Scalability

Single Network

Cost

Maintenance

Reliability/Redundancy

Open Standards

Extended Applications

Wireless Surveillance

Security

Power for Cameras

Another good article at the same site compares the analogue components of traditional CCTV with IP CCTV:

A video surveillance system consists of four components – Camera, recording, monitor and video network. The CCTV/DVR systems which were employed earlier used the CCD Cameras to record the video which is converted in to analog form for transmission over the co-axial cables and then again digitized in the DVR (Digital Video Recorder) for compression and recording. So, this multiple conversion system (just to carry the video signals over the Co-axial cable) was quite inefficient especially when the digital video signal was converted in to analog signal then back again to digital signal. That’s where the IP Surveillance system comes in to the picture which enables the entire process to be digitized completely. We will take a look at how it is done at the individual component level.

white paper explaining that:

Camera manufacturers are advertising specifications of 580, 600, 650, and even 700 HTVL, and some of these manufacturers are making these claims even though they are using imaging sensors that are not physically capable of capturing more than 540 HTVL; the practical limit for analog CCTV systems.

HTVL = Horizontal TV (TeleVision) Lines (the measure which is most simply explained as – if you run your finger horizontally across your screen the maximum number of vertical black/white lines that you can resolve).

Visit the Pixim website to download the white paper now.

Pixim make sensor chips. They should know what they’re talking about!

If it raises any queries, please feel free to use the comments below.

The following extract lists the benefits offered by HD CCTV:

HDcctv offers several advantages for the end user, compared to alternative ways of achieving high resolution.

• Surveillance-Grade Reliability: Video is not broken up into packets and then transmitted via an occasionally congested network.
• Plug-and-Play Resolution Upgrade: Transition from CCTV to HDcctv is very easy; just upgrade the DVR and selected cameras.
• Familiar and Reliable User Interface: For the installer/operator, the only difference between HDcctv and CCTV is that the DVR recording configuration screens show higher values (1280 x 720 and/or 1920 x 1080) in the pull-downs for record resolution in addition to the conventional CCTV values.
• True HDTV Live View: HDcctv video signals are not compressed or packetized before transmission, so no compression image artifacts or frame interruptions are observed.
• Real-Time Speed Dome Control: HDcctv is compression-free, with none of the signal delays associated with compression. Therefore an HDcctv system operator experiences no delay between a joystick command and the corresponding speed dome (pan/tilt/zoom dome) response.

Best Possible Input Format for Analytics: HDcctv systems digitally deliver crisp, unadulterated video from cameras to DVR for the clearest possible analytics input.

info4Security have just published an interview with Todd Rockoff, the Executive Director of the HD CCTV Alliance.

Todd says:

The basic proposition is straightforward: replace standard definition cameras and DVRs with high definition-capable equipment, and use currently installed coaxial cable for transmission. Repeaters would be used for cable distances of over 100m. And that’s it.

And:

People are rethinking the idea that IP cameras are about to take over the world.

It’s not only about installers using coax. The user interface of a security system is based on the DVR. And that fact seems to have been forgotten by so many of our colleagues in the industry.

And:

Rockoff says there is still a reluctance amongst installers to get involved with IP cameras and networking. And he’s got an interesting possible explanation as to why…

In the end market, I get the sense that… When I was in school, I don’t know about you, but when I was in third grade, I was the guy who wanted to thread the film in the projector, and I was the guy in the sixth grade who was writing Star Trek computer programs and stuff; and I’m the kind of guy who goes to Carnegie Mellon and gets PhD in Computer Science – and I’m the kind of guy who’s out there selling IP cameras, right?

Well, the guys who install security equipment, they were the guys who were, like, throwing spitballs at me in third grade, and they were out playing football, and dating the girls… They don’t wanna have to be geeks.

So there is a sense of, IP cameras are for nerds. And real security guys don’t do this.

The HDcctv Alliance plans to release v1.0 of its interoperability standard next month, with full product launches taking place by April or May of next year.

Follow this link to read the whole interview about HD CCTV.

CCTV cameras that use an RJ45 connector, and are therefore called IP or Network Cameras, do not necessarily offer a higher resolution!

You need to check the spec – 540TVL approximates to 0.4 megapixel.

A good modern high-resolution CCTV camera will have a resolution capability of about 540 TVL.

What this means is, if you ran your finger across a CCTV monitor you would (if you could see them) be able to resolve 540 vertical lines.

IP camera manufacturers express the resolution capability of their cameras in terms of pixels (in the same way that computer monitor manufacturers do).

A typical current model IP camera might have a resolution specification of 1280 X 1024 pixels.

The first digit expresses the pixel count across the screen (the horizontal resolution).

The second figure expresses the pixel count top to bottom.

Multiply the two together and you get 1,310,720 or 1.3 million or 1.3 megapixels.

540TVL equates to approximately 0.4 mega pixels.

Five years ago the maximum TVL for an analogue CCTV camera was 520TVL – we have effectively reached a ceiling in terms of analogue CCTV resolution!

The best IP CCTV cameras your money could currently buy deliver 16 megapixel images.

Network cameras with 1.3 megapixel sensors are now common.

Two, three and five megapixel cameras are all also readily available.

Your mobile phone is very likely to have a 3 Megapixel camera built-in.

A pocket digital camera wil have a snesor resolution between 5 & 8 megapixels.

A professional digital SLR will deliver 12 megapixels or more.

The bleeding edge in CCD image sensors is currently resting at 60 megapixels!

Analogue vs. Digital?

Co-ax vs. Cat5?

BNC vs. RJ45?

540TVL vs. Megapixel?

DVR vs. NVR?

Discreet vs. Converged?

HDD vs. NAS?

MPEG4 vs. H.264?

CCTV monitor vs. HDTV?

image fields & frames vs. progressive scan?

4:3 vs. 16:9 (widescreen) format?

Closed Circuit vs. internet-connected?

security cameras vs. network cameras?

surveillance vs. webcams?

installers vs. eBay?

50% of screen height vs. pixels per foot?

Home Office guidelines vs. forensic evidence standards?

1988 vs. 2008?

4 million installed cameras vs. 5% of the current market?


Have you got an opinion?

Feel free to comment below.

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