NetCam La’s Security Market for Megapixel IP security systems in Los Angeles will grow at a compound annual growth rate in excess of 100 percent over the next three years, according to a study by IMS Research. By 2009 it is forecast that over half a million units will be shipped a year. The market has overcome a number of hurdles to get to this position, according to the industry analysts.
Perhaps the biggest issue that NetCam LA security systems in Los Angeles has faced regarding the IP Megapixel cameras to date is how to cope with the volume of data produced, which demands more bandwidth and storage volume. However, improved compression algorithms, more widespread gigabit Ethernet deployments and reductions in storage prices mean that these issues are being addressed.
IP Security Megapixel cameras have also suffered from low-light performance issues which have limited their deployment and end-user appeal. This issue is being addressed by the sensor manufacturers and the low light performance of IP security megapixel cameras is gradually improving, such that they can now compete in environments where previously lower resolution cameras with better light sensitivity were used.
Many end-users have shied away from IP Security megapixel cameras because of the high cost compared with standard resolution cameras. However, it should be noted that often this extra cost is offset because a single IP Security megapixel camera provides the same coverage as several standard resolution cameras. The price of IP Security megapixel cameras in Los Angeles is also falling and this will likely attract more end-users to ‘spec’ these cameras for their projects.
The market has been held back to some extent by the low number of companies supplying IP Security megapixel cameras in Los Angeles. Over the next two years the industry can expect to see a number of new companies enter the market, particularly some of the larger video surveillance camera manufacturers. This will likely benefit the end-user as improved feature sets will be offered at lower costs as the competition heats up.
“This market has been held back while a range of technical problems have been overcome. However, the market is now poised for a period of rapid growth,” said IMS Research analyst Alastair Hayfield.
IP Megapixel Surveillance Cameras: Worth the Price?
Why are so many end users switching to IP security megapixel camera technology, or at least examining this technology at tradeshows and in project bids? The main reason is price. That probably sounds confusing since the conventional wisdom is that a reliable, industrial-quality IP megapixel network surveillance camera is three or even four times more expensive than comparable low resolution (4CIF) security cameras. How can the IP megapixel surveillance camera be cheaper?
Video Surveillance Goals in Los Angeles
Before we take up price, let’s first discuss why an end user would even consider the IP security megapixel camera? This is the most important question because in some instances IP megapixel security cameras may not be appropriate. Before you look at any camera or NVR/DVR combination you have to initially define the goals for your video system. For simplicity, we narrow the security goals down to three categories:
- General Surveillance in Los Angeles: These are applications; often live viewing, where you don’t need detail on recorded video. For instance, you may be watching a road and looking for traffic jams but do not need to read license plates. Or you may be looking to see what a crowd is doing but do not need to recognize faces. You may simply want to detect when someone is in a restricted area so you can respond immediately.
- Forensic: These are applications where you need to see, record, and recognize images like license plates and faces, so you can go back “after the fact” and determine exactly what happened.
- High Detail: Applications where you need to read a license plate but also read the model of the car. In a retail or banking context, you need to clearly see the customer’s and employee’s faces as well as identify the currency in their hands.
By assigning a category to your application you are, in fact, defining the resolution requirements. With older surveillance system technology, resolution was defined by its TVL (television lines, a.k.a. total video lines). Over the last few years the market has evolved to defining resolution by the total number of pixels. This is more objective when comparing products that have different resolutions.
So, when an image is 640 x 480, that is actually 640 (horizontal or columns) pixels x 480 (vertical or rows) pixels, for a total of 307,200 pixels, or approximately 0.31 of a megapixel (million pixels).
IP CCTV has been around for a number of years now and it’s interesting to just pause and consider who is committing to it as their chosen surveillance technology. Megapixel IP security cameras will become the standard for CCTV applications in Los Angeles as the market trends and patterns are already developing.
Of course there are many other factors that we can debate; bandwidth, storage, cost, compression standards, etc. But for article one, let us just consider that the analogue versus IP debate should fizzle-out soon simply because analogue CCTV cameras cannot improve significantly on 540TVL resolution; which in turn means that each camera should only view a scene width of 4.3m or 14ft.
People have greater expectations now, they can do so much with cheap digital stills cameras and their PCs (not to mention what they see via the internet). They are often disappointed with analogue CCTV performance; currently conscientious surveyors, consultants and installers have to take time to brief their clients properly and spend most of that time explaining the limitations of CCTV, what it won’t do, setting realistic expectations, explaining why a camera can only cover a small scene width effectively.
In truth there is no way that the public was ever going to persist with VHS VCRs once DVD players became affordable, and in time we will all move on to blu-ray and HDTV, it’s just a matter of price performance ratio.
IP megapixel security cameras and multi-megapixel surveillance technology in Los Angeles
Megapixel Surveillance Camera (2MP) – Gas Station
Below is a sample video from a high-end, standard analog camera installed at a gas station. This clip was taken right before the camera was removed and replaced with an Arecont Vision AV2100 – 2 Megapixel Camera. A clip from that camera was shot immediately after installation approximately forty minutes later.
Analog Video Footage
The conversion to a hosted flash video takes away the actual ability to read every license plate and see every face. The original video was shot at 1600×1200 lines of resolution from the Arecont camera. The analog camera that was replaced shot in 640×480 lines of resolution. Just imagine the high-def clarity of the Arecont camera at nearly eight times the recorded image size and field of view.
Arecont 2MP High Definition Footage
The advantages of this technology hardly need to be explained. The security inherent in capturing recognizable facial details and 100% of all license plates goes without saying.
Here is a still shot from an Arecont 2MP camera taken in a similar automotive environment but shot from much higher up.
Click on the image below to see it full size, and you can easily see detail unlike any other camera…
Tags: arecont, ip, los angeles, Megapixel Cameras, netcam-la, security megapixel, Security Systems