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Video surveillance solution design guide -- part 2: connectivity & video management system
November 08, 2008
By:
John Honovich
This article is part 2 of a four part tutorial series about how to
design a video surveillance solution. It continues by answering
two more of the 7 fundamental questions that need to be
tackled by decision makers. Part 1 of this series
introduced these 7 key questions and examined the first one regarding camera
selection, while this second part deals with questions regarding
connectivity and the video management system.
2. Connectivity
In professional video surveillance, cameras are almost
always connected to video management systems for the purpose
of recording and managing access to video. There are two
main characteristics to decide on for connectivity.
- IP vs. Analog: Video can be transmitted
over your computer network (IP) or it can be sent as
native analog video. Today, most video feeds are sent
using analog but migration to IP transmission is rapidly
occurring. Both IP cameras and analog cameras can be
transmitted over IP. IP cameras can connect directly to
an IP network (just like your PC). Analog cameras cannot
directly connect to an IP network. However, you can
install an encoder to transmit analog feeds over IP. The
encoder has an input for an analog camera video feed and
outputs a digital stream for transmission over an IP
network. Learn more about the choice between
IP and
analog transmission.
- Wired vs. Wireless: Video can be sent over
cables or though the air, whether you are using IP or
analog video. Over 90% of video is sent over cables as
this is generally the cheapest and most reliable way of
sending video. However, wireless is an important option
for transmitting video as deploying wires can be
cost-prohibitive for certain applications such as
parking lots, fence lines and remote buildings. Learn
more about
when and how to use wireless video
surveillance.
3. Video Management System
Video management systems are the hub of video
surveillance solutions, accepting video from cameras,
storing the video and managing distribution of video to
viewers.
There are four fundamental options in video management
systems. Most organizations choose one of the four. However,
it's possible that companies may have multiple types when
they transition between one to another.
- DVRs are purpose built computers that combine
software, hardware and video storage all in one. By
definition, they only accept analog camera feeds. Almost
all DVRs today support remote viewing over the Internet.
DVRs are very simple to install but they significantly
limit your flexibility in expansion and hardware
changes. DVRs are still today the most common option
amongst professional buyers. However, DVRs have
definitely fallen out of favor and the trend is to move
to one of the three categories below.
- HDVRs or hybrid DVRs are DVRs that support IP
cameras. They have all the functionality of a DVR listed
above plus they add support for IP and megapixel
cameras. Most DVRs can be software upgraded to become
HDVRs. Such upgrades are certainly a significant trend
and is attractive because of the low migration cost
(supports analog and IP cameras directly). Learn more
about
the value and issues in selecting HDVRs.
- NVRs are like DVRs in all ways except for camera
support. Whereas a DVR only supports analog cameras, an NVR
only supports IP cameras. To support analog cameras with an
NVR, an encoder must be used.
- IP Video Surveillance Software is a software
application, like Word or Excel. Unlike DVRs or NVRs, IP
video surveillance software does not come with any hardware
or storage. The user must load and set up the PC/Server for
the software. This provides much greater freedom and
potentially lower cost than using DVR/NVR appliances.
However, it comes with significant more complexity and time
to set up and optimize the system. IP video surveillance
software is the hottest trend in video management systems
currently and is the most frequent choice for very large
camera counts (hundreds or more). Learn more about
choosing software only video surveillance.
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About the Author
John Honovich is the Founder of IP Video Market Info. You
may hire John or other industry experts in the
IP Video Marketplace.
Also See:
[
Designing video surveillance solutions: intro & camera selection ]
[ Types of
storage for recordings & usage of video analytics ]
[ How
to view surveillance video & integrating with other systems ]
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