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IP based Surveillance
At the beginning of surveillance technology there were video recorders with tapes which provided analog recording and connecting with analog cameras.
Next major step was introducing digital video recorders (DVR) which had series of advantages over analog video recorders. Their advantages included storing of video material on hard disks, which was much more practical. Stored video material could be searched for wanted event much faster, and it held a way less space at distinction of large amount of video tapes, and series of other functionality.
New migration happened at the beginning of new millennium when there was tendency of networking of IT equipment over generally accepted IP protocol that included networking of DVR devices. That was simply to expect because a group of TCP/IP protocols were becoming even more popular and generally accepted world wide as with growth of Internet. Characteristic of IP protocol is that it provides connection or connectionless, packet transfer, packet size is variable, and first version, IPv4, was quite easy to implement. There are some other packet-oriented protocols such as ATM, Frame Relay, X.25, which provided some better characteristics, but their appliance didn’t have success because IP was already implemented, supported by most of devices, and there was no critical mass to stand up by one of them to support it. Later, IP protocol was improved with new characteristics and that version is previously named IPng and now IPv6. Of crucial importance to packet transfer is that IPv6 supports QoS (Quality of Service).
Advantages and drawbacks
First IP surveillance systems didn’t provide recording with IP cameras but only video transfer from analogue cameras to DVR device. In time, IP camera was directly connected to network and, on that way, integrated in network.
One of the major advantages of IP based surveillance system is scalability, where IP system supports from one to one thousand cameras at the steps of one camera. IP cameras can have variable values of fps (frames per second). Installation of IP based systems is cheap because most of users already have UTP cabling installation and there is no need of extra investments in that part at contrary from CCTV systems where installation with RG59 cable, which are not cheap, is needed. Also, user has to manage only one network which carries data, speech, video and other control information.
IP based system can be accessed from any location world wide over wired or wireless network which is protected by security protocol. IP cameras are more intelligent, they can decide when to send alarm notification, and when not, to what person and when. Also they have resolution and fps choice.
These are only some of advantages of IP based system which are of greatest importance to the most of users. And now, a few words of disadvantages which were obstacle to development of IP based systems. These are not disadvantages, in other words drawbacks, which were slowing down quick and general acceptance of IP based video surveillance. First drawback was price. Like majority of new products, when they show up on market, they have great price which is unacceptable to the most of new or existing users.
Second drawback was transition. Existing users with digital video recorders and analog cameras don’t want to abandon their system over night to take new and expensive equipment which is not proved yet. So, key-role device is one which can associate existing analog systems with new IP systems, what provides keeping existing devices.
Conclusion
We can conclude that general acceptance of IP based video surveillance systems is indivertible, like what was with digital video receivers versus analog video recorders.
Users will accept new technologies step by step, what means that they will not abandon existing CCTV equipment but have two systems, CCTV and IP, simultaneously. In that transition period, responsibility of connecting analogue and digital systems will be on one device which is named Video Server. They are also called IP codec, but they are in fact pure A/D converters which also do packet creation if we do transformation from analog segment to IP. Method is reversed if we do transformation from IP to analog segment.
In time, IP based video surveillance systems will supplant existing CCTV systems, but not completely, there will always be some number of CCTV systems which will exist because of some users which will not make transition to IP systems due to some reason, financial or some other.
Blancom d.o.o.
Total Security Solutions
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Ruđera Boškovića 27, 21000 Split
Croatia, Europe
Tel: 453 777
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