IP Camera, Camera Network Wireless, surveillance Cameras.

The issue of security has become a top concern for most countries after the increase in terrorist attacks and acts of public violence. With new technology being introduced each day, people demand greater speed and efficiency at work and more luxury in their lifestyles. In order to achieve this target, businesses focus on growth. With each branch office, outlet and asset purchased, the threat to security increases and priorities change. People who keep up with the times realise that effective security goes hand in hand with technology. If we are unable to adapt to the changes offered by modern science, we will be equally unable to reap its benefits. Those who can comprehend this statement are the ones that exhibit growth and embrace technological breakthroughs as they come, rather than after they're classified under a been there-done-that banner.

Necessity was the mother of invention. These days, however, inventions seem to create necessities. One of the fastest growing industries in the last couple of decades has been Information Technology (IT). If an analogy can be made, IT seems to thrive in much the same way as a parasite, attaching itself to almost everything man has made and digitizing whatever comes in its path. With organizations existing on an enterprise resource planning (ERP) skeleton, the only department that was seemingly independent of the all-encompassing clutches of IT was the security department. That too is changing. According to industry analyst, J.P. Freeman and Company there are more than 20 million analogue cameras installed in the United States alone. Of this number, 1.5 million cameras were sold in 2002 alone. Despite these rather impressive numbers, it is network cameras that have emerged as the fastest growing product category, providing a clear indicator that systems based on the internet protocol (IP) are poised to take over.

Network cameras are forecast to comprise more than half of the security camera market by 2007 and the global network video market is expected to reach approximately 790 million dollars by2005. Axis Communications in Sweden was the first to launch an IP camera commercially in 1996. Since then, they have held on to an 80 per cent market share in the network camera market. Other brands such as Sony, Panasonic and JVC have their version of the IP camera in the market as well.
The first step towards digitization took place in 1990 when analogue tube cameras were designed with a charged coupled device (CCO) sensor for capturing images. The output, however, was analogue video recorded using analogue tapes. The second phase brought in digital video recorders (OVAs), which eliminated the need to regularly change tapes. The OVA was then computerized by introducing a Web-based component, which allowed users to view the video recordings from any computer, locally or remotely.

Howeyer, the cameras remained analogue. The OVA in its compact form was launched as OVA cards that occupy available slots in a desktop machine. The third era merged the Web-based component directly with the camera resulting in an IP camera, which was the first truly digital surveillance product. An IP or network camera can be described as a camera and computer combined into one unit. It has its own processor, memory, operating system and software and using a standard Ethernet interface, connects directly to any network through a cat-5 or cat-6 cable just like a computer node. An IP camera has its own built-in Web server and can be accessed through any internet browser. All one needs to do is assign it an IP address and then type it in the browser. Everything needed for viewing images over the network is built-in to the unit. Apart from basic network related support and functionality, some cameras also let users configure FTP, HITP and email servers. Other features include alarm input, relay output functions, built-in Power Over Ethernet and built-in motion detection.

IP cameras come with a variety of options and features that make them suitable for a range of application environments. The intensity of light in any environment is measured in terms of lux, the amount of visible light per square metre of surface. One lux is roughly equivalent to the amount of illumination provided by a single candle. Indoor' environments generally range between one and 10,000 lux whereas outdoor environments can range from anywhere between 100,000 and 500,000 lux. Dark areas go below one lux whereas zero lux is defined as complete darkness. The most basic version of an IP camera is the indoor camera, defined as such because of its lower lux range.

Outdoor fixed cameras have a higher upper lux and are usually installed in weather- and vandal proof housings. Apart from fixed cameras, IP cameras are available in pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) models, where one can navigate the camera and zoom in optically from the computer. The built-in optical zoom is provided through a motorized zoom lens within the camera. A single PTZ camera can effectively be used to observe large factory halls or get an overview of the entire facility with an effective diameter of about a kilometer. Specialized hardware incorporated into some of these surveillance devices include infrared cameras, which work in complete darkness, and low lux cameras that operate in lighting conditions as low as 0.0005 lux, bare'ly visible to the human eye. Some cameras can even incorporate a mix of hardware and software to capture voice and can be used for audio detection to trigger alarms.

With an adaptive frame rate dependent on prevailing lighting conditions, IP cameras traditionally deliver JPEG images at up to 30 frames per second (fps) and some new cameras push the frame rate up to 60 fps. The image resolution can range from as low as 160 by 120 pixels to megapixel resolutions depending on the model.

With the growing demand for wireless networks, IP cameras being made available their own built-in wireless bridges. Such cameras do not have the traditional Ethernet port and instead a usb interface is used for the initial configuration.

IP cameras are monitored and recorded on computers through surveillance software. Most such software allows users to configure the cameras and also add functionality such as motion detection, which some cameras might not have as a built-in functionality to trigger recordings. Some of the more advanced surveillance software comes with a remote client, which could be Web-based or as a standard desktop application to share the monitoring and recorded resources over other computers on the network. Since physical boundaries are transparent on a network, a group of recording and monitoring servers could operate on a network that spans across the nation. The software may be custom designed as most IP cameras come with a software development kit, as well as support to integrate it in one's website.

Certain situations work against the feasibility of IP cameras. First of all, individual units are expensive. The cost effectiveness is valid only for large installations or locations where the required IT facilities are present. For small-scale installations, a stand-alone network DVA will cover most clients' requirements. Despite the sci-fi appeal of IP cameras, the cost of bandwidth in Pakistan is still not economical. One requires good upload speeds at the server and good download speeds at the client end. So, unless the organization has plenty of dedicated bandwidth to spare, the perks come with a price. Similarly, the cost of storage is yet another concern faced by both DVA and IP based surveillance systems. Most clients often assume that years of storage would hardly cost them much.

The reality, unfortunately, is rather painful when surveillance companies start talking numbers to them. IT industry analysts have always claimed that costs will continue to decrease as the capacity and performance of a variety of technology increases.

_{source Spider Mag.}