Stepping into new trends: Video surveillance in 2015
Source: Eifeh Strom, a&s International |
Date: 01/30/2015
A new year brings new trends. Many of the trends from
2014 have since turned into industry standards, such as HD resolution
and IP surveillance; however, new ones have emerged to keep the security
industry on its toes in 2015.
The Market at a Glance In
2014, video surveillance accounted for approximately 53% of the total
market share (US$13.5 billion) in terms of global physical security
product sales, according to Memoori Business Intelligence. Double-digit
growth has been the norm in the video surveillance market over the last
decade, and analysts at IHS forecast similar growth in the new year,
predicting more than 10% growth in 2015. Furthermore, Marketsandmarkets
has predicted that the global video surveillance market will reach
roughly $42.1 billion at a CAGR of 17% for the period 2014 to 2020, with
the IP system market expected to grow at a CAGR of 23.5% during the
same period. Rising crime rates, an increase in terror attacks, and
growing security concerns all are contributing to this growth.
Who Reigns Supreme? IP vs. Analog The move to IP
is no longer so much a trend as it is simple fact: New installations
are going IP and many analog users are upgrading to network-based
solutions. With that said, does that mean that IP has finally taken over
analog in video surveillance? The answer is yes and no. In terms of
revenue, IP sales have surpassed analog sales; however, in terms of
quantity, analog shipments still outnumber those of IP. This is poised
to change, with analysts believing that IP shipments will take over
analog by the end of the decade. Evidence of this shift can be seen in
markets like Latin America where the overall market — one that is
heavily focused on analog — is now leaning toward IP equipment for the
first time (by supplier revenue), according to a report by
IHS.
Asia Leads the Way In the world of security,
Asia has had a tendency to be a step behind when it comes to the most
up-to-date technologies. In the coming years, though, APAC is forecast
to be the fasting growing region for IP video surveillance globally at a
CAGR of 44.3% during the period 2013 to 2020, according to a report by
Allied Market Research. The report also pointed out that North America
is expected to experience the highest share in the IP video surveillance
market by 2020, predicting that the continent would be the highest
revenuegenerating segment with a value of about $19 billion in 2020.
However, China is estimated to have been the largest regional market for
video surveillance equipment, accounting for a third of global revenues
in 2013.
Trends for the Growing Market Along
with growth come trends, trends that help drive growth and keep the
market up-to-date with new and exciting technologies. In 2014, we saw IP
surveillance become a norm and HD resolution become a standard. In the
following, a&s explores a few of what we expect to be the most
popular video surveillance trends for 2015.
High Efficiency Video Coding (H.265) One of the most important
developments for 2015 will be that of high efficiency video coding
(HVEC), also known as H.265, which directly relates to another trend: 4K
resolution. HVEC will play a significant role in the feasibility of 4K
in security applications. According to security experts, about 90% of
surveillance products currently use HVEC's predecessor H.264 for
compression. However, that is set to change. “Our outlook is that most
future advancements in the market will focus on compression, as the
megapixel market has evolved extremely quickly and the compression will
need to advance nearly as quickly to meet the growing demand for higher
resolution images. H.265 may be the answer to this as there is a
tremendous amount of computational power required for the compression
and decompression of these images that the industry is currently
grappling with,” said Stephen Carney, Director of Video Product Line
Management at
Tyco Security Products.
Pervasive use of H.265 has many implications for the security
industry. With the ability to double the data compression ratio compared
to H.264 at the same level of video quality, H.265 will greatly improve
the usability of 4K in security applications. In fact, both Hisilicon
and Ambarella introduced IP camera SoCs based on H.265 at the end of
2014 and widespread use of H.265 is expected within the security
industry by the second quarter of 2015. This will in no doubt directly
impact the adoption of 4K.
Finding Applications for 4K The entrance of 4K
resolution into the security industry was met with both curiosity and
excitement. Similar to how HD was expected to be the new standard for
image resolution when it was first introduced into the industry (which
it since has become), many believe that 4K ultra-high definition (UHD)
will eventually replace HD as the standard, and the availability of
H.265 in security will be a catalyst to this; however, this change will
not happen overnight. “4K will certainly be a trend to watch, though
broad adoption will be problematic for the security industry at this
point due to limitations on current camera form factor/lens combination,
bandwidth, and storage constraints and the cost of the equipment versus
the benefits or necessity of the additional resolution gained with the
technology,” Carney said.
Despite the current limitations, many of the obstacles should soon be
resolved. Aside from H.265 helping with data compression, the rapid
rollout of 4G across the globe should assist in dealing with bandwidth
problems, as well as better, improved accompanying hardware (e.g.,
lenses, monitors, etc.).
Bigger, Better Image Sensors With the trend of
4K in 2015, along with the fact that HD has become the standard, bigger,
better sensors are now needed to support such high-quality images. The
trend toward increased value of total image quality will utilize large
image sensors, the latest iris system, and high picture quality at near
IR, said Koji Maunari, GM of the Industrial Optics Business Unit at
Tamron.
In fact, the image sensor market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 8%
from 2014 to 2020, according to a recent report by Marketsandmarkets.
Not only are manufacturers coming out with bigger sensors, they are also
adding special technologies to further enhance image quality,
specifically designed for video surveillance use. Well-known sensor
makers such as Aptina, Omivision, and Pixelplus are now pushing out
larger image sensors, while companies such as Sony have come out with
new sensor technology specifically addressing the needs of the video
surveillance market. The new Starvis technology, a back-illuminated
pixel technology used in CMOS sensors specifically designed for video
surveillance, was released by Sony in mid-2014. The technology extends
from the visible light range to include the near-infrared range to
support filming at night, which is often a problem area for 24/7 outdoor
surveillance in most CMOS cameras. The improved performance at night
will help more extensive adoption of CMOS cameras in the near future.
Additionally 4K sensors are also being developed. These new sensors can
support up to 12 megapixels (4:3) and 4K (17:9), and even support 4K at
up to 60 frames per second. Furthermore, with sensors now reaching 1/1.9
inches, even higher resolution and clearer images are possible.
HD-over-Coax Gets More Advanced HD-over-coaxial
solutions are not new to the security industry. In fact, IMS Research,
an IHS company, named HD-over-coaxial solutions a trend for 2012;
however, at that time the solution in question was more or less limited
to HD-SDI, which turned out to be not nearly as cost-effective as the
security industry had initially hoped. Yet, like with any technologies a
little time has yielded new-and-improved solutions, and 2014 saw just
that with the introduction of new HD-over-coaxial solutions. One of the
major proponents of HD-over-coax is Dahua Technology, who came out with
their HDCVI technology in late 2012. However, it is not until more
recently, in the last year, that the industry has really seen
HD-over-coaxial solutions take off, with many other companies coming up
with their own technologies and solutions as well, such as AHD, ccHDtv,
and HDTVI. HD-SDI has also evolved: The new generation has upgraded in
long-distance transmission, and more importantly, has become more cost
effective.
Despite the fact that the overall market is going digital, many
definitely still see plenty of room for HD-over-coaxial solutions,
noting acceptance of the technologies particularly in developing regions
such as Asia Pacific and Latin America.
Renewed Life in Intelligent Video Solutions Intelligent functions
have been touted for a while in security, but it isn't until more
recently that they have been widely incorporated and desired in video
surveillance. In fact, as of recent, a certain degree of analytics on
the edge has become a standard feature for most IP cameras. From
entry-level to high-end, cameras can now be differentiated by how
“smart” they are. As part of this, video surveillance has proved capable
of not just recording and reviewing, but preventing and analyzing. “The
IP revolution has changed the surveillance cameras from a forensic tool
aimed at solving problems after an incident has occurred to becoming a
vital part of proactive intelligence chain. Network video cameras
collect valuable data that can be analyzed and turned into actionable
insights,” said Johan Paulsson, CTO of Axis Communications.
The idea of actionable intelligence is one reason intelligent video
solutions are seeing an up surge in demand. “We [Verint] believe that
actionable intelligence presents an opportunity for customer to
implement solutions that enhance security and safety, while reducing
operating costs and increasing productivity and efficiency,” said Brian
Matthews, VP of Global Marketing and Product Development for Video and
Situation Intelligence Solutions at Verint Systems.
Another reason demand is growing is due to more developed technology.
“Advancements in analytics should also not be ignored, as this segment
of the market has progressed to where analytics are accepted as
reliable, accurate, and part of the day-to-day operations of a large
percentage of users. Some analytics, such as facial recognition, will
definitely benefit from the higher resolution images and increasing
levels of clarity as camera technology continues to progress,” Carney
said.
The many benefits that intelligence brings to video surveillance,
especially now that the technology is more reliable, are being realized
across verticals. Certain verticals like retail have found particular
use for intelligent video, where the data is being used for business
intelligence. “Especially video content analysis solutions like Bosch's
that do not only automatically trigger alarms on the basis of
pre-defined alarm rules, but also enable the tracking of objects,” said
Erika Gorge, Corporate Communications Manager at
Bosch Security Systems.
“This kind of intelligence can also be used to obtain information that
goes beyond a pure security purpose such as marketing intelligence
information on the scenes being under surveillance — for example number
of people (people counting), movement of people, registering
characteristics like color or crowd density information.”
Furthermore, we will also see a higher adoption of big data for
multiple applications, such as smart cities, in 2015, where a smart
surveillance camera with advanced VCA could definitely play an important
role. We will see how VCA changes a surveillance camera into a content
provider for big data.
There is a catch, though: Avigilon's recent acquisition of
ObjectVideo's entire patent portfolio and licensing program. In the
future, Avigilon will replace ObjectVideo as the patent holder to lead
the future development of VCA technology, once again reshuffling the
intelligence market. The impact this move will have on the security
industry as a whole will be massive, and not necessarily in a good way —
Avigilon now holds 124 US and international patents and 202 US and
international patent applications as a result.
Integrated Systems Become a MustIn the past,
integration of disparate systems has been a struggle for many users.
With newer solutions, the ability to integrate is in high demand, and as
such integration has become a focus for many security players.
“Integration has been talked about a long time — but as a user
experience it has been less than ideal. You will soon see systems that
deliver on that promise of a seamless user experience,” said David
Gottlieb, Director of Global Marketing Communications at
Honeywell Security. William Ku, VP of the Brand Business Division at
VIVOTEK
echoed confidence in the integration trend: “The full integration of
disparate systems, including video surveillance, intrusion systems,
perimeter detection, access control, and real-time intelligent analysis
on data will be the trend in managing security in every vertical
application since the security could be secured seamlessly and enable
staff to respond to intrusion or threats in a short time and solve the
events on-site in an effective way.”
The trend for more integrated systems is also what will help push IP
growth forward, as the IP market has matured and entered into the late
growth stage of its product life cycle. Yet, the low-end market still
has significant potential for IP growth, as noted by Karl Erik Traberg,
Head of Corporate Communications and Business Development at
Milestone Systems.
In the middle and high-end markets, however, the trend for more
integrated systems will continue to drive IP growth. “In the market for
advanced solutions with high camera counts there is a significant
opportunity to offer more advanced integrations with access control and
other security applications,” he added. “Verint believes in and has
realized increased demand for innovative, integrated solutions that
combine situation management, communications, and cyber intelligence,
and facilitate collaboration across security and law enforcement
agencies. We believe that today's government organizations,
institutions, and multinational corporations, in connection with safe
city, border control, transportation security, critical infrastructure,
and other large-scale security initiatives, are interested in and
preparing to deploy unified security solutions that fuse data from a
wide range of security systems and intelligence sources to enable
efficient information correlation and analysis,” Matthews said.
Hope for 2015 A
lot of major changes took place in 2014 that has in a way left a
question mark hanging over the fate of the security industry — the Canon
Europe acquisition of Milestone Systems, Anixter acquisition of Tri-Ed,
and most recently the selling of Samsung Techwin to Hanwha Group. Yet,
one thing is for certain: there will always be a need for security and
video surveillance. This sentiment is what industry players are
emphasizing when it comes to future growth of the security/ surveillance
market. Development for the overall market may not be as rapid as it
once was, but with the above trends helping to drive surveillance
growth, as well as the continued growth of things like video
surveillance as a service and cloud computing, there is definitely still
upward hope for the future of video surveillance.