Analog continues to dominate the security market representing 80% to
90% of the market (depending upon whose numbers you subscribe to.) More
importantly, these figures do not take into account the significance of
tens of millions of analog cameras, DVRs and the legacy infrastructure
currently in service. Customers with substantial investments in analog
infrastructure are interested in getting a longer useful life out of
their current systems,
especially in these trying economic times. By comparison, IP based CCTV
solutions are more costly than analog systems of comparable quality,
more complex to install and require extensive supplementary management.
The issue we see is, for decades analog video systems, as well as access control and alarm systems were installed
and you forgot them; little “technical” maintenance was required. The
customer was not interested in hiring expensive professional staff to
maintain esoteric systems. Where the incentive for change to IP cameras
is greatest is in applications that are not supported well by analog
such as megapixel recording, analytics on the edge and large scale
wireless transmission. Of the IP cameras sold, high megapixel cameras
represent a fraction of 1% of the overall market. From a
“future-proofing” perspective, hybrid DVRs, which accommodate both
analog and IP
cameras, offer expandability without limitation to transmission method.
In regards to cabling and installation, the use of “permanent
horizontal” cabling makes the most sense. More importantly, with power
and video over UTP it
does not really matter what type of camera or recorder is on either end
of the Category cable. IP camera technology is relatively new and
underdeveloped. In time, improvements to image processing, encoding and
networking technology will prevail over the cost and reliability
advantages of analog CCTV cameras - but not for many years, perhaps. At
the same time analog technology does not remain idle and continues to
progress.
In transition, a move towards more open and uniform standards will benefit consumers who now face both back-
wards and forwards compatibility challenges from a marketplace crowded
with a myriad of incompatible products and formats. Today, you have to
worry about which IP camera or encoder, works with which NVR and DVR.
Then you have to consider will the next generation of IP cameras or
encoders work with the NVRs and DVRs, in
which you have already made a significant investment. Ideally, end
users should be able to connect any IP or analog camera into any DVR or
NVR without complication, interoperability concerns or obsolescence
fears. Thus, we are a big proponent of open standards, which seem to
have evaded the CCTV industry. In the interim, high defi-
nition and enterprise wireless applications are the IP camera’s
strengths. For most other CCTV applications, analog cameras are
ubiquitous, more practical, reliable, easy to operate and install and
are cost effective.
Article ID: 123, Created: July 14, 2009 at 12:48 PM, Modified: July 14, 2009 at 12:48 PM