Welcome to the
"Technical Section"
of
Doktor Jons
Guide to Closed Circuit TV (CCTV)

So you want to know more about Digital,
the predicted future for CCTV ....?

Level 3 - The Network approach to IP Surveillance

So far we've briefly looked at Digital Signal Processing in analogue cameras, and Digital Video Recording where composite video signals are converted to digital for recording, and then converted back to analogue for display. So now we can consider the third level, which is in practice digital through and through. IP Surveillance (Internet Protocol or "IP Video") is truly the future for engineering CCTV systems, but if the truth be told it still has a long way to go before it is universally accepted as THE one and only appropriate technology. IP Video which is more generally described as "Network Surveillance", is undoubtedly going to replace the majority of all existing analogue CCTV technology over the next five to ten years.... so what's it all about?

Well, first off it provides a platform whereby the exchange of images is purely digital, so in effect, there is none of the quality loss associated with converting analogue to digital and vice versa. The IP Cameras output video as a continuous data stream, which can be recorded, replayed and if necessary copied very many times, without any obvious loss in picture quality. That said, as with any recording medium, there is a tiny but inevitable loss of data storage efficiency over a period of time, and so a degree of caution needs to be exercised in the most demanding situations. Indeed, there is an inherent loss of some 'data' which results from the use of a video compression method, necessary to reduce demands on the network, and minimise the amount of storage space required for recording.

Now where cameras are connected directly to a data network, this provides an opportunity to open up the systems design, so that a whole myriad of additional equipment can be easily configured, without the necessity of locating the key monitoring systems all in one place. Highly flexible Network Video Recorders, image processing and management systems, video analytics, plus an expanded number of discreet monitoring terminals can be configured, both locally and remotely, opening up new opportunities for flexible decentralised surveillance.

It sounds marvellous doesn't it, but as with most things in life, there really is no such thing as a free lunch. Apart from the increased costs of developing networks with enough 'bandwidth' to support the number of increasingly sophisticated cameras and other digital devices that are plugged in, there are also significant issues to consider, such as network security, technical support and effective back up systems to name but three. From experience, Doktor Jon would have to say that where the CCTV industry has only limited knowledge of network engineering, and IT specialists likewise have little understanding of the principles of surveillance, there will undoubtedly be a long turbulent period of transition before the utopian dream of seamless integration, becomes something almost approaching a possible reality.

Network considerations - is it all plain sailing? >>>

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