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and storage circumstances. Here
are four things you can do to
your HD cameras and system
right away to lower bandwidth
usage.
Selecting the right
compression format
Getting familiar with your
camera settings will allow you
to maximize your image output
without compromising storage
space. Choose a compression
format that best suits your needs.
If you are looking to increase your
storage, you may want to go with
the h.264 compression format.
Most HD video surveillance users
are partial to h.264 over M-JPEG
because of the way the compres-
sion works. It doesn't capture
each frame as a separate entity
like M-JPEG. The video stream
is composed of a reference frame,
called an Index (I) Frame, and
then changing areas of the image
in subsequent
frames, called
Partial (P)
Frames. The
end result is a
collection of I
Frames and P
Frames in an ordered pattern that
is configurable on most cameras
When it comes down to manag-
ing a company's network, IT
professionals are generally cau-
tious and strategic with how they
allocate it. With only a modest
percentage of the bandwidth
usually reserved for video sur-
veillance, the last thing an IT
manager wants is video footage
particularly if it's in HD
slowing down the entire network
and taking up too much storage
space. The perception of high-
definition video surveillance by
those new to using it, is that HD
surveillance takes up too much
bandwidth and storage space and
that you will have to pay a lot of
money to expand your network
and storage capacity in order to
accommodate it. But HD video
surveillance does not take up as
much bandwidth and storage
space as you might expect. Espe-
cially with technology advancing,
surveillance cameras and systems
are getting smarter and more
adaptable to a variety of network
voice of
the security market
Automation and Security Products
when organisations are considering the switch from
analogue systems to network-based HD solutions,
there's often the perception that bandwidth levels
will increase significantly, as will the costs associ-
ated with expanding network and storage capabili-
ties. while these concerns do have merit, the truth is
that HD video surveillance need not take up as much
bandwidth and storage space as you might expect, so
long as the right tools are in place. Avigilon has come
up with a short list of suggestions to demonstrate
that bandwidth problems can be alleviated.
By Gerald Narciso, brand journalist, Avigilon
FourwaysHDsurveillance
userscanreducebandwidth
(for example: 1 I Frame every 30
Frames). This results in less "full"
images (I Frames) and using less
bandwidth and storage space with-
out sacrificing image detail.
Use the appropriate
resolution
Pick the camera that provides the
least resolution that you need to
get the job done. Why choose a
2 MP, when a 1 MP can do the
job? Higher resolution generally
means more bandwidth, which
requires more storage. Obviously
in a parking lot or areas where
you are trying to cover a large area
in high detail, a high megapixel
camera is necessary. But if you
are just monitoring a hallway or
door, it makes sense to use an HD
camera that can capture the detail
you want at the lowest possible
resolution.
Situational
awareness
Full image detail
HDSM only sends
what´s needed,
keeping bandwidth
Lower your
frames per second
You are not shooting a movie, so
there is no need to see 50 frames
per second. Most people in the
security industry use 57 frames
per second, which in most cases, is
going to show you everything you
need to see evidence-wise and will
be able to drop your bandwidth
by a decent amount of megabits.
Recording on motion
Aside from adjusting camera
settings to lower bandwidth, it is
also a smart idea to configure your
server to do event-based recordings.
As an example, if you set up your
servers to only record on motion
events, then you will only capture
footage whenever there is activity
in the area that you are monitor-
ing. The cameras are most likely
always streaming to the server for
live video, but with motion based
recording they just wouldn't be
saving the data to the storage. n
Gerald Narciso,
brand journalist, Avigilon.