LONDON - With the focus of security applications being on providing quality and dependability, the global security industry has been conducting rigorous tests on their video surveillance systems to meet end-user requirements for reliable recording and data processing. The demand for data protection is a top priority among security companies, especially digital video technology enterprises.
Digital video recording's compelling benefits of excess storage, easy retrieval of footage, and remote viewing have helped it outstrip analog recording in video surveillance. The clarity of video and its superior data processing ability have further cemented its dominance over analog video. In fact, data on digital format is even admissible as evidence in courts of law.
"Security companies have been working on different aspects of security such as recording, data processing, and information management systems," says Frost & Sullivan (www.ti.frost.com) Technical Insights Research Analyst Haritha Ramachandran. "In the case of recording and data processing systems, there is very little margin for error since these devices contain the proof required for acquiring judgments."
However, digital technology is still grappling with certain technical shortcomings, one of which is its vulnerability to data tampering. As technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) are still nascent, little progress has been made toward standardizing AI-related technologies.
To ensure that the information recorded is authentic, the industry for data processing technologies in video surveillance has to establish certification or trademark standards.
Apart from ensuring authentic data, the security industry should also try to set up standards to provide variability in surveillance systems.
"Since numerous systems comprise a single security solution, there is a constant concern about matching the different bit rates, frame rates, resolutions, and the other features in a camera," notes Ms. Ramachandran. "Therefore, a certain level of standardisation or adaptability should be established in all systems to enable easy usage."
While the creation of standards is likely to increase uptake in future, the availability of broadband technology is doing its bit to aid current adoption of surveillance systems and Internet Protocol (IP)-based video surveillance.
Since the use of broadband technology is rapidly becoming globally prevalent, end users are becoming more enthusiastic about using network-based security systems that provide secure coverage for large areas. Higher bandwidth, along with better compression techniques, is greatly helping the provision of sophisticated solutions on IP platforms.
"The availability of broadband Internet, which has allowed for greater amounts of data to be stored, is also fueling the use of video recorders(DVRs) and network video recorders (NVRs)," remarks Ms. Ramachandran. "It also enables the capture of better quality pictures than closed circuit television (CCTV)."
Indigo Vision, a prominent provider of IP video solutions, has developed its own advanced system of electronic card (ASEC) chips for moving pictureexperts group 4 (MPEG4) compression. The MPEG4 ASEC can deliver bit rates from 32 kilobits to 4 megabits at different rates. The company created this chip in response to the need for adequate processing power to deliver high-quality video compression.
Video surveillance technology's brisk development is expected to have a profound impact on several other technologies including digital signal processors (DSPs), imaging software, and mass storage. Such massive-scale developments will influence several end-user sectors to deploy the technology.
The most proactive adopter is homeland security, as is evidenced by the considerable investments made by users at both corporate and national levels on CCTV infrastructure and video IP solutions.
"This increased need for security, while being a crucial market driver, is also a technology driver since it encourages the security software market to invent more reliable and fail-proof systems," observes Ms. Ramachandran.
Although national security is expected to be the prime driver of video surveillance, corporations also have a robust business case for migrating to digital video. In the future, sectors such as healthcare, mining, gambling, and critical infrastructure areas are likely to implement video surveillance solutions.
SOURCE Frost & Sullivan
