3 Trends to Watch in HD &amp; Megapixel Video

Nearly 225 years ago, Benjamin Franklin wrote, “In this world, nothing can be said to be certain but death and taxes.” Chances are, if Mr. Franklin were around today, he might add a third item to that list: the constant — and rapid — advancement of technology.

In the security industry, the main exemplar of this “ever forward” philosophy is camera technologies — specifically on the HD and megapixel camera side of things. Between intelligence, resolution, low-light improvement and other advances, camera technology is marching forward at a sometimes dizzying pace.

These advancements are good for consumers, who benefit from increased functionality, reliability and quality at lower prices. For the installer or integrator, though, these new opportunities also come with the challenge of keeping up to date on the latest advancements in order to continue provide customers with the functionality they need to achieve their security goals — and to continue to be a knowledgeable, and therefore valuable, resource to those customers.

One of the prevailing thoughts is that the megapixel race will continue. Coupled with the belief that deployments of HD and megapixel cameras will continue to grow worldwide, and that increased demand “will introduce a host of new issues for integrators and end users,” says Geoff Anderson, senior product manager, Pelco by Schneider Electric, based in Clovis, Calif.

“Just when everyone is getting used to networking video surveillance, these new cameras will quadruple the bandwidth requirements, overwhelming cabling, switches, recorders and storage systems,” he says.

So the question becomes, “What should I be looking at?” To answer that, SDM spoke with a number of industry insiders about the trends, technologies and other developments in HD and megapixel cameras that should dominate the discussion in the coming months. The insiders identified three areas to watch — and keep up to speed with — in 2014, along with a discussion of how each will impact how installers and integrators do their jobs.

1 Light Sensitivity: Closing the Gap

One of the knocks against HD and megapixel cameras has long been poor performance in challenging lighting conditions. So it should come as no surprise that improved light sensitivity was named by more of our insiders than anything else.

“The higher the resolution, the worse the light sensitivity. That’s absolutely true, and you can’t get around it,” says James Marcella, director of technical services for Chelmsford, Mass.-based Axis Communications. “Every year, sensor technologies improve, and eventually they’ll get to a point where they meet the requirements integrators and their customers need for physical security situations. Integrators have a larger bag of tools when it comes to surveillance because high-resolution cameras are providing better imaging in low light than in the past.”

Traditionally, CCD sensors, the calling card of analog cameras, are more light-sensitive than CMOS sensors used in high-resolution cameras. So while there have been improvements, HD and megapixel cameras are still not where they could or should be in terms of light sensitivity, says Benn Hernandez, national sales manager, Stardot Technologies, based in Buena Park, Calif.

“HD and megapixel cameras certainly yield the best image possible for all applications. However, analog camera CCDs are more light-sensitive than sensors used in megapixel,” he says. “In different situations, system integrators should carefully choose HD or standard depending on the installation environment. In a small, tight space, such as an elevator, standard definition camera should be used. It is much more cost effective.”

But as 1080p video becomes more of a standard, as Bob Germain, product leader for City of Industry, Calif.-based Hikvision USA, believes it will, the gap between CCD and CMOS sensors is closing, particularly with regard to wide dynamic range (WDR) technologies that help to level the playing field between the two.

“We are reaching the point where the CMOS imager performance in low light, when coupled with advanced image signal processes including 3-D noise reduction, smart IR and true WDR, the argument for CCDs is diminished or eliminated,” Germain says. “WDR will be a standard feature whether it is digital WDR or more advanced.”

There’s even a new sensor on the way that promises to deliver even better lighting sensitivity to high-resolution cameras, says Matt Sailor, CEO of Pompano Beach, Fla.-based IC Realtime.

“This year we will see the introduction of the latest image sensor that is called Ambarella. It will be a game-changer in regards to low-light image quality seen on current IP and megapixel gear,” he says.

Additionally, low-light technologies that provide color video in low- or no-light situations aren’t far away for higher-resolution cameras. These technologies, some of which are already available for analog and standard-definition cameras, eliminate the need for IR LEDs and then some, Marcella says.

In order for new light sensitivity technologies to take hold, Mark Collett, general manager for Park Ridge, N.J.-based Sony Electronics, says

there will have to be an accompanying shift in mindset, particularly with regard to the specs potential customers require when installers and integrators submit proposals.

“Most RFPs ask for a minimum of 3 megapixel, but what they should be specifying is wide dynamic range for the parameters required in a particular environment. If you’re only giving 80 to 90 dB, that’s going to be very poor performance if the requirements are 130 dB,” he says.

2 Intelligence: Smarter Cameras, Smarter Analytics

The second most-named trend in HD and megapixel cameras is increasingly intelligent cameras.

“One of the top trends is cameras will become smarter. The cameras will provide more automatic features, which tune the image to the scene — whether it is a WDR situation or a foggy situation or just smarter IR control,” Germain says. “They will provide smart streaming features such a region of interest streaming where the details of areas of a scene which are more interesting are streamed in higher quality and other areas in lesser quality to optimize performance and bandwidth.”

According to Tim Hsu, national sales manager for LILIN USA, based in Arcadia, Calif., analytics are leading the intelligence charge.

“Analytics will be the main trend for this coming year, as soon as more companies are legally able to offer analytic functions to their customers,” he says.

Hsu says better, more reliable analytics will be a game-changer, not only for installers and integrators but for customers as well.

“Analytics will allow end users and integrators to view their active and future installations in an all-new format. Trigger walls or wires will allow monitoring centers more accurate event identification and ease the need for security personnel in various circumstances,” he says.

As for getting the camera, analytics, NVR and everything else to work together, Wayne Hurd, vice president, distribution sales for Portland, Ore.-based FLIR Systems, has a solution — literally.

“In 2013 we found that there’s a growing demand for a complete bundled solution with a PoE NVR packaged together with four to eight HD IP cameras at competitive pricing,” he says. “The installer saves money on the bundled packages and we configure all the components to work together seamlessly so no programming is required.”

3 Resolution: The Sky’s the Limit

The third development to watch in HD and megapixel cameras is the continued “megapixel race,” which should come as no surprise to anyone who has been in the industry for more than six months.

“High-megapixel cameras will continue to be a project-based need, but the race for the highest megapixel camera seems to be continuing,” Hsu says.

Resolution that was considered top-of-the-line a few years ago has now been relegated to “low-end” status, while resolution that seemed unrealistic, unachievable or impractical now becomes more of the norm, says Dan Lawton, chief technology officer at Stardot Technologies.

“DTV cameras are at the top, although there isn’t widespread buzz about them. There are more multi-headed megapixel devices,” he says. “1080p at 30 frames per second has become a commodity item, whereas in the past camera performance often fell short of this. And Texas Instruments has a chipset than can do 10MP, which means those will become more common soon.”

One new technology on the horizon is 4K, which some camera manufacturers began introducing in the last year. The technology, which amounts to 8 megapixels (1080p is 2 megapixels) comes from the broadcast industry and may be coming soon to a security camera near you, Collett says.

“Technology migrates down to simpler, less expensive devices. As you provide a higher-quality image and use better and more analytics, from a capacity perspective — think of an entire building, which would be significant — cameras that produce high-quality images to help reduce false positives in various scenarios are a tremendous benefit,” he says.

For the moment, however, the benefit of 4K may be outweighed by the cost for most people.

“Traditionally speaking, when you launch a new product category, there’s a premium paid, and right now, 4K security cameras are probably pretty pricy,” Marcella says.

Keeping Current

All this is a lot to keep abreast of, and these are just three of the many aspects of HD and megapixel cameras that should see a lot of activity in the next year or so. That’s why keeping on top of trends and technologies is so crucial.

Well-educated integrators who can turn around and educate their customers on the technologies provide greater value to them, Collett says. And simply spouting numbers from a spec sheet is not enough to do your job right or to educate your customers, he adds.

“As you become more educated, it’s worthwhile to think about whether it’s really about megapixels or image quality. Image quality is what it’s all about. Saying, ‘I can put an X-megapixel camera here’ implies you’re getting a great image. The reality is the two rarely go hand-in-hand,” he says. “Standards around this technology don’t exist, so you have to understand the importance of quality versus reading numbers off a spec sheet. It goes back to being a smart systems integrator.”

On the bright side, says David Choi, product engineer for Amityville, N.Y.-based Speco Technologies, today’s installers and integrators are taking the training message to heart.

“More installers are better educated now on the benefits of HD IP cameras so they are able to pass that onto the end customers to sell IP solutions,” he says.

And finally, the best advice may be to remember the basic premises, ideas and/or concepts for protecting an asset, which Marcella stresses don’t necessarily change from a video surveillance perspective, regardless of resolution.

“Technologies offer opportunities, but you still have to remember the basics,” he says. “Technology is an enabler, but at the end of the day, there’s a requirement that needs to be met, and technology doesn’t change that requirement.”

Megapixel Cameras: A Lesson in Arithmetic

Surveillance cameras are continuously evolving to offer higher megapixel resolution than previously thought possible. In fact, there are currently surveillance cameras on the market today that offer 20 megapixels of resolution.

As a result, systems integrators and end users are often times eager to install and deploy in their facilities the latest and greatest technology now available in the market. They want the best quality video image coupled with several weeks of video storage time.

However, each increase in megapixel resolution, or the addition of surveillance cameras, onto a system directly impacts the network design and configuration and has a direct impact on the recording and storage capabilities. This affects how many days you can keep recorded video, as well as directly influences bandwidth and how fast the data can be written onto a disk.

Because of this, security professionals need to keep a few things in mind when designing a surveillance system that involves megapixel cameras and requires multiple days of video storage.

First, it’s important to weigh the benefits of a higher megapixel camera over the requirements for the server and storage system. A system designed with megapixel cameras can provide the benefits of a surveillance project with fewer cameras overall, because one camera, in some cases, can now do the work of two. The consequences on the storage and server side, however, are also important considerations. As the result of adding higher megapixel technology, the storage solution deployed might not be adequate, requiring more hard disk space, which can dramatically drive up the overall cost of the system.

In addition the number of cameras attached to a server is impacted. Servers are rated at the max bandwidth (data rate) that can be managed. The higher the megapixel, the higher the bandwidth, the fewer cameras that can be connected to a single server, thus increasing the number of recorders required. Selecting a recorder with a higher bandwidth capability provides the ability for growth with future megapixel cameras.

Secondly, define the result you are trying to achieve with a higher megapixel camera and resist getting caught up in all the excitement surrounding the better picture quality of a higher megapixel camera. If the original project specifications require only a 2-megapixel camera and you are now exploring a 5-megapixel camera, make sure you fully evaluate the reasons you are moving to a higher megapixel camera and weigh the benefits over the cost of the entire system.

An appealing functionality of megapixel cameras is the ability to dynamically allocate the bandwidth in the field of view. Cameras can be set with face detection (not facial recognition — just recognizing it’s a face in the camera field of view) and allocate more bandwidth/resolution to the face area than the walls or the sky. This can help maintain a lower bandwidth out of the camera without compromising on the ability to identify a face.

Designing a surveillance system that involves megapixel cameras becomes a lesson in arithmetic. — Contributed by Shahar Ze’evi, senior product manager for the American Dynamics brand at Tyco Security Products, Westford, Mass.

Ripe for the Picking

Because of this, security professionals need to keep a few things in mind when designing a surveillance system that involves megapixel cameras and requires multiple days of video storage.