China’s rapidly growing video surveillance market was dealt a blow this week amid reports that Chinese cities are so polluted that the cameras can’t see anything.
In an embarrassing and expensive faux pas, reported by the South China Morning Post (SCMP), officials have had to admit that the smog that blights Chinese cities has become so bad that it could mean a threat to national security.
In a country that is increasingly investing in expensive and high quality video surveillance images, this is extremely embarrassing, and worrying for the authorities. Estimates suggest that there are already as many as 30 million video surveillance cameras operating in China, which works out to around one for every 43 people in the country.
While the government refers to the smog often as “fog,” the characteristics of the pollution are very different, with even infrared cameras struggling to make out images through the solid particles of the smog. A senior project engineer for Shenzhen Yichengan Technology, Kong Zilong, told the SCMP that as visibility drops below three metres, even the best cameras cannot see further than around 12 metres.
Now, as Chinese officials have become increasingly worried about the threat to national security, they have brought in scientist Professor Yang Aiping, who is a digital imaging expert, to try and programme the government out of their problem. She told the paper:
We need to heavily revise, if not completely rewrite, algorithms in some mathematical models. We also need to do lots of computer simulation and extensive field tests.
In the meantime, researchers are considering the use of radar to try and track any terrorists who might try to use a smoggy day as cover for an attack.
According to estimates in 2012, the video surveillance industry was estimated to be worth approximately $2.6 billion, with an predicted annual growth rate of 20 percent. This includes the background of network camera growth. reaching 130 percent in 2011, and good interest in the HD-SDI market.
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