IP camera sales set to zoom

Preference for analogue devices in the security industry is the only problem left to overcome.

Video IP surveillance specialist Axis Communications is targeting European transport companies with a new network camera designed for use in buses and trains.

IP cameras make up between five and 15 percent of all the video surveillance equipment installed in the UK, with the vast majority of systems still based on analogue CCTV cameras.

But Simon Harris, senior analyst with IMS Research, believes the attractions of high picture quality, Power over Ethernet connectivity, digital pan, tilt and zoom (PTZ) features and embedded software will help to significantly increase uptake of IP cameras over the next five years.

“We used to say that a lack of bandwidth, storage capacity, and image quality were holding the [network camera] industry back, but that is not a solid argument any more. It is more about educating users on the benefits of IP surveillance,” he said.

Axis president and chief executive, Ray Mauritsson, added that entrenched attitudes within the security industry remain a hurdle. “Systems integrators are so focused on old technologies that it is hard [to persuade them to move]. Also, people who have recently invested in a big analogue system will not have any good reason to change until those cameras become obsolete, which could take 10 years,” he said.

Unlike Sony, Panasonic and D-Link, Axis focuses on the professional, rather than consumer, market and specialises in embedding intelligent software applications into the cameras themselves. Putting video content analytics (VCA) software into cameras can help retailers achieve significant return on investment through the prevention of employee theft and shoplifting, for instance.

Next year, Stockholm Transport will spend e30m on security by putting 15,000 Axis 209FD-R network cameras in buses and metro stations. The cameras will send footage via Ethernet to a 120GB storage array on the bus itself, which is then synchronised with a central video server using Wi-Fi links in the depot.