IFSEC 2010 - global annual security event

Compatibility and intelligence - IFSEC 2010. This year's International Fire and Security Exhibition and Conference (IFSEC) in Birmingham was held between May 10 and 13.
It is the world's leading global annual security event, together with ISC in Las Vegas and Secutech in Taipei.

CCTV industry is just one of areas of the security market, but due to its popularity, efficiency, and prospects of development - it is a major determinant of progress in this field.

The inevitable transition in video surveillance is the application of IP technology with H.264 compression and use of megapixel cameras. At the same time it is known that analog solutions will remain the basis for small and less responsible systems for a long time, because of their two main advantages: lower price and ease of installation.
This diagnosis is not a new one, it has been well known for several years now.

So, the question remains whether this year's IFSEC exhibition has resulted in some new trends in the field of video monitoring.

The answer is - yes. These new and promising directions of development are the emphasis on the compatibility/interoperability of equipment and software, and on the development of "intelligent" algorithms in the field of image analysis.

After years of chaotic development, in which the manufacturers were introducing their own standards for recording and transmitting video in IP CCTV systems, in spring of 2008 Axis, Bosch and Sony companies took the initiative called Open Network Video Interface Forum (ONVIF), aimed at coordinating efforts to set common standards in this field.
Throughout the last year, the idea gained widespread acceptance. This year we are witnessing a kind of a race - who will be the first to supply the whole range of ONVIF-compliant equipment.
The example of a company that is very advanced in the implementation of ONVIF is Sony, but other manufacturers declare completion of their compatible devices for autumn this year. It will provide the opportunity to use mutually compatible equipment supported by software developed according to the ONVIF rules. For customers, this will translate into easier selection of equipment (wider range and lower prices) and access to better and cheaper software. It is worth pointing out that the equipment which does not satisfy the requirements of ONVIF will be outside the mainstream and thus more and more difficult to integrate with modern installations.

The increasing popularity of CCTV systems poses challenges for the operators to watch and react to the threats appearing in the transmitted images. The respond to these problems is the rapid development of CCTV software supporting the work of people and automatically performing appropriate procedures. It is worth noting that images convey a lot of information about the state of objects, so the analysis and use of the data is a big challenge for IT professionals.

The evidence of the interest of customers in intelligent solutions is the CCTV System of the year award (excluding cameras and lens) for BriefCam VS Online software (from BriefCam company). The software can browse and process many hours of video footage just in seconds, providing as a result of the analysis a one-minute or so movie summarizing all important events. Another product in the CCTV System area recognized by the jury was the solution for building video surveillance on the basis of existing electrical wiring - Duevi EzyDriveCAM.

Definitely, most of the products shown at IFSEC were based on IP technology - megapixel cameras, video servers, equipment for video and audio transmission (via twisted-pair or coaxial cables), network video recorders (NVRs). Among them - noteworthy camera system with a total resolution of 50 megapixels and IP cameras with "fish-eye" lenses, supported by software for correcting their images, presented, among others, by Pixord.

The event clearly shows that in the near future the success of a CCTV equipment manufacturer will depend on the ease of operation and analysis of the surveillance data rather than the speed of recording or even image resolution. Intelligent monitoring solutions will be especially useful in the case of medium and large video surveillance systems.

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