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What to look out for in 2014

IHS, an international statistics and research organisation (www.ihs.com) has been researching the video surveillance equipment market for more than 10 years. During this time, the market has experienced a constant and rapid growth, most years at a double-digit rate. The year 2014 will be no exception. IHS forecasts that the global market will grow by more than 12%.

The shift to IP video is a foregone conclusion and happening as you are reading this article. However, not all customers are ready to make the leap to go IP all out – especially if they are content and have received good service from their trusted and adequate analogue CCTV systems.

One of the positives we’re looking at is that edge-based technology – such as in-camera SD card storage which is affordable and obtainable literally everywhere – eliminates the need for the most expensive part of an analogue system, the DVR. This makes going IP a cost-conscious move for small systems. And with hosted video becoming a reality with increasingly better pricing options on bandwidth, and the reliability improving on infrastructure, not forgetting the advents of the intelligent network camera with in-built video analytics and intelligent filters, we will start seeing that the drive for 24-7 managed storage will make the market ripe for converting to IP in 2014.

Yet still, despite all these developments and features, network cameras are not magical plug-and-play devices that simply work from the time you unbox them and power them up. Correct system and network configuration is not a walk in the park and doesn’t fit into everyone’s skill set. System integrators and many of the ‘man in the van’ type installers getting into network video surveillance still need to acquire networking skills or team up with a network video specialist to implement the solution for their client and stay on track with this growing market profitably and with opportunity.

Exploring silver linings in cloud solutions

The concept of the cloud is becoming increasingly popular and, let’s admit it, somewhere you have used it as well. Slowly but surely, even with all the concerns and scepticism around cloud, everyone is starting to make use of it in various ways. Many countries around the globe still suffer from quality and reliable broadband connections, but as these infrastructures improve and the costs decline, the interest for cloud-based solutions increases.

Although security remains a big concern when housing our precious data in the cloud, users are becoming increasingly open to utilise a cloud-based storage solution, like Dropbox etc, which sets the platform for video surveillance solutions to become popular. There are however, many obstacles and challenges around this definite future standard to still be resolved before becoming an everyday solution.

IHS research predicts that cloud-based video surveillance solutions will be defined by the benefits created in the solution it offers to customers. The estimation in 2014 is that China will have the world’s largest 4G network, which will offer vast speed deliverable data anywhere. This alone opens a big variety of applications with security pitched for streaming video content poised to offer great potential of development which will automatically spill to the rest of the world. With more than 1 billion potential users in China, with individual uses and applications, start looking out for interesting product offerings coming to market.

Heating things up – thermal cameras

Thermal image, courtesy of FLIR.

IHS forecasts that the video surveillance product market that will see the largest average selling price (ASP) decline during the next few years in the un-cooled thermal camera market. More competitors have been seen entering this segment of the market introducing fresh offerings and alternatives, driving down pricing and delivering intuitive offerings.

Power over Ethernet

Recent developments in power over Ethernet (PoE) standards and products make the technology a much more viable option for security managers, and the life of integrators is simply much easier. Looking forward, IHS expects that security camera manufacturers will expand and develop their portfolios of low-powered cameras to conform to the PoE+ standard.

ALERT – video analytics

Offered as a free feature on many devices, the true power of analytics has not really been tapped into by the majority of manufacturers. As processing power on IP cameras increases to accommodate the drive to H.265 and 4 K support, the possibility for DSP driven analytics will become a reality.

Drop Box…not in the cloud, but in your hand

IP is the future – we all realise, accept and know it. Traditional DVR kits made it easy for everyone to have CCTV in their office, shop and house through a quick and simple all-in-one solution. IP NVR kits are being introduced everywhere, and through intuitive 4 and 8 channel PoE-driven NVR kit solutions, IP CCTV and its feature-rich capabilities, will entice everyone to take the plunge with less effort and networking skills, going boldly where every man should be going – IP CCTV.

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