ONVIF News

MicroPower Joins ONVIF To Develop Universal IP Standard For Physical Security Industry

Micropower SOLVEIL HD solar-powered surveillance platform is expected to complete ONVIF requirements in Q4 2015 MicroPower Technologies Inc., an award-winning provider of surveillance solutions optimized for rapid, cost-effective deployment, recently announced that it has joined ONVIF, an open forum within the physical security industry that seeks to further the development and use of a global open standard for IP-based devices. Fulfilling ONVIF Compliance Members of ONVIF h...

Are Schools And Universities Safer These Days?

Violence in our schools and colleges often makes headlines, suggesting a growing and scary trend. A consequence of high-profile school shootings and other reports of violence is to increase awareness of the need to ensure safety and security of students, faculty and staff. The events have prompted more than one educational institution to take a second look at their security policies and infrastructure, with an eye toward improvement. But to what effect? Has greater awareness of violence in educa...

What Effect Does Privacy Have On Choosing A Surveillance Camera Location?

We asked this week’s Expert Panel: What are the limitations on where video cameras can be placed because of privacy? With hundreds of new cameras installed every day, the likelihood increases exponentially that a camera will be placed in a location where it violates privacy. In fact, threats to privacy are often among the largest objections when video surveillance is proposed, whether in a public area or in the workplace. Allaying fears about undermining privacy is a basic requirement to m...

Are Megapixel And 4K Cameras Lowering Required Camera Counts?

We have all heard the sales pitch: Use of megapixel cameras lowers the camera count needed to provide adequate video coverage, thus making the overall system less expensive. Use of fewer cameras equates to less infrastructure, bandwidth and storage, according to the claims, and megapixel cameras provide enough detail that you don’t miss anything using fewer cameras. It’s a compelling pitch, but one that has sometimes been questioned in the market. To look beyond the marketing hype, w...

Can End Users Trust Advice From Security Salesmen?

Salesmen may face pressure to “seal the deal,” but might an overemphasis on the ABCs of selling (“always be closing”) actually work to the detriment of an unsuspecting customer coerced into buying too much (or the wrong) technology to meet his or her needs? Not likely, according to our Expert Panel, who this week address the topic of salesmanship in the security market. We asked: Can an end user trust a security salesman’s advice? Our responses are overwhelmingly in...

Which Non-Security Uses Of Video Are Catching On?

For many years, generally speaking, the use of video surveillance has been seen as an extension of an end user customer’s security system. However, recently, we have also heard about how video can help customers more generally, providing benefits that extend beyond security and encompass better operations and management. Easier economic justification is one important aspect of looking more broadly at the benefits of video surveillance to the enterprise as a whole. Better return on investme...

Matrix Comsec’s SATATYA Interoperable With Panasonic IP Cameras

Matrix Comsec is a leading manufacturer of enterprise-grade telecom and security solutions. The company has announced interoperability of SATATYA, its IP video surveillance solution with select models of Panasonic IP cameras. This interoperability, will offer customers the flexibility to have a wide range of IP cameras to choose from. Enterprise customers need flexibility in implementing video surveillance security due to their complex functioning and geographically scattered operations. Suppor...

4K Or HD - The Standard Of Video Resolution In The Security Industry

The crystal clear images provided by new 4K cameras have attracted a lot of attention at recent industry trade shows in the security market. But the improved video resolution comes at a price. The cameras are more expensive, and the systems to support them – more bandwidth, more storage – portend even more expense. There have been higher-resolution cameras on the market for years, of course, but an advantage of 4K security cameras is that they represent a standard that could be appli...

FLIR TCX Thermal Bullet Camera For IFSEC 2015

Powered by FLIR’s TAU thermal camera core, TCX Thermal Bullet combines 24/7 thermal video and built-in video motion detection FLIR Systems, Inc. proudly announced the new FLIR TCX Thermal Bullet, the first class of security cameras to feature high-performance, high-resolution thermal technology for the best intrusion detection and visual awareness in daytime or night-time conditions. Powered by FLIR’s industry-leading TAU® thermal camera core, the TCX Thermal B...

FLIR Showcases PT-602CZ Pan/tilt Thermal Camera At IFSEC 2015

PT-602CZ multi-sensor security camera delivers thermal imaging from long-life cooled, midwave thermal detector FLIR Systems, Inc. is showcasing a new affordable pan/tilt thermal security camera at this year’s IFSEC exhibition in London from June 16th through June 18th. The FLIR PT-602CZ pan/tilt, multi-sensor security camera delivers thermal imaging from a long-life cooled, midwave thermal detector that delivers a lower cost of ownership and provides excellent long-range...

Open Architecture In Access Control - Room For Improvement

Integrators and end users should be aware that their definition of open might differ from those of security manufacturers Much of the buzz in the industry today about open architecture is driven by the IT world, with many security-related decisions now falling on an organization’s IT department, where true open architecture has been around for a long time. Closed systems like we’ve experienced in the security world are not just viewed as foreign to the IT world; th...

Vicon Providing Openness Against “total Solutions” Manufacturers

We’re seeing a market trend toward manufacturers seeking to provide “total solutions” rather than components. The trend is reflected clearly in recent industry consolidation, for example. When companies that manufacture various components become part of a single corporate owner, it’s not a stretch to expect the new owners to combine those components into a single end-to-end solution – sooner or later. Manufacturers are also leveraging OEM agreements and other partne...

ONVIF To Exhibit At IFSEC International 2015

ONVIF will host a Profile Q Quick Install Challenge as well as provide an interoperability demonstration on Profile S ONVIF, the leading global standardization initiative for IP-based physical security products, announced recently that it will be an exhibitor at IFSEC International 2015 in London, June 16-18, 2015. On stand D530, ONVIF will host a Quick Install Challenge for its newest profile, Profile Q, and will also provide an interoperability demonstration on Profile S to...

Are Megapixel/panoramic-view Cameras An Effective Substitute For PTZs?

Megapixel and panoramic camera manufacturers have been predicting the demise of pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ cameras) for several years now. They contend that PTZs can be replaced by the higher resolutions of newer cameras, coupled with their ability to “zoom” in digitally on a specific area of an image and show sufficient detail. New panoramic cameras also capture everything in a wider field of view, while a PTZ camera runs a risk of missing important action because it is pointed in the wrong...

Vanderbilt To Demonstrate Its Latest Innovations At IFSEC International 2015

This will be first appearance of Vanderbilt at a trade event following its completion of acquisition of Security Products from Siemens Vanderbilt, formerly Security Products from Siemens, has announced that it will appear at IFSEC International 2015, which takes place on 16th-18th June at ExCeL, London. The company will demonstrate its latest innovations to over 30,000 expected visitors from over 150 countries, at what is the largest event of its kind for the security industry...

How Does Globalization Impact The Physical Security Marketplace?

There’s almost no such thing as a local business anymore. Even the smallest of entrepreneurs find they have immediate access to a global marketplace via the Internet, and larger companies continue to find new ways to maximize their successes throughout the world. We asked our panelists this week to comment on how they see globalization impacting the physical security market. Their broad-ranging responses emphazis the opportunities and challenges of succeeding the global marketplace.

Convergence Of IT Networks And Physical Security

Kevin Brownell, principal physical security consultant at PTS Consulting Group, considers convergence of IT networks and physical security. He argues that current best practice shows that they no longer need to be separate disciplines and reassures installers that their diversity has been exaggerated. Brownell describes experiences of working with IT managers who no longer see networked CCTV and access control as ‘black arts’ and are buying into the idea of IP security as an integr...

What Do You Expect To Be The "big News" Coming Out Of ISC West This Year?

The U.S. physical security market will be focused on Las Vegas this week and the big ISC West trade show for 2015. But what should attendees expect when they get to Sin City? We asked our panelists for their insights into what will be making “big news” at this year’s show. Fortunately, the suspense is almost over!

What Are The Cybersecurity Vulnerabilities Of IP Based Systems?

Cybersecurity vulnerabilities of IP physical security systems have long been the industry’s “elephant in the room.” Perhaps as a function of salesmanship, the possibility of a cybersecurity attack on a physical security system has sometimes been downplayed or dismissed. However, video from hacked cameras streaming on the Internet cannot be ignored, nor can the possibility that an enterprise’s system could be hacked using back-door entry through an unprotected physical sec...

ONVIF To Highlight Interoperability Specifications At ISC West 2015

ONVIF will feature interoperability demonstrations with conference attendees on Profiles G and S ONVIF, the leading global standardization initiative for IP-based physical security products, announced recently that it will feature a Quick Install Challenge for its newest profile, Profile Q, and also host interoperability demonstrations with conference attendees on Profiles G and S, to highlight its interoperability specifications for the physical security industry at ISC West,...

ISC West Combines The Familiar With The Unexpected

For attendees at ISC West in Las Vegas, the show each year brings together elements that are comfortably familiar with elements that are brand new, even unexpected. The U.S. security marketplace’s largest yearly gathering is an unrivalled forum for new product introductions, and the exhibition sets the stage for much that happens in the market throughout the rest of the year. The ISC West exhibit hall at the Sands Expo in Las Vegas will be open April 15-17, and education sessions will be...

How To Avoid Counterfeit Security Products?

“Buyer beware” is always good advice in the security marketplace – or in life for that matter. But the age-old warning is more timely than ever in our age of global commerce and given our fragmented market with thousands of products manufactured all over the world. Complicating the picture: our market is also inching toward commodization and facing downward pricing that shrinks margins for manufacturers. So the question becomes: When is an item merely a good deal or somehow &ld...

When should a video system be part of the corporate network?

This week’s Expert Panel revisits a classic question that has been around since the advent of IP video: Should an enterprise’s video system have its own network, or should it share the corporate network? Our panelists' responses reflect new IT trends, technology changes and shifting priorities that are impacting how the question is approached. Rising concerns about cyber-security (such as fears that video might provide a hacker entry into the enterprise system) are one new aspect. Ne...

What are the current limitations of cloud-based systems? How will the situation change over the next five years?

There’s a cloud hanging over the security market. Or rather, The Cloud is portending great change for our market (and other markets, too). But with all the talk about cloud-based systems, limitations still linger along the path to optimum implementation in the security market. We asked our panelists to reflect on those limitations and look ahead five years to how the situation is likely to change. From bandwidth and connectivity challenges, to geographic limitations and even a need to chan...

Security Is Better Than Ever! The Industry Is Optimistic Looking To 2015

Dozens of suppliers, dealers, installers and industry organisations participated in our First Annual Security Market Review and Forecast 2014 was a great time to be in the security industry, and 2015 will be even better. This is the optimistic view shared among industry leaders contacted by SourceSecurity.com and asked to reflect on the market in 2014 and to look ahead to the New Year. Dozens of suppliers, dealers, installers and industry organizations participated in our...

Interoperability Is The Linchpin Of System Success For Security Industry

There are signs of a change in the electronic access control industry in favor of systems based on interoperability as proposed by ONVIF ONVIF 2014/2015 Review & Forecast: The year ahead certainly looks to be an important one. Interoperability, data security and ease of installation will all be of concern to the physical security industry. We see an increased awareness for interoperability among the end users in the industry, which in turns reflects back on the need f...

ONVIF To Launch A Proactive Education And Enforcement Campaign

The campaign is designed to ensure that all claims of ONVIF conformance are valid ONVIF, the leading global standardization initiative for IP-based physical security products, announced recently that it is launching a proactive education and enforcement campaign designed to ensure that all claims of ONVIF conformance by manufacturers of IP-based physical security products are valid. The education and enforcement initiative aims to further protect the ONVIF brand and more pree...

US: Pelco Announces Availability Of Latest Esprit Series In Full 1080p High Definition

Pelco by Schneider Electric recently announced that its industry-leading Esprit® Series integrated positioning system is now available in full 1080p high-definition (HD) with the new Esprit HD Series. The Esprit HD Positioning System provides users with crystal-clear, live streaming of images through a standard web browser, a Pelco VMS or integration to other video systems via an API or ONVIF S to deliver on the industry’s need for excellent performance and image quality in all setting...

ONVIF Highlights Successes And Outlines 2015 Initiatives At Annual Membership Meeting

Attendees heard presentations on ONVIF successes from 2014, including the release of two new profiles ONVIF, the leading global standardization initiative for IP-based physical security products, hosted its annual membership meeting late last month. Attendees heard presentations on ONVIF successes from 2014, including the release of two new profiles, as well as an outline of new initiatives for 2015, such as the planned release of Profile Q and a new client test tool. The aud...

Access Control Market Working To Overcome Tradition Of Proprietary Systems

Access control systems that leverage proprietary technologies severely limit system flexibility Access control’s ongoing transition from closed systems to more open integration provides benefits for integrators, and especially for end users looking to maximize their system return on investment. End users want greater flexibility, specifically in terms of hardware choice. As a result, more non-proprietary solutions are coming to market. For the integrator, offering more o...