'Video surveillance is now becoming a necessity'

Monday, November 02, 2009

As global security concerns increase, research analyst at Frost and Sullivan Avantis Chitnis turns the spotlight onto the era of digital video surveillance

Even though post 9/11 witnessed a security beef up across the world, global terrorism continues to be on the rise. With the world witnessing an escalation in the frequency as well as the gravity of terror attacks, there is an increased urgency in developing reliable and secure defence mechanisms to counter such threats. Video surveillance has proved to be a huge crime deterrent and is being adopted by security and law enforcement agencies around the globe. Border security officials are also facing a challenge in securing a nation's border against the illegal influx of people and goods.

Governments are investing heavily in order to develop more reliable and robust security systems so as to be able to counter the advanced systems being used by terrorist outfits. The Obama administration plans to spend more than $400m to upgrade ports of entry and surveillance technologies to thwart smuggling of arms and drugs into the United States along the US-Mexico border. As is evident from the amount being invested in homeland security and defence applications, the economic stimulus package is poised to further drive the growth of the surveillance market to a certain extent. The same effect is being experienced in the European and Asia Pacific markets. The UK will continue to be one of the largest markets for surveillance cameras. The advent of network video is opening new avenues for customers and offers advantages such as superior image quality, remote accessibility, scalability, flexibility, and, most importantly, cost-effectiveness.

Surveillance systems in this day and age need to offer better coverage and image quality and longer retention times to meet the requirements of today's security systems. Law enforcement agencies are switching from traditional analog surveillance to IP-based systems that are geared with intelligence attributed to the in-built video analytics. Accessibility of real-time data from cameras deployed at remote locations is one of the biggest plus points for IP-based surveillance systems. Being able to monitor video feeds from multiple cameras deployed across multiple locations on the network is a factor that is fuelling the growth of the video surveillance market. Reduction in cost factors resulting from advanced digital video surveillance systems is driving the market for IP surveillance solutions. Lowered installation costs result from the elimination of coaxial cables and additional electrical connections to power the cameras. Digital cameras can be connected and powered using Power over Ethernet (PoE) wherein power is provided to the camera via the same cable used for the network connection. IP networking enables leveraging existing infrastructure such as servers, switches, and previously laid cabling as well. In addition to these factors, with the emergence of video analytics in the field of video surveillance systems, object detection is possible, which, in turn, results in a reduction in the number of security personnel required to monitor hours of video. The surveillance system now has the intelligence to detect abnormal situations and alert the concerned individuals. Open global standards will aid in further advancing the video surveillance industry by offering compatibility, interoperability and integration of equipment from different providers/suppliers into a single solution. This will provide end-users with the option of choosing from a wider range of cameras that would be compatible with their system thus promoting the switch to network-based systems.

Companies, such as Cernium Corporation and On-Net Surveillance Systems Inc., have made significant advances in the field of video analytics with their respective software solutions. Cernium's patented solution ExitSentry has been deployed across several airports in the United States. Lumenera Corporation offers a wide range of intelligent megapixel cameras that have in-built video analytics, which has been developed by another software provider, ObjectVideo. This integration is another trend that is picking up in the industry, with companies resorting to system integration to satisfy the end-user's needs. UK-based Ovation Systems Ltd develops and manufactures high performance surveillance products targeting covert video surveillance police, law enforcement and military applications. France-based Keenoe's 4D advanced intrusion detection system is an innovative solution that is used for detecting trespassers.

Future adoption trends for the video surveillance market will differ; even with the advances in digital video surveillance, some applications may still go with the conventional analog or digital video solutions that are stand-alone systems without the need of network connectivity. Next generation video analytics solutions need to be scalable to be able to handle from a few dozen cameras up to thousands of cameras, in addition to being cost-effective and bandwidth efficient, easy to deploy, and also upgradeable. With growing security concerns, video surveillance is now becoming a necessity.