The transition to IP surveillance is well under way, as a growing number of security customers manage video from PCs, tablets, and smart phones.
Does HD IP surveillance require an investment in costly IT infrastructure that is expensive to maintain?
Not any more, because there is now a third kind of video interface for surveillance: HDcctv.
HDcctv allows highest-quality MP IP surveillance to be delivered over the internet, often at much lower total cost of ownership than alternative solutions based on MP IP cameras.
HDcctv is different from both analogue CCTV and from IP transmission. The three video interface technologies now available for surveillance are compared in this summary: http://bit.ly/hloVt5.
Security installers have a new opportunity to conveniently bring high-quality video evidence to the internet via HDcctv-compliant DVRs.
This is the last in a four-part mini-series that connects the dots between HDcctv and IP surveillance.
“How Much Does HD IP Surveillance Really Cost?”
This is a question heard with increasing frequency by security installers.
Consider a typical surveillance customer with 10 to 16 CCTV cameras sharing a 16-channel DVR that is connected to the internet.
Let’s say the customer wants to upgrade a few of the channels to HD and connect over the internet.
How much does it cost to upgrade selected channels of an existing CCTV system to HD IP surveillance?
Total Cost of Ownership is the sum of four contributing factors:
Up-Front Equipment Cost: HDcctv-compliant equipment costs the same or slightly less than MP IP cameras and the associated IT products, with the HDcctv advantage destined to increase rapidly in coming months and years.
The HDcctv retrofit requires 4 HDcctv-compliant cameras and a 4-channel HDcctv DVR; no new cables, nor even any new power supplies.
By contrast, the MP IP camera upgrade requires the network equipment to bring the local-site LAN to the mounts of those cameras to be upgraded, in addition to new cameras and an NVR.
The intrinsic simplicity of HDcctv equipment promises rapid price reductions as the industry moves up the learning curve, whereas the prices for MP IP cameras and infrastructure have long since stabilized.
Installation/Commissioning Cost: The commissioning cost for HDcctv is much lower: just move the existing cables from the back of the old DVR to the new DVR, replace the four cameras, and configure the HDcctv-compliant DVR.
The time taken to commission a MP IP camera-based system is much greater than for an HDcctv-based system, and it requires IT professionals whose hourly rates are higher than security installers’.
The IT professional must connect each camera mount to the local-site IP LAN, then configure each camera and the NVR on the LAN after they are installed.
Maintenance Cost: HDcctv, like CCTV, is very low. DVR-based CCTV architecture is designed intentionally to gather forensic evidence in a “set it and forget it” manner.
The intrinsic complexities of IP LANs mean that maintaining a MP IP camera-based system requires the recurring ministrations of a highly paid IT professional.
Subscription Cost: Approximately the same, in so far as they apply to controlling the video over the Internet.
To the extent that MP IP cameras impose recurring license fees on customers, they tend to be significantly more expensive.
Adding it all up: Selective upgrades based on HDcctv-compliant products cost less, both up front and over the lifetime of the system, than alternatives based on MP IP cameras.
Turn to HDcctv for high-quality, convenient, affordable MP IP surveillance
HDcctv is set to become the predominant video surveillance interface technology faster than anyone predicted.
Because it is already so easy to integrate DVRs into IP video surveillance systems, the ready availability of HDcctv-compliant DVRs is accelerating the move to MP IP video.
Many HDcctv events are planned for IFSEC, including a series of retrofit seminars. You can sign up at www.highdefcctv.org/signup.
I look forward to seeing you there!