance market continues to get stiffer, embedding Growth edge-based video analytics in network cameras is one way network camera manufacturers could add a competitive advantage, according to a report by MarketsandMarkets.
Despite the lack of "new" innovations, there are still "newer" avenues that VCA vendors are exploring. The utilization of metadata, literally data about data, is becoming increasingly popular by VCA vendors. "By employing metadata, it's now possible to apply new analytics rules to recorded video in an attempt to find, for example, any blue cars that exited the parking lot between seven and nine in the evening last week," said Shahar Ze'evi, Senior Product Manager at Tyco Security Products. The use of metadata, according to Olson, is only limited by our imaginations. "Once we have a notion of the content of the video, all kinds of applications can be written to slice and dice the data in different ways for different purposes to translate data into useful information," said Olson.
The introduction of 3D video analytics is another point of interest. By utilizing a stereo camera - a camera with two or more lenses with a separate sensor, the synchronization of two image sensors "can provide distance and height measurements that easily distinguish people with different heights, and sense whether the objects are moving toward or away from the camera," explained Jamie Wu, Marketing Manager of Huper Laboratories. This results in higher accuracy since it is less influenced by shadows and light changes, making it particularly suitable for outdoor use.
Although the overall accuracy of video analytics has improved, there are still many quirks that are proving to be a challenge.
Detection of gender, age, weight, and race is still proving to be difficult for video analytics algorithms. "VCA will not replace the human eye anytime soon," said Viegas. "If it is difficult for a person to tell race or weight, a computer will also have a difficult time." Achim Hauschke, CEO of Riva (by ViDiCore), concurred, saying "filters like gender and age detection are still a challenge, but will certainly become a lot more reliable mid-term, but mostly used for marketing purposes, not security; this will take more time as it has to be more reliable than for marketing activities."
Behavior analysis is another analytics feature that is not yet up to par. This feature, which is commonly requested for sports events and large stadiums, will require significant improvement before it can be deployed to the standard wanted by users. "The technology to differentiate between someone jumping for joy because a team scored versus someone throwing a punch is not available. It may take a combination of technologies to eventually meet some of the requirements customers are looking for today," noted Kim Loy, VP of Global Marketing and Chief Product Officer of DVTel.
Intercamera tracking is another feature that the market has yet to find a viable solution for. To be able to track a specific person across non-contiguous security cameras has obvious value. This feature, which was a topic of a National Institute of Standards and Technology technical discussion workshop in the summer of 2013, is much desired, but not yet one that has been deployed to a usable standard, according to Olson. While this feature is highly requested, the technology for this is still in its infancy and very far from being user ready.
One challenge that has less to do with technology than it does with application is environmental variables. Lighting inconsistencies, crowded environments, and obstructions can all affect the accuracy and effectiveness of video analytics. Therefore it is necessary to know where and when to use VCA in order to get the best, more accurate results. For example, the object left behind feature can work well in a non-crowded environment, but in a crowded, fast-paced environment like a train station or an airport, accuracy becomes nearly impossible. In cases like this, it is important for not just the user to understand that such requests are unreasonable, but it is equally important for vendors to know when to say no instead of promising results they cannot deliver.
Another non-technology hindrance is the cost of infrastructure, particularly in the outdoors, which in the past has inhibited the video surveillance market, as pointed out by John Romanowich, CEO and founder of SightLogix. "The cost of installing power and networking infrastructure to outdoor areas where these resources do not already exist has been one of the biggest challenges facing the industry. For this reason, manufacturers have been innovating in the areas of power consumption to make solar power and wireless communications viable options. By increasing video processing while simultaneously lowering the power consumption at the edge, manufacturers can offer accurate VCA detection systems that run on solar and wireless, eliminating the majority of the construction once required, unlocking a huge market for outdoor video security."
One of the main obstacles that thwarted early acceptance of VCA technology was the idealized expectation of a technology that could do the impossible. On top of already inflated expectations, vendors oversold and overpromised, resulting in disappointment and letdown. False alarms, or nuisance alarms, caused more problems than it helped, but VCA manufacturers have since worked hard to improve algorithms to reduce false alarms and better educate the market. "The industry has taken notice and worked diligently to improve analytic sensors and algorithms," said Steve Gorski, GM of the Americas at Mobotix. "Today, there are solutions that look closely at video footage to recognize the traveling movement of people and objects while dismissing extraneous and repetitive changes and movement in the scene. This drastically reduces the number of false alarms in video motion detection applications."
User education has also played a major role in growing acceptance. While there will always be companies that overpromise, end users are now savvier and more aware of where, how, and when video analytics can and should be used. "We can see a clear trend towards a better understanding of the limits and the benefits of VCA since a year ago, not least because of the growing number of publications about video analytics," opined Hauschke. "We [ViDiCore] are selling every second to third camera with a VCA license, with a clear trend upwards, so it looks like this technology will be accepted as a standard within 2014/2015." Better understanding of VCA technology is also helping end users to find different uses and applications. "Gone are the days when VCA was solely used as an intrusion-detection system," said Charlie Erickson, EVP of Product Management at 3xLogic. "Integrators, as well as the organizations and businesses they serve, are realizing that the video asset they have come to rely on for loss prevention and security can now be cross-purposed as an asset benefiting the entire organization." By leveraging VCA technology, security and loss prevention departments are able to gain valuable insights into their organization, which can optimize overall operational efficiency and profitability.
Retail Takes Advantage of Intelligence
In recent years, there has been noticeable growth in business intelligence applications, particularly in retail. "This intelligence enables the cost of a video surveillance system to be spread across multiple departments with a retail organization because now marketing and human resources can tap into the value of video," explained Gorski. Video analytics can help retailers highlight customer service issues and provide insight into the effectiveness of merchandizing based on customer traffic patterns via heat mapping. It can also be utilized to quickly and effectively identify unusual events including loitering, unauthorized access to secure areas, blocked doors and fire exits, and even slips and falls.
Return on investment (ROI) is important to those who invest in any kind of technology; VCA can provide an immediate ROI for retailers. For example, "Tracking and counting people in a supermarket with all detailed information (how many people, when, where, and for how long) is a very successful analysis, with an immediate ROI, that can be sold far easier than a video security system," added Hauschke. Visible and tangible customer ROI is an important factor for the future of VCA, and it seems that business intelligence may be able to provide just that, thus helping to propel VCA to a new level.
Banking is another vertical that can benefit from video analytics, according to Maspero. "Banks can reduce losses from fraud and other criminal activities, monitor customer services, assess marketing displays, and improve security in ATMs, drop-boxes, in parking lots, vaults, and cash-counting rooms with video analytics."
The hospitality market can also take advantage of VCA features to improve operational efficiency - it can even provide a better five-star experience. By using analytics for queue management or even license plate recognition to detect when VIP guests arrive, the hospitality sector can better ensure that guests have a pleasant experience at their establishment.
Video analytics vendors readily admit that VCA technology will never be 100 percent accurate, but very few things in life ever are 100 percent guaranteed. Accepting the flaws, working with them, and understanding them are the best way to truly take advantage of all video analytics has to offer. It is with these things in mind that has driven market acceptance of VCA technology in the security industry.
DRIVING CHANGE
VCA started as a technology focused around perimeter security. While some companies such as SightLogix still focus on outdoor perimeter security, for which VCA was first intended, the use of video analytics has permeated many other applications. Now, VCA can influence almost every aspect of surveillance. However, in order to do that, improvements and changes, not only to the technology itself, but to outlying factors need to be made.Computer processing power has very much had a direct impact on video analytics, much in the same way it affects computers. Limited processing power means limited means to process algorithms. That is why improved processing power has helped drive change in video analytics. "The locomotive pulling the train of change in VCA technology, in our view, has been the growth in ubiquitous processing power, allowing increasingly more sophisticated algorithms to be applied to the problems at hand," said Eric Olson, VP of Marketing at PureTech Systems. "The advances in computing power, including using cloud computing, have opened up the opportunity to analyze mass quantities of video with better algorithms and much faster real-time." Improved processing power and more CPU availability also allows for more accurate computing, according to Steve Viegas, Director of OEM Sales at IntelliVision Technology. Additionally, increased processing power has also helped big data processing, according to Shiliang Pu, R&D Director of Hikvision Digital Technology, which has facilitated "video surveillance transit from traditional passive surveillance to intelligent proactive surveillance, significantly helping to save on overall labor force, cost and time, and increase both security and non-security values."
Increased use of IP networks, as well as improved picture resolution, has also contributed to change in the VCA market. "The picture material, its quality, and its resolution have increased significantly over recent years. Due to the increased usage of IP networks, it has become easier and easier to access whatever picture content is required, and this is normally already provided in digital format," said Frank Brandtner, Head of Administrative Product Management at Geutebruck. Another company that highlighted improved picture quality as a key factor in VCA improvement is Aralia Systems. "As higher spec cameras begin to fill the market, end users will want to exploit them to their full potential and run more sophisticated video analytics," said Eleanor Wright, Product Development Executive of Aralia Systems.
Continued growth and maturation of the video surveillance market was also pointed out as a key point for change in the VCA market. The global market for video surveillance equipment is expected to grow by more than 12 percent in 2014 alone, according to IHS Technology. This double-digit growth provides a huge market for the growing trend of edge-based analytics. IHS forecasts the market for video surveillance devices with chargeable VCA to expand in 2014, particularly in applications where end users need advanced and reliable analytics. Furthermore, as competition in the video surveillance market continues to get stiffer, embedding Growth edge-based video analytics in network cameras is one way network camera manufacturers could add a competitive advantage, according to a report by MarketsandMarkets.
QUALITY OVER QUANTITY
In truth, there has not been much in terms of new and innovative technology when it comes to video analytics. Instead of a significant amount of new innovations, the VCA market has seen a vast number of subtle improvements in technology, which has upped the quality of the technology and made it more reliable. "It is more a case of incremental improvements in accuracy and reduction in price. It is like cars and TVs: they are significantly better and cheaper than 10 years ago, but the gains are made in the form of a large number of small improvements," said Geoff Thiel, CEO of VCA Technology.Despite the lack of "new" innovations, there are still "newer" avenues that VCA vendors are exploring. The utilization of metadata, literally data about data, is becoming increasingly popular by VCA vendors. "By employing metadata, it's now possible to apply new analytics rules to recorded video in an attempt to find, for example, any blue cars that exited the parking lot between seven and nine in the evening last week," said Shahar Ze'evi, Senior Product Manager at Tyco Security Products. The use of metadata, according to Olson, is only limited by our imaginations. "Once we have a notion of the content of the video, all kinds of applications can be written to slice and dice the data in different ways for different purposes to translate data into useful information," said Olson.
The introduction of 3D video analytics is another point of interest. By utilizing a stereo camera - a camera with two or more lenses with a separate sensor, the synchronization of two image sensors "can provide distance and height measurements that easily distinguish people with different heights, and sense whether the objects are moving toward or away from the camera," explained Jamie Wu, Marketing Manager of Huper Laboratories. This results in higher accuracy since it is less influenced by shadows and light changes, making it particularly suitable for outdoor use.
NOT ALL SMOOTH SAILING
Although the overall accuracy of video analytics has improved, there are still many quirks that are proving to be a challenge.Detection of gender, age, weight, and race is still proving to be difficult for video analytics algorithms. "VCA will not replace the human eye anytime soon," said Viegas. "If it is difficult for a person to tell race or weight, a computer will also have a difficult time." Achim Hauschke, CEO of Riva (by ViDiCore), concurred, saying "filters like gender and age detection are still a challenge, but will certainly become a lot more reliable mid-term, but mostly used for marketing purposes, not security; this will take more time as it has to be more reliable than for marketing activities."
Behavior analysis is another analytics feature that is not yet up to par. This feature, which is commonly requested for sports events and large stadiums, will require significant improvement before it can be deployed to the standard wanted by users. "The technology to differentiate between someone jumping for joy because a team scored versus someone throwing a punch is not available. It may take a combination of technologies to eventually meet some of the requirements customers are looking for today," noted Kim Loy, VP of Global Marketing and Chief Product Officer of DVTel.
Intercamera tracking is another feature that the market has yet to find a viable solution for. To be able to track a specific person across non-contiguous security cameras has obvious value. This feature, which was a topic of a National Institute of Standards and Technology technical discussion workshop in the summer of 2013, is much desired, but not yet one that has been deployed to a usable standard, according to Olson. While this feature is highly requested, the technology for this is still in its infancy and very far from being user ready.
One challenge that has less to do with technology than it does with application is environmental variables. Lighting inconsistencies, crowded environments, and obstructions can all affect the accuracy and effectiveness of video analytics. Therefore it is necessary to know where and when to use VCA in order to get the best, more accurate results. For example, the object left behind feature can work well in a non-crowded environment, but in a crowded, fast-paced environment like a train station or an airport, accuracy becomes nearly impossible. In cases like this, it is important for not just the user to understand that such requests are unreasonable, but it is equally important for vendors to know when to say no instead of promising results they cannot deliver.
Another non-technology hindrance is the cost of infrastructure, particularly in the outdoors, which in the past has inhibited the video surveillance market, as pointed out by John Romanowich, CEO and founder of SightLogix. "The cost of installing power and networking infrastructure to outdoor areas where these resources do not already exist has been one of the biggest challenges facing the industry. For this reason, manufacturers have been innovating in the areas of power consumption to make solar power and wireless communications viable options. By increasing video processing while simultaneously lowering the power consumption at the edge, manufacturers can offer accurate VCA detection systems that run on solar and wireless, eliminating the majority of the construction once required, unlocking a huge market for outdoor video security."
ENCOURAGING ACCEPTANCE BY ADJUSTING EXPECTATIONS
One of the main obstacles that thwarted early acceptance of VCA technology was the idealized expectation of a technology that could do the impossible. On top of already inflated expectations, vendors oversold and overpromised, resulting in disappointment and letdown. False alarms, or nuisance alarms, caused more problems than it helped, but VCA manufacturers have since worked hard to improve algorithms to reduce false alarms and better educate the market. "The industry has taken notice and worked diligently to improve analytic sensors and algorithms," said Steve Gorski, GM of the Americas at Mobotix. "Today, there are solutions that look closely at video footage to recognize the traveling movement of people and objects while dismissing extraneous and repetitive changes and movement in the scene. This drastically reduces the number of false alarms in video motion detection applications."User education has also played a major role in growing acceptance. While there will always be companies that overpromise, end users are now savvier and more aware of where, how, and when video analytics can and should be used. "We can see a clear trend towards a better understanding of the limits and the benefits of VCA since a year ago, not least because of the growing number of publications about video analytics," opined Hauschke. "We [ViDiCore] are selling every second to third camera with a VCA license, with a clear trend upwards, so it looks like this technology will be accepted as a standard within 2014/2015." Better understanding of VCA technology is also helping end users to find different uses and applications. "Gone are the days when VCA was solely used as an intrusion-detection system," said Charlie Erickson, EVP of Product Management at 3xLogic. "Integrators, as well as the organizations and businesses they serve, are realizing that the video asset they have come to rely on for loss prevention and security can now be cross-purposed as an asset benefiting the entire organization." By leveraging VCA technology, security and loss prevention departments are able to gain valuable insights into their organization, which can optimize overall operational efficiency and profitability.
VERTICALS GETTING SMARTER
User acceptance has allowed video analytics to spread into various verticals. In its beginnings, VCA was mostly used for outdoor perimeter detection, but lately markets such as transportation, city surveillance, critical infrastructure, and especially retail have shown enthusiasm for video analytics. "Video analytics enables organizations to enhance security in both public and private spaces by detecting not only perimeter or area breaches, but also unattended objects, and atypical activity more rapidly and consistently," said Ely Maspero, Product Line Manager of March Networks, an Infinova company. "VCA can detect camera tampering in real time and also promotes more proactive system maintenance by alerting staff to camera obstructions or changes in camera positioning that may otherwise go unnoticed."Retail Takes Advantage of Intelligence
In recent years, there has been noticeable growth in business intelligence applications, particularly in retail. "This intelligence enables the cost of a video surveillance system to be spread across multiple departments with a retail organization because now marketing and human resources can tap into the value of video," explained Gorski. Video analytics can help retailers highlight customer service issues and provide insight into the effectiveness of merchandizing based on customer traffic patterns via heat mapping. It can also be utilized to quickly and effectively identify unusual events including loitering, unauthorized access to secure areas, blocked doors and fire exits, and even slips and falls.
Return on investment (ROI) is important to those who invest in any kind of technology; VCA can provide an immediate ROI for retailers. For example, "Tracking and counting people in a supermarket with all detailed information (how many people, when, where, and for how long) is a very successful analysis, with an immediate ROI, that can be sold far easier than a video security system," added Hauschke. Visible and tangible customer ROI is an important factor for the future of VCA, and it seems that business intelligence may be able to provide just that, thus helping to propel VCA to a new level.
NO VERTICAL LEFT BEHIND
Aside from the retail market, video analytics has found acceptance in many different verticals, such as transportation, critical infrastructure, and city surveillance, which are no strangers to VCA as they are clear beneficiaries of the technology. Perimeter security is where VCA got its start, and although the technology has branched out, video analytics has continued to be vital in this application. Companies like SightLogix, who only deals in outdoor perimeter security, have continued to propagate the use of analytics as a tool coupled with hardware such as a thermal camera, making it a strong outdoor detector. Due to its strength in detection, "VCA technology is often considered to be a satisfactory primary detection method for the perimeter security which is prominent in oil and gas, critical national infrastructure, and high security environments," said David Aindow, Product and Technology Director of Synectics.Banking is another vertical that can benefit from video analytics, according to Maspero. "Banks can reduce losses from fraud and other criminal activities, monitor customer services, assess marketing displays, and improve security in ATMs, drop-boxes, in parking lots, vaults, and cash-counting rooms with video analytics."
The hospitality market can also take advantage of VCA features to improve operational efficiency - it can even provide a better five-star experience. By using analytics for queue management or even license plate recognition to detect when VIP guests arrive, the hospitality sector can better ensure that guests have a pleasant experience at their establishment.
THE ROAD AHEAD
VCA has made strides in both technology and finding user acceptance, but there are still some challenges ahead with certain features; however, whether or not the industry will be able to resolve these issues to meet end-user satisfaction, only time can tell. VCA providers, though, are confident that the value of video analytics will prevail over any overinflated notions of perfection. As long as users know and properly understand what they want out of their analytics and have expectations that fall within reason, there is absolutely nothing in the way of VCA becoming a standard within the security industry in the very near future.2014/09/24
A Decada in the Making: VCA Takes Center Stage from Security Industry
Video Content Analysis (VCA), also knoum as video analytics, helped create a new genre within the security camera industry: "smart" or "intelligent" security. Turning passive surveillance products into proactive security products, VCA has helped revolutionize the way we think of security. However, the road to success and acceptance has been a bumpy one. With overpromising from vendors and unrealistic expectations from end users early on in the VCA product cycle, VCA has had to overcome a lot of doubt and skepticism. Now, as technology has improved and more market education has helped end users understand VCA's limitations, acceptance has gone up and more and more security ip camera companies are seeing its immense value.
In 2006, intelligent video software, also known as Video Content Analysis (VCA) or video analytics, was chosen as a&s International's Prime Product of the Year. At that time, VCA was called a "coming-of-age" product. Since then, VCA vendors and security players alike have been eagerly waiting for the other VCA shoe to drop. For years, the security industry has been wondering whether or not "this" was the year for VCA, the turning point. Unfortunately, reality is that moment has yet to come. However, something new is brewing in 2014. This year, VCA vendors and security players sense that this really is the year for VCA.
The global video analytics market was estimated to be worth US$250 million in 2012 and is expected to reach around $1.3 billion in 2017 at a CAGR of 38.6 percent from 2012 to 2017, according to a September 2012 report published by MarketsandMarkets. The Americas will lead the market with APAC observed to grow at the highest rate, primarily due to the growth of technology and increasing awareness for network video surveillance. Additionally, non-security applications of video analytics in entertainment and visual communications are considered lucrative markets, according to the report.
Although the VCA market has encountered many a speed bump, improved technology and continued market education have helped VCA overcome some of its initial challenges. Key factors driving the video analytics market, according to the MarketsandMarkets report, include the transition of video surveillance systems from analog to IP-based, emergence of open standards, and increase in the efficiency of video surveillance systems. However, the market still faces many challenges: complexity, higher cost of maintenance, and the occurrence of false alarms. Despite these challenges, VCA vendors and security companies are ready to assure end users that all of these issues are being dealt with and that the benefit of video analytics far outweighs the hiccups.
SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST
In a constantly changing and ever evolving market where competition continues to get fiercer, adapting to change is the key to survival. However, as VCA has become a larger part of the security industry, how companies have chosen to adapt over the years has varied. While many of the companies that were founded in the early days have since been acquired or closed their doors, some have been able to ride the wave of change without making any huge modifications to their original business model, while others have changed with the technology and learned to adapt to their environment.
One of the easiest and most common ways to get into the VCA market is to partner up with well-known VCA vendors, which many companies have done. Video analytics on the edge is a growing trend in the security industry and video management software (VMS) vendors have realized the value of incorporating VCA technology into their offerings. While some havedeveloped their own video analytics, the majority have partnered with VCA vendors to create a value-added product. Aleksandr Jesikov, Account Manager of Luxriot, a supplier of VMS, bundled with VCA, explained, "Due to the nature of our software, we realized that VCA will play an essential part in the video surveillance industry. Since it is most important for us to offer the best products and technologies to our customers, we decided to use the VCA core from a time and market proven partner as a value-added feature."
Regardless of whether or not companies develop their own or partner with established VCA companies, the thing to focus on is how VCA is spreading through the security industry like a wildfire.
If it Ain't Broke...Software Success
As the benefits of VCA in security have become more evident, more and more security ip camera companies have added VCA to their product offering as an added-value service, but a handful of companies that came up in the VCA market as strictly VCA software providers have been able to maintain their original business model without needing to change.
Success as a pure VCA software vendor has not been easy, which is evident in the amount of companies that have disappeared from the market over the last decade. But some software-only companies have been able to find success — enough success for them to not need to expand into the hardware side of things. Companies like ObjectVideo (OV), Agent Video Intelligence (Agent Vi), VCA Technology, etc., have been able to stay true to their original mission of being pure VCA software providers due to their strong presence in the market. This does not mean, though, that these companies have not grown and expanded.
OV made headlines a few years ago when they began a series of legal battles with some of the biggest names in the security industry for intellectual property infringement. As one of the biggest names in video analytics, and a software-only provider, OV's lawsuits resulted in a flood of video surveillance companies quickly entering into patent licensing agreements with the company. Now, many of the security industry's biggest players — including but not limited to Bosch Security Systems, Pelco by Schneider Electric, Sony, VIVOTEK, and most recently FLIR Systems and Hikvision — have patent licensing agreements with the company. Their success in software, along with their patent licensing program, has allowed the company to focus on the software without needing to expand outside of their focus.
One software company that has not seen a need to change is Agent Vi. Founded in 2003, the company is focused exclusively on developing VCA software and applications. With a successful business model already in place, Zvika Ashani, CTO of Agent Vi, pointed out that the company sees no reason to change. "We've been able to build a global channel program and distribute our software, and we don't see any reason to expand to other areas," said Ashani. Additionally, with an ecosystem of technology partners that include camera manufacturers and video management software (VMS) vendors, Agent Vi sees no reason to try and fix something that is not broken.
Another company that has stayed true to its VCA software roots is VCA Technology. Founded seven years ago as a specialist OEM video analytics provider, VCA Technology is focused on providing VCA software libraries for ip camera manufacturers, VMS, and DVRs to build into their products. The company's SDK provides the foundation for many companies' video analytics. Initially, VCA Technology was concentrated on security and perimeter protection, but as demand in the market has evolved, the company has broadened into other areas such as counting, retail, and web-based applications. "We have shipped 170,000 units so far, but with the wider market in mind, we are broadening the range of supported platforms to include Windows, Linux, PC, and embedded processors," said Geoff Thiel, CEO of VCA Technology.
Embedded From the Start While companies like the aforementioned found success with VCA software as a standalone product, other companies view VCA software alone as a nonstarter and thereby established companies with VCA embedded into other products, whether it be hardware or other software. "The initial assumption was that VCA is a viable product all by itself," said Jesikov, "However, as time as passed by it became clear that VCA can only be a part of a bigger integrated product."
SightLogix was founded in 2004 on the principle that software alone cannot solve a problem; it needs hardware to accompany it. John Romanowich, CEO and founder of SightLogix, explained that to solve the problem of detecting what is wanted and ignoring what is not wanted, good integration of hardware and software is necessary. As a result, since its founding, SightLogix has been embedding video analytics on the edge in thermal cameras for use in outdoor perimeter applications. By putting the analytics onboard the thermal camera, and applying a high degree of video processing, the camera shifts from simply a surveillance device to a security device, as pointed out by Romanowich.
Other companies, such as Intelligent Security Systems (ISS) were founded on a similar principle of embedding VCA software into hardware, but have since modified their business model, integrating video analytics into VMS instead of hardware. When ISS was established in 1999 they were a DVR manufacturer; however, their DVR had built-in analytics. Over time, ISS noted that more and more customers had a need for management services for their video. Therefore, based on customers' needs and where the market was moving, ISS shifted their focus from DVRs to VMS with added-value analytics, which they now embed into hardware, according to Aluisio Figueiredo, COO of ISS. "At the end of the day, if there is no value added, it's [VMS] a commodity. With value added we can provide a tailor-made solution for every customer."
When established in 2003, Aimetis was an analytics company focused on third party integration, but there were significant business and technology obstacles to overcome at the time. Because the potential of analytics was not yet understood, potential partners were slow to invest, explained Justin Schorn, VP of Product Management at Aimetis. "From a technology standpoint, the hardware performance of existing products was insufficient to simply ‘bolt on' analytics. As a result, Aimetis focused on building a video management platform from scratch with VCA as a key differentiator."
Outsiders Getting in on the Action
Although video analytics is not new to the security industry, adoption has only been gradual. Video analytics is not yet a standard, but seeing the added value of VCA technology, many security companies have acquired, partnered with, or developed their own analytics to add to their offering. Several notable acquisitions of video analytics companies have been made over the last decade, for example Infinova's 2012 acquisition of March Networks, and most recently Avigilon's acquisition of VideoIQ in January of this year. Additionally, in 2013, Kastle Systems, well known for delivering access control as a service, acquired CheckVideo, a provider of cloud-based intelligent video surveillance and alarm verification solutions. This trend of acquiring video analytics companies is also how many total solution providers got into the VCA game.
In 2007, Honeywell Security got in on the VCA game through the acquisition of ActivEye, a small specialist VCA company. This allowed the company to add complementary solutions to their video offering. Their goal in the acquisition was "to ensure that video content analytics sits at the core of integrated security systems, ensuring the technology provides tangible benefits to the security manager," said Jeremy Kimber, Commercial Operations Marketing Leader of EMEA at Honeywell Security. Similarly, Tyco Security Products' 2008 acquisition of Intellivid, a retail data analytics company, was a stepping stone into VCA technology for the company, originally part of a retail-centric product offering, according Shahar Ze'evi, Senior Product Manager at Tyco Security Products; however, the company has spent the last few years developing the technology to provide functionality for the broader security market. Ze'evi further noted, "Our view of analytics has never been as a standalone application but rather as an additional tool that enhances our VMS offering."
Many other security ip camera companies have acquired VCA companies as well. DVTel, a total solution provider of video surveillance, acquired intelligent video provider ioimage in 2010. "The addition of VCA technology to our product offering was important and necessary," said Kim Loy, VP of Global Marketing and Chief Product Officer of DVTel. "Rather than start the development of VCA, the company [DVTel] acquired ioimage, which already had a strong brand that was known and trusted in the industry."
More specialized companies such a FLIR Systems have also acquired more niche video analytics companies, such as Traficon, a company that specializes in video image processing software and hardware for traffic analysis. FLIR's 2012 acquisition of Traficon paved the way for the company to more aptly penetrate the intelligent transportation systems market.
THE YEAR FOR VCA (?)
Regardless of how or when security ip camera companies entered into the video analytics world, the increased interest is surely a good omen for the future of VCA. As more vendors begin to include video analytics in their offering, along with the continued growth of technology, accuracy, and education, there is no reason for 2014 to not be the year of VCA.
In 2006, intelligent video software, also known as Video Content Analysis (VCA) or video analytics, was chosen as a&s International's Prime Product of the Year. At that time, VCA was called a "coming-of-age" product. Since then, VCA vendors and security players alike have been eagerly waiting for the other VCA shoe to drop. For years, the security industry has been wondering whether or not "this" was the year for VCA, the turning point. Unfortunately, reality is that moment has yet to come. However, something new is brewing in 2014. This year, VCA vendors and security players sense that this really is the year for VCA.
The global video analytics market was estimated to be worth US$250 million in 2012 and is expected to reach around $1.3 billion in 2017 at a CAGR of 38.6 percent from 2012 to 2017, according to a September 2012 report published by MarketsandMarkets. The Americas will lead the market with APAC observed to grow at the highest rate, primarily due to the growth of technology and increasing awareness for network video surveillance. Additionally, non-security applications of video analytics in entertainment and visual communications are considered lucrative markets, according to the report.
Although the VCA market has encountered many a speed bump, improved technology and continued market education have helped VCA overcome some of its initial challenges. Key factors driving the video analytics market, according to the MarketsandMarkets report, include the transition of video surveillance systems from analog to IP-based, emergence of open standards, and increase in the efficiency of video surveillance systems. However, the market still faces many challenges: complexity, higher cost of maintenance, and the occurrence of false alarms. Despite these challenges, VCA vendors and security companies are ready to assure end users that all of these issues are being dealt with and that the benefit of video analytics far outweighs the hiccups.
SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST
In a constantly changing and ever evolving market where competition continues to get fiercer, adapting to change is the key to survival. However, as VCA has become a larger part of the security industry, how companies have chosen to adapt over the years has varied. While many of the companies that were founded in the early days have since been acquired or closed their doors, some have been able to ride the wave of change without making any huge modifications to their original business model, while others have changed with the technology and learned to adapt to their environment.
One of the easiest and most common ways to get into the VCA market is to partner up with well-known VCA vendors, which many companies have done. Video analytics on the edge is a growing trend in the security industry and video management software (VMS) vendors have realized the value of incorporating VCA technology into their offerings. While some havedeveloped their own video analytics, the majority have partnered with VCA vendors to create a value-added product. Aleksandr Jesikov, Account Manager of Luxriot, a supplier of VMS, bundled with VCA, explained, "Due to the nature of our software, we realized that VCA will play an essential part in the video surveillance industry. Since it is most important for us to offer the best products and technologies to our customers, we decided to use the VCA core from a time and market proven partner as a value-added feature."
Regardless of whether or not companies develop their own or partner with established VCA companies, the thing to focus on is how VCA is spreading through the security industry like a wildfire.
If it Ain't Broke...Software Success
As the benefits of VCA in security have become more evident, more and more security ip camera companies have added VCA to their product offering as an added-value service, but a handful of companies that came up in the VCA market as strictly VCA software providers have been able to maintain their original business model without needing to change.
Success as a pure VCA software vendor has not been easy, which is evident in the amount of companies that have disappeared from the market over the last decade. But some software-only companies have been able to find success — enough success for them to not need to expand into the hardware side of things. Companies like ObjectVideo (OV), Agent Video Intelligence (Agent Vi), VCA Technology, etc., have been able to stay true to their original mission of being pure VCA software providers due to their strong presence in the market. This does not mean, though, that these companies have not grown and expanded.
OV made headlines a few years ago when they began a series of legal battles with some of the biggest names in the security industry for intellectual property infringement. As one of the biggest names in video analytics, and a software-only provider, OV's lawsuits resulted in a flood of video surveillance companies quickly entering into patent licensing agreements with the company. Now, many of the security industry's biggest players — including but not limited to Bosch Security Systems, Pelco by Schneider Electric, Sony, VIVOTEK, and most recently FLIR Systems and Hikvision — have patent licensing agreements with the company. Their success in software, along with their patent licensing program, has allowed the company to focus on the software without needing to expand outside of their focus.
One software company that has not seen a need to change is Agent Vi. Founded in 2003, the company is focused exclusively on developing VCA software and applications. With a successful business model already in place, Zvika Ashani, CTO of Agent Vi, pointed out that the company sees no reason to change. "We've been able to build a global channel program and distribute our software, and we don't see any reason to expand to other areas," said Ashani. Additionally, with an ecosystem of technology partners that include camera manufacturers and video management software (VMS) vendors, Agent Vi sees no reason to try and fix something that is not broken.
Another company that has stayed true to its VCA software roots is VCA Technology. Founded seven years ago as a specialist OEM video analytics provider, VCA Technology is focused on providing VCA software libraries for ip camera manufacturers, VMS, and DVRs to build into their products. The company's SDK provides the foundation for many companies' video analytics. Initially, VCA Technology was concentrated on security and perimeter protection, but as demand in the market has evolved, the company has broadened into other areas such as counting, retail, and web-based applications. "We have shipped 170,000 units so far, but with the wider market in mind, we are broadening the range of supported platforms to include Windows, Linux, PC, and embedded processors," said Geoff Thiel, CEO of VCA Technology.
Embedded From the Start While companies like the aforementioned found success with VCA software as a standalone product, other companies view VCA software alone as a nonstarter and thereby established companies with VCA embedded into other products, whether it be hardware or other software. "The initial assumption was that VCA is a viable product all by itself," said Jesikov, "However, as time as passed by it became clear that VCA can only be a part of a bigger integrated product."
SightLogix was founded in 2004 on the principle that software alone cannot solve a problem; it needs hardware to accompany it. John Romanowich, CEO and founder of SightLogix, explained that to solve the problem of detecting what is wanted and ignoring what is not wanted, good integration of hardware and software is necessary. As a result, since its founding, SightLogix has been embedding video analytics on the edge in thermal cameras for use in outdoor perimeter applications. By putting the analytics onboard the thermal camera, and applying a high degree of video processing, the camera shifts from simply a surveillance device to a security device, as pointed out by Romanowich.
Other companies, such as Intelligent Security Systems (ISS) were founded on a similar principle of embedding VCA software into hardware, but have since modified their business model, integrating video analytics into VMS instead of hardware. When ISS was established in 1999 they were a DVR manufacturer; however, their DVR had built-in analytics. Over time, ISS noted that more and more customers had a need for management services for their video. Therefore, based on customers' needs and where the market was moving, ISS shifted their focus from DVRs to VMS with added-value analytics, which they now embed into hardware, according to Aluisio Figueiredo, COO of ISS. "At the end of the day, if there is no value added, it's [VMS] a commodity. With value added we can provide a tailor-made solution for every customer."
When established in 2003, Aimetis was an analytics company focused on third party integration, but there were significant business and technology obstacles to overcome at the time. Because the potential of analytics was not yet understood, potential partners were slow to invest, explained Justin Schorn, VP of Product Management at Aimetis. "From a technology standpoint, the hardware performance of existing products was insufficient to simply ‘bolt on' analytics. As a result, Aimetis focused on building a video management platform from scratch with VCA as a key differentiator."
Outsiders Getting in on the Action
Although video analytics is not new to the security industry, adoption has only been gradual. Video analytics is not yet a standard, but seeing the added value of VCA technology, many security companies have acquired, partnered with, or developed their own analytics to add to their offering. Several notable acquisitions of video analytics companies have been made over the last decade, for example Infinova's 2012 acquisition of March Networks, and most recently Avigilon's acquisition of VideoIQ in January of this year. Additionally, in 2013, Kastle Systems, well known for delivering access control as a service, acquired CheckVideo, a provider of cloud-based intelligent video surveillance and alarm verification solutions. This trend of acquiring video analytics companies is also how many total solution providers got into the VCA game.
In 2007, Honeywell Security got in on the VCA game through the acquisition of ActivEye, a small specialist VCA company. This allowed the company to add complementary solutions to their video offering. Their goal in the acquisition was "to ensure that video content analytics sits at the core of integrated security systems, ensuring the technology provides tangible benefits to the security manager," said Jeremy Kimber, Commercial Operations Marketing Leader of EMEA at Honeywell Security. Similarly, Tyco Security Products' 2008 acquisition of Intellivid, a retail data analytics company, was a stepping stone into VCA technology for the company, originally part of a retail-centric product offering, according Shahar Ze'evi, Senior Product Manager at Tyco Security Products; however, the company has spent the last few years developing the technology to provide functionality for the broader security market. Ze'evi further noted, "Our view of analytics has never been as a standalone application but rather as an additional tool that enhances our VMS offering."
Many other security ip camera companies have acquired VCA companies as well. DVTel, a total solution provider of video surveillance, acquired intelligent video provider ioimage in 2010. "The addition of VCA technology to our product offering was important and necessary," said Kim Loy, VP of Global Marketing and Chief Product Officer of DVTel. "Rather than start the development of VCA, the company [DVTel] acquired ioimage, which already had a strong brand that was known and trusted in the industry."
More specialized companies such a FLIR Systems have also acquired more niche video analytics companies, such as Traficon, a company that specializes in video image processing software and hardware for traffic analysis. FLIR's 2012 acquisition of Traficon paved the way for the company to more aptly penetrate the intelligent transportation systems market.
THE YEAR FOR VCA (?)
Regardless of how or when security ip camera companies entered into the video analytics world, the increased interest is surely a good omen for the future of VCA. As more vendors begin to include video analytics in their offering, along with the continued growth of technology, accuracy, and education, there is no reason for 2014 to not be the year of VCA.
2014/09/03
GWSECU IP Camera and NVR, Connected As easy As 1, 2, 3
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2014/09/02
THE NEW NORMAL: A Risk Society
We live in a very different world today - a world of risks, a fast changing world - and looking ahead, such changes and risks will continue. I call it "the new normal" since this is expected to be the basis going forward.
Speaking of China, we see changes in the positions of the world's leading economies, with China expected to take over as number one within the next decade. This increases the importance and influence of the entire Asia Pacific region. Our nations are no longer isolated entities: one country's economic events can cascade into others - our fates are connected more than ever before.
Since 9/11, security and public safety concerns have of course been a big focus in the U.S., and increasingly overseas. On every continent, public safety has become a more important concern during the past decade. Motivating incidences include terrorist attacks in Boston, London, Madrid, and tumult during the cascading Arab Spring where democratic uprisings arose independently to spread across nations.
According to an October 2013 report, “Attacks and fatalities soared to a record high in 2012. More than 8,500 terrorist attacks killed nearly 15,500 people as violence tore through Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, according to the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism. That is a 69 percent rise in attacks and an 89 percent jump in fatalities from 2011, according to START, one of the world's leading terrorism-trackers."
Milestone is living our mission and vision: to globally drive the convergence of video surveillance and IP-based business systems through our open platform and business model. We have changed the industry's expectations of video surveillance by demonstrating the unlimited potential that comes with the freedom to choose components and the power to integrate with third-party systems.
By working with the open platform, partners and customers get better solutions that leverage the best of our industry, that work both today and long into the future, able to add any new equipment and systems as they become available over time. What a flexible concept! And it is flexibility that allows us to adapt to change.
However, risks and changes are not the same as failure. A changing world is also a world of new opportunities. It is our job together to spot those opportunities and turn them into business. This is how we can collaborate. I am convinced that we are capable of adapting to and exploiting the megatrends changing our world. This is why open platform video management software (VMS) is becoming so important to so many people.
Today, we know that video surveillance is about so much more than just security. Our partners attest from daily experiences with customer installations that for many companies surveillance has become an integrated and logical part of the daily business process. For example, in the areas of production, warehousing, shipping, and other kinds of asset monitoring or process control, video is a central function for improved quality and efficiency.
We see that our surveillance technology is very helpful when it comes to assisting with environmental regulations and other compliance matters for businesses and institutions, such as safety or hygiene procedures. Our aging population is driving demand for call alert systems and expanded alarm monitoring, as well. Hospitals are discovering video is a tool for better patient care around the clock.
So, there is indeed a growing market of opportunities out there with open platform IP video management technology and integrations. According to the market analyst institute IMS Research, an IHS company, the IP-based video surveillance market is expected to double in size between 2012 and 2017. This will expand the market from US$4.8 to $13 billion. Or put another way, by more than 170 percent - astounding!
You have to agree that a radical and pervasive change is happening in our lives. As a matter of fact, we are in the midst of a revolution.
Milestone plans to continue developing the market, as one of the leading companies in the open platform VMS market. With around 3,000 partner companies and 7,000 certification-trained individuals who are updated every two years, we have a well built-up channel and exceeded 100,000 customer installations with our VMS solutions. This development is a reflection of how our product portfolio is able to fit the needs of various markets.
Recall the development in the IP-based telephony market: it was a convergent market over a decade. Its market share more than doubled in that time - from 25 percent to 57 percent, outperforming the traditional technologies. It is realistic to expect similar development in our IP-based video industry with plenty of room for growth ahead.
Analog equipment purchases still account for around 50 percent of the security market today but just think: this means that half of the people are installing outdated technology for business use that they do not even have at home anymore! Everyone uses IP-based technology in their personal lives now. Its advantages are made clear in our daily lives, and we come to expect those whether at play or work.
In a world with such high risk factors, Milestone is ready to tackle new chances for opportunity, as well as be a problem solver in a growing community of problem solvers.
THE ECONOMY
We have a completely changed world economy today, with repeated budget cuts in many countries having put our customers under pressure in recent years, especially in certain vertical sectors, yet higher spending in other areas. For example, we have experienced major changes in defense budgets, not only in the U.S. but also across Europe. At the same time, we have seen higher security investments in Latin America, India, and China. Now the US economy is gaining momentum, Europe has stabilized, and it seems the worst is behind us for now.Speaking of China, we see changes in the positions of the world's leading economies, with China expected to take over as number one within the next decade. This increases the importance and influence of the entire Asia Pacific region. Our nations are no longer isolated entities: one country's economic events can cascade into others - our fates are connected more than ever before.
POLITICS
We see political changes in many markets. Elections affect economic policies, government funding, and investment confidence. Politics can influence the degree of regulatory requirements with regard to increased security and a growing harmonization of policies, along with stricter laws on data usage and access. This is indeed affecting our industry. Political unrest also affects public and personal safety, feeds vandalism or even terrorism, creating the need for intensified safety and security measures.Since 9/11, security and public safety concerns have of course been a big focus in the U.S., and increasingly overseas. On every continent, public safety has become a more important concern during the past decade. Motivating incidences include terrorist attacks in Boston, London, Madrid, and tumult during the cascading Arab Spring where democratic uprisings arose independently to spread across nations.
According to an October 2013 report, “Attacks and fatalities soared to a record high in 2012. More than 8,500 terrorist attacks killed nearly 15,500 people as violence tore through Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, according to the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism. That is a 69 percent rise in attacks and an 89 percent jump in fatalities from 2011, according to START, one of the world's leading terrorism-trackers."
CLIMATE
Our world today also has an increased focus on climate change issues, including how to monitor and tackle severe storms, more hurricanes than ever, flooding, and other kinds of extreme weather. Video surveillance is proving to be an operational tool for monitoring and alerting, aiding response, measuring and tracking the effects. We also see a change in the direction of improved security systems to protect infrastructure, energy supplies and natural resources.TECHNOLOGY
We are involved with constantly changing technological developments through emerging innovations such as biometrics; panoramic, high-resolution, and thermal cameras; edge device storage; cloud computing; RFID, and video analytics. Much of this is thanks to the convergence of IP networking as the core infrastructure of every new installation.Milestone is living our mission and vision: to globally drive the convergence of video surveillance and IP-based business systems through our open platform and business model. We have changed the industry's expectations of video surveillance by demonstrating the unlimited potential that comes with the freedom to choose components and the power to integrate with third-party systems.
By working with the open platform, partners and customers get better solutions that leverage the best of our industry, that work both today and long into the future, able to add any new equipment and systems as they become available over time. What a flexible concept! And it is flexibility that allows us to adapt to change.
LIFE IS CHANGE - RISK AND OPPORTUNITY
Our world is indeed changing. Moreover, we are part of what has been named a "Risk Society". Ulrich Beck, who holds a professorship at Munich University and at the London School of Economics, defines “Risk Society" as a term to describe the manner in which modern society organizes in response to risk. That includes all kinds of insecurities induced by modernization: linked economies, political inter-dependencies, the growing importance of technology, and climate changes as outlined above.However, risks and changes are not the same as failure. A changing world is also a world of new opportunities. It is our job together to spot those opportunities and turn them into business. This is how we can collaborate. I am convinced that we are capable of adapting to and exploiting the megatrends changing our world. This is why open platform video management software (VMS) is becoming so important to so many people.
Today, we know that video surveillance is about so much more than just security. Our partners attest from daily experiences with customer installations that for many companies surveillance has become an integrated and logical part of the daily business process. For example, in the areas of production, warehousing, shipping, and other kinds of asset monitoring or process control, video is a central function for improved quality and efficiency.
We see that our surveillance technology is very helpful when it comes to assisting with environmental regulations and other compliance matters for businesses and institutions, such as safety or hygiene procedures. Our aging population is driving demand for call alert systems and expanded alarm monitoring, as well. Hospitals are discovering video is a tool for better patient care around the clock.
So, there is indeed a growing market of opportunities out there with open platform IP video management technology and integrations. According to the market analyst institute IMS Research, an IHS company, the IP-based video surveillance market is expected to double in size between 2012 and 2017. This will expand the market from US$4.8 to $13 billion. Or put another way, by more than 170 percent - astounding!
You have to agree that a radical and pervasive change is happening in our lives. As a matter of fact, we are in the midst of a revolution.
Milestone plans to continue developing the market, as one of the leading companies in the open platform VMS market. With around 3,000 partner companies and 7,000 certification-trained individuals who are updated every two years, we have a well built-up channel and exceeded 100,000 customer installations with our VMS solutions. This development is a reflection of how our product portfolio is able to fit the needs of various markets.
ABILITY TO GROW WITH OPEN PLATFORM
So, what does the future look like in this industry? Let me make an analogy.Recall the development in the IP-based telephony market: it was a convergent market over a decade. Its market share more than doubled in that time - from 25 percent to 57 percent, outperforming the traditional technologies. It is realistic to expect similar development in our IP-based video industry with plenty of room for growth ahead.
Analog equipment purchases still account for around 50 percent of the security market today but just think: this means that half of the people are installing outdated technology for business use that they do not even have at home anymore! Everyone uses IP-based technology in their personal lives now. Its advantages are made clear in our daily lives, and we come to expect those whether at play or work.
GROWTH DOES NOT OCCUR BY CHANCE
Yet growth is not something that just happens! We know that growth is the result of forces working together with the open platform - which you could say is a commitment to change: embracing the chances to make opportunities happen. We believe that when our company grows, it is due to the multiplier effect of our entire ecosystem leveraging the Milestone open platform. It creates opportunities for our partners when we join forces; the offerings we provide to the end customers are more valuable and long-lasting for their ability to expand.In a world with such high risk factors, Milestone is ready to tackle new chances for opportunity, as well as be a problem solver in a growing community of problem solvers.
10 Security Corporate News
1. LILIN Signs Distribution Agreement with Invision UK
LILIN, a manufacturer of IP-based video security products, announced that it has signed a strategic distribution agreement with Invision UK. This partnership enables Invision UK to sell and support LILIN’s product line.Established in 1980, LILIN has developed a full line of products, from megapixel cameras to network video recorders that can be used with products from many leading companies including Control4, Savant Systems, and URC. This integration provides a smart, convenient, and efficient home solution for the user.
This new distribution agreement offers home automation and custom installation dealers access to a sales network from one of the U.K.’s fastest growing trade only distributors of integrated AV solutions for residential, commercial, and marine applications.
Jason Hill, Group VP of LILIN commented, “LILIN has committed to becoming the preferred manufacturer of HD cameras and recording systems to the global CI market, we are already integrated with Control4, Savant, and URC and expect drivers for ELAN, Crestron, RTI, and AMX to be finished in the new year. Our end-to-end HD surveillance solutions are suited to the high-end residential, leisure, and entertainment sectors as they are simple to operate, easy to integrate, and do not rely on PCs or software.”
2. Sentry 360 Announces the Largest 360-degree Camera Deployment in Mass Transit History
Sentry 360, a US-based manufacturer of ultra HD surveillance cameras and systems, announced the deployment of the largest 360-degree surveillance camera system in mass transit history. The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) operates the nation’s second largest public transportation system, servicing the city of Chicago and 35 surrounding suburbs. On an average weekday, approximately 1.7 million rides are taken on the CTA.The Sentry360 cameras are integrated into the CT's existing video management system platform, made by Teleste. Teleste was able to integrate Sentry 360's intellectual property, through a software development kit, into the CTA's existing video management system allowing the correction of the fisheye view, and delivering the capability to pan-tilt-zoom in all directions both live and forensically, in recorded video.
This effort complements other CTA initiatives to bring video coverage across the entire fleet of rail cars, delivering the high quality of security to millions of commuters on a daily basis. Future real-time wireless communications will allow the CTA's control center and the City of Chicago's Office of Emergency Management and Communications to view live feeds from the rail cars on-demand, adding a vital resource for comprehensive incident management and response.
3. HDcctv Alliance Approves New HDcctv 2.0 Standards
Surveillance video standards organization HDcctv Alliance has ratified the next generation of its high definition security video standard, HDcctv 2.0. The new standard was agreed to by the HDcctv board of directors, and provides variants which have significant advantages over HD-SDI transmission.The new standards have been developed and agreed for equipment which can produce HD video without the need for IP-based cameras or Ethernet cabling within the secured premises. Todd Rockoff, HDcctv Executive Director said, "There are two primary variants of HDcctv 2.0 – NR and AT. HDcctv 2.0 NR DVRs and cameras add plug & play up-the-coax remote control to the underlying HD-SDI format. HDcctv 2.0 AT delivers true HDTV signals over any legacy CCTV coaxial cabling, along with plug & play up-the-coax remote control."
Jon Hwang, CEO of Eyenix, said, "Those responsible for designing and specifying surveillance systems are now able to work with HDcctv as easily as they worked with analog CCTV 10 years ago. Certified HDcctv-compliant products from a variety of manufacturers will always interoperate, without having to test all pair-wise combinations."
4. ONVIF Releases Profile C for Physical Access Control
ONVIF, the global standardization initiative for IP-based physical security products, announced the final release of Profile C, which brings the functionality of the ONVIF global interface specification into the physical access control arena. Through Profile C, systems integrators, specifiers, and consultants are able to achieve interoperability between clients and devices of physical access control systems (PACS) and network-based video systems. With this final release, including the availability of the Profile C Test Tool, manufacturers are now able to introduce Profile C conformant products to the market.With Profile C, compatibility between access control edge devices and clients is improved, installation simplified, and training time diminished because of the reduced need for multiple proprietary monitoring systems to handle different PACS devices. Profile C conformant devices within the access control system provide door and access point information and functionality related to basic door control activities such as locking and unlocking doors, when a door has been accessed, and other door monitoring tasks.
Profile C can also be combined with ONVIF Profile S for video and audio streaming so users can group related access and video devices, sharing the same device management features such as network configuration and system settings.
5. ABI Research: 500 Million Wireless Smart Home Devices Installed by 2018
The smart home concept is increasingly moving center stage and demand for wireless devices continues to grow. In 2013, sales of wireless embedded smart home monitoring devices, including contact and motion sensors, smart thermostats, and smart plugs, grew to 17.23 million, almost double shipments in 2012. Continuing momentum will ensure that by 2018, more than 500 million wireless smart home monitoring devices will be deployed in homes around the world. Growth will develop as new users move to smart home systems and as users extend their existing systems.Vendors including Honeywell, GE, Nest (now Google), Kwikset, UTC, and many others are increasingly adding wireless connectivity to their home devices, bringing network connectivity and remote management to their offerings in order to appeal to growing numbers of smart home consumers.
Contact sensors for detecting whether windows and doors are closed were the most popular smart home monitoring device shipped last year while motion sensors were in second place. Both devices support smart home monitoring functionality but can also be used for additional applications such as energy management. “Combined, over 84 million contact and motion sensors will ship annually by 2018; however, it is smart plugs, smart door locks, and connected smoke & CO detectors that will see the greatest shipment growth,” commented Adarsh Krishnan, Senior Analyst at ABI Research.
As the market for wireless smart home devices grows, there remains competition between wireless protocols to capture market share. Each protocol has its advantages and disadvantages and some will play more to the smart appliance rather than smart device space.
6. FingerTec Deployed in Al Jazeera and Headquarters in Qatar
Dealing with ever busy and always on-the-go news crews and thousands of employees, Al Jazeera news channel is finding a way to manage time attendance of their workforce effectively without disrupting their staff's hectic schedules. Considering a few options, the organization decided on FingerTec's devices due to its biometrics system, wireless connection, and multimedia feature.Fingerprint technology provides the users with a hassle-free way of clocking attendance with just a touch on the scanner yet giving them accurate data of everybody each time. The devices are installed at the management building of Al Jazeera Channel to track the comings and goings of the employees at the headquarters, and at the same time act as a multimedia portal covering Al Jazeera news when the device is not in use for attendance.
The deployment of FingerTec's devices in Al Jazeera was assisted by FingerTec Qatar, FingerTec's distributor in this region. Both FingerTec hardware and software come with an option of utilizing Arabic, making it easy for local employees to choose if Arabic is indeed required.
7. IHS: Quality and Quantity Increase in Video Surveillance Cabling
Over 2 million kilometers of new cabling was used in video surveillance solutions in 2013. The study of IHS looking at the world market for cabling and Ethernet switches and infrastructure used in video surveillance, forecasts that market growth will exceed the rate for the wider market for video surveillance equipment, as surrounding infrastructure becomes more important.When specifying systems, cabling and infrastructure has been seen a low priority when compared to cameras and recorders in the video surveillance industry. However, this balance is beginning to change. Aaron Dale, Market Analyst in the security group at IHS co mmented, "In response to the growing scale and complexity of video surveillance networks, end users are increasingly looking to future proof their cabling and infrastructure."
Dale continued, "Longevity of the system even beyond the camera's lifetime is increasingly featuring in end-users cost-benefit analysis; this has the effect of increasing demand in the high-end market. Indeed by 2018, Category 6a (or higher) Ethernet cable is expected to equal revenues for Category 6 (or lower) cable.”
Some vendors have been quick to capitalize on growth in this market. Furthermore, there has been a host of new partnerships bet ween video surveillance equipment manufacturers and networking equipment manufacturers. Such partnerships are likely to lead to video surveillance being increasingly incorporated on wider networks with more than one purpose.
8. SecurEnvoy Bolsters Security at Dutch Institute for Mental Health
SecurEnvoy's authentication solution was installed at the Dutch Institute for Mental Health. It replaces the previous token-based system used to identify staff when they logged into the corporate network. The system will provide security regarding access to electronic patient records.The system installation was carried out by the SecurEnvoy partner Motiv, who also provided training on the system for two IT managers at the institute. Around 500 employees currently use the system and it is expected that all 1,500 carers will be working with it over the next 12 months.
9. PureTech Systems Unveils Pima County Water Reclamation Facilities
PureTech's video analytic surveillance software has been installed as perimeter protection for the Pima County Regional Wastewater Reclamation Department (RWRD) in Arizona.The Pima County RWRD is responsible for nine water reclamation facilities within Pima County. RWRD is a significant producer of effluent/reclaimed water in eastern Pima County and a major steward of the groundwater and aquifer recovery in southern Arizona.
The locations utilizing the new technology include the Avra Valley WRF, WES Center, and Tres Rios WRF facilities. All three facilities are located in Tucson. The systems comprise multiple security technologies aimed at protecting the perimeter and critical assets of these water reclamation facilities. The installations feature geospatial video analytics and introduce PureTech's most recent third party capability — integration with the OnSSI video management software.
10. Raytec Systems Monitor River Conditions in U.K.
In the wake of devastating national flooding in the U.K., security systems are being deployed in a bid to minimize future damage and provide an early warning system to residents. Lighting specialists Raytec, Mobotix, and Farson Digital Watercams are three companies who have teamed up to provide a system designed to monitor river conditions in the U.K.Designed by Farson Digital Watercams, the nationwide HD camera network using Mobotix cameras provides real-time video feeds of multiple river sites. But it is the Raytec infra-red LED lighting which is crucial to allowing the system to operate even during hours of complete darkness.
The network camera system allows interested parties to view live footage of the rivers at any time, day or night. This is especially crucial for monitoring locations which are isolated or difficult to access.
Farson Digital Watercams also saw the energy and cost saving benefit in choosing LED illuminators. All Raytec illuminators provide a 10 year life, have a low power consumption, and low running costs.
2014/09/01
Alarm and Fire Safety Systems for Smart Home
There are 4 aspects that the smart home strives to automate: communication, electricity control, security and housekeeping. Therefore, smart homes generally utilize and integrate technologies like communication, electricity control, security, fire safety, video surveillance and more.
2 of the most critical elements in a smart home are a well-designed alarm system and fire safety system. For buyers hunting for alarm systems and fire safety systems that are intended for smart homes, Secutech recommends 5 basic features to look for: Panic buttons, centralized monitoring station, detailed event display and logging, automated notifications, and integration with other home appliances.
Current smart home security systems utilize communication, sensors, automation and other technologies to fuse into a single system HVAC and home appliance control, indoor security and safety, and home management. Alarm systems that integrate with other systems in the smart home should have the following 5 features:
1. Panic button:
Panic buttons are a quick and simple way to call for help in case of fi res or other emergencies. When pressed, a panic button sends a signal to the home automation or building management system. It should be installed at the bedside or other easy-to-reach places.
2. Automated alert and SOS request:
Intrusions can be detected by installing various types of sensors around the home. When a sensor is triggered, it sounds the alarm siren and also alerts the home automation or the building management system that assistance is required. Monitoring centers or security guards can then immediately call the police, resolving the situation as soon as possible.
3. Alert and event management:
When a homeowner leaves the home and arms the alarm system, the system will detect intrusions and immediately alert home automation and building management systems. Monitoring centers or security guards will be notified of door number at which the event took place and also the type of alarm triggered. Records of alerts should be automatically saved in the system for future reference.
4. Automated dialing and notifications:
A smart building's security system should allows users to set multiple emergency contact numbers. Different types of alarms trigger the dialing of different contact numbers. Users should also be able to set the alarm system to send notifications to a mobile phone.
5. Integration with other home appliances:
When a homeowner leaves the home and arms the alarm system, the system should automatically turn off home appliances that do not need to stay on. When a user comes back and disarms the alarm system, the system can automatically turn on some lights and take door and window sensors offline. However, indoor flammable gas and smoke detectors should always remain armed.
The most critical components in fire safety systems are sensors. Sensors that are commonly used for fire safety are infrared sensors, flammable gas detectors, and smoke detectors. These sensors are the "eyes and ears" of the fire safety system, which monitors the home for signs of danger. Once a potential danger is detected, the system alerts the home automation or building management system and notifies relevant authorities that assistance is required.
2 of the most critical elements in a smart home are a well-designed alarm system and fire safety system. For buyers hunting for alarm systems and fire safety systems that are intended for smart homes, Secutech recommends 5 basic features to look for: Panic buttons, centralized monitoring station, detailed event display and logging, automated notifications, and integration with other home appliances.
Current smart home security systems utilize communication, sensors, automation and other technologies to fuse into a single system HVAC and home appliance control, indoor security and safety, and home management. Alarm systems that integrate with other systems in the smart home should have the following 5 features:
1. Panic button:
Panic buttons are a quick and simple way to call for help in case of fi res or other emergencies. When pressed, a panic button sends a signal to the home automation or building management system. It should be installed at the bedside or other easy-to-reach places.
2. Automated alert and SOS request:
Intrusions can be detected by installing various types of sensors around the home. When a sensor is triggered, it sounds the alarm siren and also alerts the home automation or the building management system that assistance is required. Monitoring centers or security guards can then immediately call the police, resolving the situation as soon as possible.
3. Alert and event management:
When a homeowner leaves the home and arms the alarm system, the system will detect intrusions and immediately alert home automation and building management systems. Monitoring centers or security guards will be notified of door number at which the event took place and also the type of alarm triggered. Records of alerts should be automatically saved in the system for future reference.
4. Automated dialing and notifications:
A smart building's security system should allows users to set multiple emergency contact numbers. Different types of alarms trigger the dialing of different contact numbers. Users should also be able to set the alarm system to send notifications to a mobile phone.
5. Integration with other home appliances:
When a homeowner leaves the home and arms the alarm system, the system should automatically turn off home appliances that do not need to stay on. When a user comes back and disarms the alarm system, the system can automatically turn on some lights and take door and window sensors offline. However, indoor flammable gas and smoke detectors should always remain armed.
The most critical components in fire safety systems are sensors. Sensors that are commonly used for fire safety are infrared sensors, flammable gas detectors, and smoke detectors. These sensors are the "eyes and ears" of the fire safety system, which monitors the home for signs of danger. Once a potential danger is detected, the system alerts the home automation or building management system and notifies relevant authorities that assistance is required.
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.
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.
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.
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 NVRs1. 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)
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