Increasingly, surveillance equipment buyers are willing to pay premiums for higher video resolution than NTSC or PAL cameras can deliver.
Megapixel IP cameras are conventionally the only cameras capable of capturing HD surveillance video. However, many barriers to mainstream adoption of IP cameras remain in place.
In 2011, a new alternative is available: HDcctv. HDcctv cameras digitally transmit uncompressed HDTV video signals through conventional coaxial cable.
HDcctv is ideal for upgrading some of the cameras in a given existing CCTV installation to HD. Only now available in the end market in North America, HDcctv solutions are being chosen over more expensive and lower live-view quality alternatives by a growing number of end buyers.
Highest-quality HDTV signals
The digital delivery of uncompressed HDTV signals over coax emerged as a major surveillance equipment trend in 2010, with variants of the technology demonstrated in hundreds of trade show booths over the year.
HD-SDI (High-Definition Serial Digital Interface) interface technology has been relied upon for 10 years in broadcast television for the transport of high-quality video signals within TV studios.
The HDcctv standard adapts HD-SDI for surveillance and adds many security-specific features to the underlying transport technology.
The HDcctv logo guarantees a) transmission distance b) interoperability and c) forward compatibility. Therefore, v1.1 HDcctv compliance, required for a product to bear the HDcctv logo, offers a significant differentiation over HD-SDI products which are not tested to any global video transmission standard.
About the Alliance
The HDcctv Alliance is the not-for-profit global organization established in 2009 to manage the HDcctv standard and create awareness of the technology throughout the security industry.
Benefits of membership in the Alliance include access to the full specification, the opportunity to influence the details of the standard, the right to earn certificates of compliance for products which pass the HDcctv tests, the right to display the HDcctv logos on compliant equipment, participation in Alliance promotions, and participation in the Professional HDcctv Certificate program for integrators / dealers / installers etc.
Nothing wrong with IP surveillance
The Alliance does not stand against IP in any way. Alliance Members recognize that to the extent that a video surveillance system (VSS) owner is willing to provide Internet access for the VSS, he can unlock untold value for the enterprise.
Furthermore, to the extent the owner is willing to implement a LAN within a secure environment, he can enjoy many of the benefits of local-site networking in the VSS.
However, the HDcctv Alliance questions the wisdom of extending a security system’s local-site LAN outside of the control room to every camera in every situation.
The assumption that every camera should be an IP camera is widely endorsed in the surveillance equipment industry, but it is not a valid assumption.
This misconception leads some practitioners to deliver systems that are too costly, insufficiently reliable, or under-performing.
By choosing the correct type of camera in each circumstance, considering the technical requirements for each video feed and the proximity of the camera location to a local site’s infrastructure, the VSS designer optimizes the value for money to the end customer.
What do you want to hear?
I look forward to providing perspectives on a variety of HDcctv-related issues for info4security in coming months.
Would you rather hear about technical developments, market information, or specific product updates?
I invite readers to suggest what you would like to hear about in the comments section below.
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