Glossary Term: Wireless IP Camera
There are IP cameras available today which have wireless connectivity built-in as standard allowing them to be placed around the home without the complication of running Ethernet cable to each room. Other IP cameras also offer wireless connectivity as an additional add-on such as a wireless card. These cameras can be placed around your home or business to provide IP CCTV monitoring across your wireless network (WLAN).
Benefits of wireless transmission
Wireless cameras takes the hassle out of installation. There’s no need to run cables discreetly under floorboards or through walls. All you need to do is locate a power outlet to provide power to the IP camera, the data will be transmitted over the WLAN.
Install virtually anywhere. With no reliance on cables you can place in hard-to-spot places for discreet surveillance.
Easy to move. If you want to change your camera’s position its easy with wireless connectivity. Just unplug the camera, move it and then plug it back in. The camera will reconnect to your wireless network automatically.
Once connected you won’t be able to tell the camera is connected wirelessly. It works just as well without the cable as it does with it!
Standards and Encryption
Most wireless cameras include support for either IEEE802.11b or or IEEE802.11g with the majority supporting both. This means they are compatible with the most common WLANs available. Another thing to look out for is wireless encryption support. Again most wireless IP cameras today support a full range of wireless encryption protocols. So if you use WEP at home with a 128-bit hex key or WPA-PSK for your business your camera should be able communicate effectively.
Evaluation: Axis P3301 Fixed Dome Network Camera
In the world of IP CCTV it is Axis who can normally be found at the forefront of innovation. They have a long history with network video and their cameras are among the most mature and feature-rich cameras on the market. While they are not the first manufacturer to release cameras with H.264 (Sony has had this technology for a number of years now) we really have to take a look when Axis launch a new technology.
The Axis P3301 is the first camera from Axis to include H.264 compression. This method of compression was developed to provide good quality video output at substantially lower bit-rates than previous methods, i.e. it should allow the camera to use less bandwidth over the network but still provide a high level of quality. We’re going to evaluate that as well the camera’s installation procedure and performance.
Glossary Term: Tampering Alarm
The Tampering Alarm is an intelligent feature found on IP CCTV cameras which have a strong focus on security, such as tamper/vandal resistant IP cameras. The kind of cameras which are designed to be installed in exposed locations where there is a active threat of people interfering with it.
It’s easy to set up. Once activated the camera will notify you if it has been moved, obscured, covered or sprayed with paint. They way it works is simple. When the camera is first turned on it will take a few seconds to examine the scene. After the examination process is complete the scene is locked and any alteration to the scene can cause an alert. This does mean however that if the light changes drastically in a scene (such as turning a off a light) then the camera will generate a tampering alert. Some cameras have the facility to ‘turn off alerts from dark images’ so that it isn’t affected by light changes but the downside of that is it will no longer trigger an alarm if the camera is covered or sprayed, only if it has been moved.
Tampering Alarms are a useful tool which provide instant feedback when a camera has been compromised, something which could take a CCTV operator a lot longer to discover.
Glossary Term: Network Video
Network Video, when used in security surveillance applications (IP CCTV), refers to a system which allows live motion video to be broadcast over IP-based networks, such as a Local Area Network (LAN) or the Internet, for the purposes of live monitoring or recording.
Network video uses a computer network as the means of transporting video and audio data rather than the traditional point-to-point cabling you would associate with analogue CCTV. This allows your digitized video and audio streams to pass through the same Ethernet cables which may already will be run throughout your organisation and business.
Furthermore, because network video is digitized to travel along IP based networks it can be viewed remotely from any computer in the world which has access to the Internet. This allows 24 hour surveillance of your property or business. Being purely digital also means the data is stored digitally and will retain its quality, color and will not be degrade over time in the same way as analogue recordings.
HOWTO: Set up Axis Camera Station One IP camera recording software
If you have purchased an Axis IP Security camera for your home or business, you will most likely be looking for a robust and easy to use recording suite. For this, Axis offer their Axis Camera Station software. This is a premium application which provides a way of monitoring and recording from your Axis IP CCTV camera and will work with up to 50 cameras simultaneously.
For those, however, who are on a tight budget or are looking to test the software before they buy the full version, Axis also offer Axis Cam Read more >>
Glossary Term: Network Video Recorder (NVR)
A Network Video Recorder (NVR) is a digital device which sits on your IP CCTV network to recieve live image/video streams and record them digitally to a hard disk.
An alternative to PC/server-based recording, the NVR offers a less complex installation, is easier to set up and has a user-friendly interface for day-to-day use. As the NVR is solely designed for IP CCTV surveillance, the embedded operating system is optimised to handle the maximum number of cameras the unit supports. This means that you can be confident that the NVR will be reliable, stable and perform as intended, unlike a PC/server based approach which has many variables that could affect performance.
Multi-site installations are simplified with the use of NVRs. If your organization spans multiple locations you can centralize the security monitoring to one location by linking an NVR at each location to managment software. Most NVRs today offer live video monitoring too and also allow remote access so a number of people can log in and view their cameras on the same machine simultaneously using secure logins.
Glossary Term: Bandwidth Limitation
Bandwidth is an increasingly precious commodity both on your local network and across the wider Internet. Where IP video and CCTV cameras are concerned bandwidth is an important factor to consider when designing an IP CCTV system or looking to convert an obsolete analog CCTV system to IP CCTV.
Luckily, many IP cameras incorporate a facility to limit the amount of bandwidth used up by the camera at any one time. This allows those planning CCTV systems and networks incorporating IP CCTV to plan bandwidth usage with confidence.
Large IP CCTV networks should always include some form of bandwidth limitation across all or some IP cameras in order to mitigate the potentially damaging results network saturation can have on the efficacy of an organisation’s network and the security of that business’s premises.
Important bandwidth-related factors to consider when designing an IP CCTV system:
1. Compression / quality
2. Frame rate across the network
3. Individual frame data size
4. Total number of cameras in the system
5. Times when the cameras will be actively consuming network bandwidth
These factors cumulatively construct the total bandwidth use for the system and should be calculated with the bandwidth limitation features of available IP cameras in mind. It may well be that in commissioning a large networked CCTV installation you should specify cameras with this feature or encounter potential problems of scalability down the line.
Issues with regard to bandwidth use are more significant when considering IP video transmitted over the Internet and special consideration must be given to those streams delivered this way.
Planning an IP CCTV system or network must be done carefully with regard bandwidth and the bandwidth limitation feature available in many IP cameras can help.
Glossary Term: Analog-IP CCTV Conversion
Most companies with existing CCTV systems will have largely analog cameras and recording devices, probably a tape-based VCR. This is still by far the most common system in use the world over. Analog systems are increasing in obsolescense and lack the flexibilty and cost saving which new-style IP CCTV offers businesses of all sizes.
It is easy these days to convert an analog CCTV system into a hybrid IP CCTV system which offers most, if not all of the benefits, flexibility and scalability a full networked CCTV installation would offer.
To achieve this there are a multitude of devices available which slot into an analog system and convert the CCTV video feeds into a digital format for recording, playback and even remote monitoring. These IP video servers take a standard, traditional CCTV feed through standard BNC connectors and convert it on-the-fly (in real time) into a digital format compatible with IP recording platforms and even internet browsers.
Convertion of an analog system to a networked CCTV system is straightforward and provides many benefits and cost savings including:
- Remote access to live and recorded images of any location at any time
- Monitoring of a large number of remote CCTV systems from one central location
- Add audio listen-in and recording
- Automation of previously manual tasks such as backups, lighting and alarm activation
- Significant cost reductions in cabling and overall installation
- Improved building security
- Integration with other systems such as alarms and fire systems
Networks and the Internet have dramatically changed the way CCTV systems can operate and by converting an old an analog CCTV system into a network-ready one the security of your business is placed back into your hands giving you the control to enhance it, to build on it and to choose when, where and how you monitor it.