Fifteen years ago, did we ever imagine that we’d be downloading our favourite tunes from a website or storing and sharing digital photographs of our loved ones over the Internet?
No, probably not, and it’s highly unlikely the security industry imagined that one day it would be possible to share highly useable video images across a network.
However, this did in fact become a reality for the security industry when, back in 1996, Axis Communications launched the world’s first network camera with the belief that, just like everything else, the CCTV market would ‘go digital’.
As predicted, the shift towards IP-based surveillance continues throughout the UK and Europe. Many organisations are now benefiting from the superior image quality, system scalability and ease of installation it delivers.
A camera’s field of view can also easily be changed without having to relocate it and, as they are networked, the cameras can be effectively managed and images accessed from any computer or handheld device anywhere in the world.
It’s fair to say, then, that since we launched the world’s first network camera in 1996, image and video quality has developed in leaps and bounds.
Timeline of development in the security space
- 1996: Axis Communications launches the world’s first network camera
- 2000: First full frame rate camera produced
- 2003: Progressive scan camera introduced
- 2004: Megapixel network cameras come to fruition
- 2006: Multi-megapixel network cameras to the fore
- 2009: HDTV compliant network cameras see the light of day
- 2010: five megapixel and P-iris
The shift towards ‘all things digital’ has also meant that the security industry can follow the lead from the consumer market and reap the benefits of HDTV, which offers outstanding image quality when compared with analogue CCTV.
In fact, it offers up to five times higher resolution than standard analogue TV and excellent colour fidelity.
I’m always surprised that security team members will go home to their flat-screen, HD TVs yet, when they go to work to manage their employer’s security requirements, they’re forced to watch footage taken from ageing CCTV surveillance systems.
So what does the future hold?
As new applications for network video cameras emerge, the opportunities in various sectors including retail, healthcare, finance, government and such like will inevitably increase.
Far from being used solely as a security tool, IP-based surveillance is now being deployed as a business intelligence tool, offering organisations a real insight into the day-to-day running of their businesses.
For sure, the network video camera has come a long way in its relatively short lifetime, yet its myriad possibilities remain untapped.
Phil Doyle is regional director for northern Europe at Axis Communications (UK)
Next time on The Networker: the Network Video Clinic asks if it’s really possible to be green when it comes to surveillance
If you have any network video questions you would like to put to Phil, send an e-mail to: axis@insightmkt.com