IP cameras News

2016 was a year of fast-paced changes in the market for video surveillance, especially for higher-resolution and panoramic cameras. We spoke with Scott Schafer, Arecont Vision’s Executive Vice President, for his thoughts on 2016 and the year ahead.   SourceSecurity.com: Did your predictions for 2016 match up with what you thought back at the end of 2015? How has the intervening year changed the thoughts? Scott Schafer: Looking back on our predictions for industry trends...

There has been a lot of investment in safe city projects around the world in 2016, particularly in India, where Qognify is currently involved in a number of major initiatives, as well as upgrading of security systems at major public transportation hubs and international airports. At Qognify, we have seen a continual trend towards organisations wanting their security systems to deliver operational efficiency and effectiveness to the wider business.   Here are some notable trend...

The security market in 2016 saw an uptick in the economy, the introduction of new technologies, increased compliance requirements in key verticals, and rising concerns over the need for greater security. Users interested in upgrading or deploying new systems consistently chose networked system platforms. This trend further drove the demand for adaptive transmission solutions as a means of repurposing existing analogue infrastructure to accommodate IP devices on a networked platform. As this mi...

Access control and video management systems provide much more data than originally intended An organisation is a complex environment that is ever changing and continuously growing to include more servers, more buildings, more systems and as a result -- includes more risk, costs and threats. As a Chief Operations Officer looks at the many objectives across an organisation, he needs to evaluate how to increase profits, manage risk, and provide a cost-effective route for improvin...

If you want more security, you have to give up some privacy. The familiar trade-off will be tested to new extremes in the United Kingdom in 2017 when the recently ratified Investigatory Powers Bill, a.k.a., the “Snooper’s Charter,” takes effect. Based on the levels of high-tech government surveillance of UK citizens ushered in by the bill, Britons should be very secure indeed. Britain’s new law is the latest reflection of the struggle to balance intelligence agencies&rs...

The holiday season generates 34% of annual sales for retailers but accounts for 37% of annual losses It is that time a year again, when shoppers and shoplifters converge on our retail outlets looking for that all important deal or steal. Peak shopping season This year, the National Retail Federation estimates holiday spending will rise 3.6% from 2015 to more than $655 billion. While the peak shopping season used to be defined as the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas Ev...

Innovation is not an end goal but an ongoing process that must be sustained Regardless of market, the challenge of commoditisation is very real for manufacturers as companies producing lower-end products continue to imitate the most advanced technologies. This creates a perception among customers, and the marketplace in general, that even leading-edge products with greater features, functionality, and value are indistinguishable from others on the market. As a result of commod...

Merging objectives into a business relationship requires ongoing communication along with a shared vision and values A myriad of books has been written on business relationships. From establishing and maintaining business relationships to compensation issues and contract terminations, there’s a how-to book out there on most every aspect of business. While I have never published a business “how-to” book, I do have the benefit of experience in successfully navi...

Long-predicted consolidation in the video surveillance market seems to have slowed somewhat lately – no big mergers or acquisitions have been announced. However, the announced “partnership” between industry giants Bosch and Sony this week presents a new variation on the theme. No companies changed hands, but the result is one fewer player selling video equipment into the market. In the latest deal, Bosch will handle the sales and marketing globally for all of Sony’s vide...

Thermal cameras see heat rather than light, so they are a perfect “human detector” Safeguarding outdoor assets in a reliable and cost-effective manner often comes down to a single requirement: Accurate intruder alerts and timely information about the unfolding event. While there are many technologies available for outdoor security, smart cameras with video analytics have emerged as the solution of choice for detecting intruders in real time outdoors. Yet the best...

Arecont Vision created the category of multi-sensor panoramic cameras back in 2006. Now the market is taking off, and many manufacturers now offer panoramic cameras. I recently spoke with Jeff Whitney, Arecont Vision’s Director of Marketing, on the current market for panoramic cameras, and also about some other hot topics – from cybersecurity to making the installer’s job easier. SourceSecurity.com: Where do you see the category of multi-sensor panoramic cameras going from he...

Vulnerability scans rely on mostly automated tools to find potential vulnerabilities at either the network or application level Security vulnerability in any network can be found and exploited by hackers and others in no time. The only questions are when this will happen and how much damage an individual could do once they’ve gained access to the network. Recognising this reality, most organisations test their own networks for security weaknesses, whether to meet compli...

Iris recognition measures the unique patterns in the coloured portion of the eye (the iris) and compares that ‘signature’ to the one on file Since the late 1990s, iris recognition technology has been used in banks and airports as a means of identity authentication. Today, its use is widespread in government facilities, schools/research centres, correctional/judicial facilities, healthcare and others. There are a number of reasons for its rising popularity, but firs...

Currently some retailers operate two separate speaker systems in their stores: one for broadcasting background music and one for announcements Twenty years ago, IP network cameras launched a revolution in video surveillance. Today, network audio systems are about to do the same for the speaker market. Back in 1996, the predominant video cameras were analogue. They weren’t intelligent. They required an expensive and complex head-end of recording and monitoring systems....

Panoramic cameras enable an operator to assess a wide field of view at a glance and to zoom in to view additional detail as needed. Providing this capability are a single camera, a single mounting location, and often using a single cable. Complete 180-degree or 360-degree coverage brings total situational awareness of the area being viewed. Panoramic cameras can also enable you to record everything in the field of view, all the time, and to zoom in for detail, wheth...

Higher pixel count is better. It’s a basic tenet of the video surveillance market, or at least it is the implication as manufacturers continue to tout their latest products offering ever-higher pixel counts. But the reality is more nuanced, as our Expert Panel Roundtable panelists explain this week. Pixel count shouldn’t be seen as an end unto itself, but rather as a factor in determining what camera is applicable to which application. Pixel count is just one factor of several to con...

A big cyberattack on Friday impacted Internet service on the East Coast of the United States and kept several high-profile websites offline. Cyber security attacks later in the day were more global in nature. But Oct. 21, 2016, will also be remembered as the day our physical security industry’s legacy of apathy toward cybersecurity came back to haunt us. Denial of service attack The cyberattack last week was carried out by a botnet, a network of bots, which are software applications (in...

Add March Networks to the growing list of companies in the physical security market that are addressing the possibility of cyber-threats. Cybersecurity is especially relevant to two of March Networks’ primary vertical markets – banking, whose focus on money requires stringent cybersecurity; and retail, which has been the target of recent cybersecurity attacks. “People just don’t know what to do with cybersecurity,” says Dan Cremins, Global Leader, Product Manageme...

If one component within the infrastructure changes, other components may need to be changed too Developing a bill of materials for an infrastructure is not difficult if you have the right information. One word of caution: Infrastructures are unique. Each is individual, so don’t depend on drop-down menus; it simply will not work. If one component within the infrastructure changes, take the time to check and see if the rest of the components need to be changed, too. Let&...

The global market for security as a service is set to grow from $921 million in 2016 to $1.49 billion by 2020 The global security as a service market is made up of video surveillance as a service (VSaaS) and access control as a service (ACaaS). With video surveillance as a service, the user pays on a yearly, quarterly or monthly basis for the ability to view live or recorded surveillance data. Using access control as a service, the customer pays a subscription to have a server...

Hikvision has been in the news in the United Kingdom recently, including a front page news story in The Times. SourceSecurity.com offered Keen Yao, Vice President at Hikvision’s International Business Centre, a chance to set the record straight regarding concerns expressed about hacking of cameras, the company’s ties to the Chinese state, and its role as the biggest video surveillance equipment manufacturer in the world. Hikvision has come a long way in the past few ye...

The future of drones in the security and safety industry is sooner than you think. Tyco Integrated Security and Percepto offered a glimpse of that future at ASIS 2016: Autonomous drones that can patrol a perimeter 24 hours a day, seven days a week, managed remotely and able to perform multiple tasks on-site. The technology was developed by Israeli-based Percepto, based on innovation with roots in the Israeli military. Percepto has sharpened its focus on computer vision and applied it to allow d...

When a manufacturer states a specific PoE power for a camera, always count on the maximum class power source Power over Ethernet (PoE) is an important consideration in IP video security infrastructures, and many people believe Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) standards are the last word. However, when it comes to PoE, there is a wide range of both voltages and wattages that can qualify as being within an individual IEEE power class. This applies to both...

More cameras today are providing more video than ever, but how much of the video is available when and how it is needed? The question often comes up when law enforcement entities are seeking to access video from private systems to help solve a crime. There are many more private video systems than public systems, but is the video available when needed? And what about privacy: In what situations is it acceptable to share private video for the public good? We took these questions to this week&rsquo...

If you want to cultivate new ideas among your employees, it is important to let them know that they are allowed to challenge the status quo The Americans asked for horses – Henry Ford gave them cars. In the beginning of the 20th century, he disrupted the transportation industry. He created a new market outmatching established leading companies, products and alliances. And he got the idea himself. Many of us want to disrupt our industries with new innovations that...

The use of multiple wires has advantages for network transmission Network connection to a remote device begins by considering the type of cable. In some cases, installed cable may already be present and available for reuse, or you may have the option to install a new cable. Let’s review the major types of cable used for most security applications, their advantages and disadvantages. Types of cables In general, there are four major types of cable. First is coaxial cab...

There was another big trade show last week –  the four-day Security Essen event in Germany. I didn’t attend, but several of my SourceSecurity.com colleagues report it was a busy show from start to finish, with the halls devoted to video/CCTV and access control dominating the show. The other halls were quieter, with smaller stands. Hot topics included big data, machine learning, mobile credentials, storage and an emphasis on solutions (rather than products). The exhibit hall was...

48% of U.S. judges say they are not adequately prepared to deal with the range of “scientific or technical evidence” presented in court Over the last decade, the video surveillance security industry has morphed drastically in attempts to keep pace with both the consumer electronics and enterprise IT markets. This has created a steep learning curve for law enforcement as well as individuals in the judicial system. A 2012 survey titled “A national survey of ju...

The field of artificial intelligence known as machine learning or cognitive computing has in recent years become highly popular The field of artificial intelligence known as machine learning or cognitive computing has in recent years become highly popular. The meteoric rise of “deep learning” technology over the past several years has been truly dramatic in many industries. Industry giants from Google, Microsoft, Facebook, IBM and many others have been pouring mass...

For more than a decade, Verint Systems, Melville, New York, has been developing and redefining the phrase the company pioneered: actionable intelligence. Today, its real-world specifications provide an in-depth analysis of video and integrated physical security data, deepening the gathering of intelligence and lessening risk at the protected premises. The entire realm of situational awareness continues to transition as intelligence is gleaned from new points, with this trend only...