Trends Changing the Video Landscape
By Fredrik Nilsson, General Manager, Axis Communications

It's important to recognize that technology trends impacting security are not exclusively coming from the security market. In the video surveillance sector, two technologies are changing the landscape today. Both have been adopted from the consumer and business markets and repurposed for security applications.

High Definition TV (HDTV)
Large, flat panel, high definition TVs have been a huge hit with consumers for several years—and have led security managers to seek similar quality images on their video surveillance monitors at work. Although megapixel cameras have provided higher resolution images, they have several drawbacks, including large bandwidth requirements, lack of frame rate and color fidelity guarantees, and an aspect ratio ill suited to computer screen monitoring. At ISC West in April 2009, new cameras were introduced to the security market that eliminate these drawbacks using H.264 compression and HDTV technology. Network cameras that comply with HDTV standards offer:

• Higher 720 or 1080 resolution, the equivalent of one or two megapixels
• Vibrant color fidelity
• Full frame rate (30 fps)
• Improved 16:9 aspect ratio, which is better suited to scene showing on modern computer screens than the traditional 4:3 ratio

Software-as-a-Service
Software-as-a-Service has been a significant trend in, particularly, the small to mid-size business market for a couple of years. By outsourcing payroll or customer database management, for example, businesses can get the best available applications without a major investment in IT people, equipment, or software. Security-as-a-Service offers the same benefits to this business market.

Companies get higher quality, network access control and video security equipment and monitoring by outsourcing than by buying and maintaining their own systems. Security dealers get a new recurring revenue source by offering outsourcing services. As a trend, Security-as-a-Service (SAAS) is in the early stages of adoption, but the growing number of businesses announcing security outsourcing partnerships suggests that this trend has good traction.