NEWS

LevelOne New Age IP Surveillance: Third generation IP surveillance Systems

By VARINDIA - 2010-04-16

Imagine- while in your head- office you are monitoring your multiple branch offices located any where in world. Imagine- that a culprit who is in view constantly is nabbed much before the commencement of the crime thus saving precious lives and valuable property. All this and much more ahead of imagination can be achieved via IP based surveillance systems.

With the escalation in the crime and mounting threats of terror, the need for the sophisticated security systems has emerged as chief concern of one and all. It is this scenario that has made the installation of security and surveillance systems a must in present era. IP (Internet Protocol) has become a buzz-word and its introduction into the surveillance realm; security cameras are enabled with beyond the belief features like remote monitoring and live viewing. At the same time the IP-based surveillance cameras are meeting the requirements of high-quality and cost effective system that can without doubt act as a catalyst for plummeting the felony and violence.

With a web- browser, the video can be viewed any where in the world irrespective of the distances, using any system, a function called remote monitoring. Thus employing the TCP/IP (Transport control protocol), the authorized persons using simple IP address can keep an eye on everything from any where in the globe. As such the TCP/IP transmittal of surveillance makes sense for remote monitoring of multiple locations and for remote recording of data into back-up servers and hard disks for long-term storage. The IP-based video surveillance connects the surveillance camera or cameras to any network or wireless adapter, and there is a tremendous flexibility in the placement of the camera itself.

A typical PC-attached video camera, while providing digital picture image quality, still has to be within approximately ten feet of the computer itself but with the onset of the Internet revolution and the ever-increasing presence of Local Area Networks, video surveillance technology took enormous stride. The origin of video surveillance can be traced back to analog based closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras which are the first generation video cameras and all they can do is to record the events on a video-tape that can be viewed at a later stage.

With entirely no concept of the live viewing, the happenings get recorded on the video tape to be viewed at an after stage. The CCTV is thus not practical for monitoring live events. The picture quality of the recorded images is not up to the mark and there is of course a constant need to change the video tapes. While a DVR system is not really fully IP-based, but is step towards the more advanced IP technology. A DVR system uses the same camera and structures for cabling as the older CCTV analog systems, but the old VCRs have been replaced with DVR for storage of the data.

This video surveillance could go live over the Internet or a closed network for surveillance and provide clearer, crisper images that could be tracked and manipulated easily. For law enforcement, digital surveillance meant it was much easier to zoom in on images, track particular scenes and enhance features. In the digital surveillance, the LevelOne IP based surveillance is the best bet so far. Digital surveillance can be done over a LAN network, WAN and even the Internet. The web-browser and can be accessed any where using any system.

A better understanding of contrast between analog and IP-based video surveillance may be to compare the two and how they work. IP-based recording means instant transmittal of images anywhere in the world, with multiple cameras being monitored from one remote location using a single console. Which means that the since the images are not saved on the video tapes there is no decrease in recording quality over time or with repeated replays. The unclear steaming images are replaced by high resolution and superior quality digital images which can be edited, shared and archived among the IP users. IP-based recording is highly compressed for easier storage and can be transported over variety of media and formats like MPEG and AVI. Digital images can be encrypted for security purposes and for that the TCP/IP are provide to restrict the unauthorized access to the images. Updates and add-ons are relatively inexpensive through software packages and Internet computer networking

* IP-based recording means instant transmittal of images anywhere in the world

* Can monitor multiple cameras from one remote location

* No decrease in recording quality over time or with repeated replays

* Digital picture quality far superior to analog

* IP-base recording is highly compressed for easier storage and can be transported over variety of media

* Digital images can be encrypted for security purposes

* Updates and add-ons are relatively inexpensive through software packages and Internet computer networking

* Adjustable frame rates

* Remote or shared viewing may be done over the Internet or a wireless connection

* Standard IP video compression techniques are used

* Changing cassettes and rewinding regularly means human error frequently interferes with effectiveness

* Image quality is poor

* Storage tapes wear out over time

* Broadcasting images live isn’t practical

* Storage is bulky

* Uses analog recording, recording in low-grade picture quality and inability to search and track easily

* Adding DVR systems must be done in ‘blocks’ of 16 channels

* Complex and costly installation

* Long process to find and review an event.

* Very limited motion detection ability

* Monitoring console has to be in very close proximity to the cameras.

IP surveillance cameras may be added individually or in groups according to your needs. If you are contemplating increased or upgrading video surveillance, rely on the LevelOne because it is the future of the video surveillance…