d e t e k t o r i n t e r n a t i o n a l · 1 5
video surveillance
trends
Kent Fransson,
Product Manager, Axis.
Björn Adméus,
Regional Sales Manager
North Europe, Sony.
Pieter van de Looveren,
Manager Marketing Communication
Video Systems, Bosch.
can be more easily managed by IP solutions. As
a matter of fact to take full advantage of high
definition (HD) resolutions an IP video camera
is a must. Also in order to fully utilise the
advantage of video analysis an IP solution offers
greater possibilities."
what is your view on
video analytics?
Kent Fransson: "Today you can run easier
video analytic applications in the cameras while
more advanced video analytics are conducted at
a central server. For example, IP cameras are ex-
cellent for analysing license plates. Video analyt-
ics is developing and it will continue to do that
as the processing power increases. Ten years ago
it was all about motion detection, today we are
talking facial recognition. However, the develop-
ment has been slower than expected because it is
more complicated than people thought."
Björn Adméus: "Initially, I believe a lot of
people thought you could do anything with
video analytics. Everyone was watching CSI and
assumed that was the reality. Nowadays people
are starting to understand how you can use
video analytics. It has become a lot better but
you still cannot use it everywhere and in some
environments, it will simply not work."
Pieter van de Looveren: "There will be an
increasing demand for video analytics since IP
video surveillance cameras can also be applied
for applications beyond security like POS analy-
sis, people counting and crowd monitoring.
Another trend we can distinguish is managing
big data when looking for evidence and reduc-
ing the number of false alarms."
what is your view on
thermal cameras?
Kent Fransson: "Thermal cameras and video
analytics is a wonderful combination because
they are not affected by changes in lighting. We
continue to develop our thermal camera offering
and we find new applications all the time."
Björn Adméus: "I think that the reason why
Pieter van de Looveren: "In many applica-
tions lower frame rates are in general accepted.
For example in retail applications, people do
not move so fast, hence in general 12 frames
per second is used. An example of where high
frame rates are needed is traffic: cars can move at
high velocities and as such the camera frame rate
should be higher to ensure the car is caught in
the field of view."
The security camera's CPU power
continues to increase, what will
that lead to?
Kent Fransson: "CPU power is the heart of
the IP camera. More CPU power will make it
possible to reduce the bandwidth, increase the
noise reduction, and put more effort into video
analytics."
Björn Adméus: "The camera will be able
to handle much more intelligence and much
of the processing will be done in the cameras
instead of in the central unit. You can record
on the camera's memory card and the camera
thus becomes a stand-alone device that you can
connect yourself to when something happens. It
also allows you to minimize the constant need
for a lot of bandwidth, instead that will only be
required when something is going on."
Pieter van de Looveren: "The increased
computational power will allow more intelligent
and processor imaging function algorithms to
operate and this will result in improved video
quality in challenging light conditions and
smarter security."
Is IP video on its way to conquer
analogue solutions also in smaller
installations?
Kent Fransson: "Yes, Axis Camera Compan-
ion is a good example of how to bring down the
cost. You just need an SD card inside the camera
and after you have started the system with a
computer, it will be automotive and you will not
need a computer or a DVR."
Björn Adméus: "Prices of IP cameras are ap-
proaching those of analogue cameras more and
more. For example, look at installation time:
with an analogue camera, you have to plug in
both power and a coax cable. An IP camera only
needs one cable and you can use the camera
for so much more than just recording. You
can connect yourself to the camera from your
smartphone or from wherever you want and you
can get the camera to send images to you by text
messages or email."
Pieter van de Looveren: "Yes, higher reso-
lutions, maximum flexibility and mobile access
thermal cameras experienced such a break-
through in some countries was that they were
allowed to be installed without any formal
permission. I believe thermal cameras are an
excellent add on, but generally speaking, after
all, you want to be able to see what is happen-
ing, not just detect it."
Pieter van de Looveren: "They are ideal
for critical surveillance applications where the
camera's field of view could be obstructed by
fog, smoke, lack of light. In this case a normal
camera would not be of any use and the benefits
of capturing details based on body heat or
temperature levels of objects becomes apparent.
Another application is the security of critical
installations when temperature levels should not
exceed certain levels."
what will security cameras look
like in the future?
Kent Fransson: "They will have a higher
photosensitivity, better dynamics, better noise
reduction and more useful video analytics. Since
security cameras are used in places where you
want them to blend into the environment, the
design and colour will become more important
in the future."
Björn Adméus: "I believe 4K will be the big-
gest trend in the near future and you will also be
able to add more applications to the cameras. In
general, I think we should ask ourselves what we
want to use the camera for and then find appli-
cations that fit that purpose. I also believe that
there will be more uses for security cameras."
Pieter van de Looveren: "IP video surveil-
lance cameras will play an important role in to-
morrow's connected world (Internet of Things).
This implies a further increase in processing
power and built-in intelligence to manage the
data explosion at even higher rates per second,
still keeping bitrates and hence storage costs and
network strain at its minimum. Cameras need
to be able to allocate tasks most efficiently and
be able to communicate with other cameras
in order to enable object/person tracking over
multiple cameras." n
"4K will be the next big trend in video surveillance"
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