Camera Systems
Safe and Sound is dedicated to providing a handcrafted, specifically tailored surveillance system for each and every one of our clients. We will present a few targeted solutions every time to make sure the system we deploy has the features and benefits your business needs. We understand that there are hundreds of surveillance product companies, methods of install, and placement options for every new project we take on. Our standard practice is to show two to three options on every project, and we will make countless revisions to dial in the system to specifically what is needed by our clients. Above all, we are fairly priced, easy to work with, and highly effective at what we do.
CCTV Beginnings
The first CCTV system was installed by Siemens AG at Test Stand VII in Peenemünde, Germany in 1942, for observing the launch of V-2 rockets. The noted German engineer Walter Bruch was responsible for the technological design and installation of the system.
A Brief History of IP Cameras
The first centralized IP camera was released in 1996 by Axis Communications. It was called the Axis Neteye 200 and was developed by the team of Martin Gren and Carl-Axel Alm. It used a custom web server internal to the camera. In late 1999, the company started using embedded Linux to operate its cameras. Axis also released documentation for its low-level API called “VAPIX”, which builds on the open standards of HTTP and real time streaming protocol (RTSP). This open architecture was intended to encourage third-party software manufacturers to develop compatible management and recording software.
IP Camera Standards
Analog closed circuit television uses established broadcast television formats (e.g. Common Intermediate Format (CIF), NTSC, PAL, and SECAM). Generally speaking, each make of IP camera will differ in its features and functions, video encoding (compression) schemes, available network protocols, and the API to be used by video management software.
In order to address issues of standardization of IP video surveillance, two industry groups were formed in 2008: the Open Network Video Interface Forum (ONVIF) and the Physical Security Interoperability Alliance (PSIA). While the PSIA was founded by 20 member companies including Honeywell, GE Security and Cisco, and ONVIF was founded by Axis Communications, Bosch and Sony, each group now has numerous members. As of January 2009, each group had released version 1.0 of their specification.
Potential advantages of IP Cameras
- Two-way audio via a single network cable allows users to communicate with what they are seeing (e.g. gas station clerk assisting a customer on how to use the prepay pumps)
- Flexibility: IP cameras can be moved around anywhere on an IP network (including wireless).
- Distributed intelligence: with IP cameras, video analytic’s can be placed in the camera itself allowing scale-able analytic’s solutions.
- Transmission of commands for PTZ (pan, tilt, zoom) cameras via a single network cable.
- Encryption & authentication: IP cameras offer secure data transmission through encryption and authentication methods such as WEP, WPA, WPA2, TKIP, AES.
- Remote accessibility: live video from selected cameras can be viewed from any computer, anywhere, and also from many mobile smartphones and other devices.
- IP cameras are able to function on a wireless network.
- PoE – Power over Ethernet: Modern IP cameras have the ability to operate without an additional power supply. They can work with the PoE-protocol which gives power via the Ethernet cable.
Potential disadvantages of IP Cameras
- High network bandwidth requirements
- As with a CCTV/DVR system, if the video is transmitted over the public Internet rather than a private IP LAN, the system becomes open to a wider audience of hackers and hoaxers. Additional precautions must be taken to ensure video tools are protected from threats.
