Whilst HDcctv Alliance conformant products have continued to gain presence and share of mind, the first full year of sales has been muted.
What has happened is that this category of products has expanded. In addition to HDcctv Alliance conformant products, HD-SDI and Security Link over Coax (SLOC) products (marketed by Sony as IP over Coax) are also available to the market for the transmission of high definition images over existing (or new) analogue infrastructure.
Readers should note that there is a key difference between HDcctv Alliance/HD-SDI products and SLOC products in terms of transmission. IMS Research refers to all of these different types of products as HD over Coax equipment.
A large number of manufacturers have been displaying HD-SDI (as opposed to HDcctv Alliance conformant) concept and production cameras at trade shows throughout 2011. At CPSE 2011 a high proportion of video surveillance manufacturers exhibited some form of HD-SDI camera.
Looking to the future, the concept and market potential for HD over Coax is fundamentally sound. There is a large amount of analogue video surveillance equipment (and infrastructure) currently in existence and there it a strong demand for high definition video. That being said, there has been relatively little market demand for HD over Coax equipment in 2011, with issues related to storage, price, transmission range, education and compatibility, all factors that have limited adoption.
So, what are the three key things that need to happen next year to give HD over Coax (focusing on HD-SDI only) equipment a platform for growth?
1. Standardisation
For HD over Coax to penetrate the existing analogue market, multi-vendor/brand compatibility is a must. Currently, with the exception of HDcctv Alliance conformant equipment, there is little standardization amongst HD-SDI video surveillance equipment.
2. Storage cost
HD-SDI cameras transmit uncompressed HD video which can lead to high storage requirements and cost. For HD-SDI to breach the mainstream analogue purchasing market, the price of storage needs to fall. The cost of HDDs (Hard Disk Drives), especially given the current situation in Thailand, impacts storage costs, as does the cost for hardware compression. The supply of HD over Coax compression ICs is effectively an oligopoly, as the market is perceived as niche and does not yet warrant other manufacturers entering the fray.
3. Market education
Manufacturers need to engage the correct market segments and promote HD over Coax products as a potential alternative to analogue or network video surveillance solutions.
So what are our expectations for 2012?
IMS Research predicts that manufacturers will continue to push HD over Coax equipment to the end-user, increasing availability and choice. With the backing from large vendors, such as Sony and Samsung Techwin, it is increasingly likely that a number of other large video surveillance brands will begin to introduce some form of HD over Coax products into their portfolios in 2012.
As with last year’s predictions, we don’t believe that 2012 will herald an explosion in demand for HD over Coax equipment. However, IMS Research forecasts that the HD over Coax category will still see strong growth, with the market size nearly doubling, as increasing numbers of manufactures begin to push this technology forward.
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