IP video standards group gains traction

Dec. 5, 2008
ONVIF gains 18 new members, releases v1.0 interface specs

Launched at the Essen security tradeshow in Germany earlier this year from within video surveillance competitors Axis, Bosch and Sony, the Open Network Video Interface Forum (ONVIF) is now gaining some traction. The organization announced today that it has 18 new member companies who have joined the group, and they forum also announced release of version 1.0 of the ONVIF interface specifications.

Among those 18, Cieffe (part of March Networks), Hikvision, IndigoVision and Panasonic have joined as full members. Full members pay some $20,000 per year. Other membership levels include contributing memberships and a user membership. Full members have early access to some specification and marketing materials, voting rights for Committee seats, and can participate in the ONVIF working groups. The forum is organized as a non-profit entity.

Membership levels and rights of members are detailed in the ONVIF Membership Rules document.

The organization also held its first meeting of members and interested parties in Washington, D.C., earlier this week, Dec. 3-4. Some 93 participants from 60 companies participated in the ONVIF event, where the group presented and released the version 1.0 of the ONVIF specifications.

The ONVIF specifications is available for download (v1.0 specification PDF). It discusses interfaces for building multi-manufacturer network video surveillance systems, including device discovery and management, imaging configuration, audio and video streaming, analytics, event handling, PTZ controls and data security.

The organization plans to continue to develop these specifications, and will take advantage of the new members involvement in this process.