CCTVIma g e | Ou t l o o k 2 0 1 3
has made great strides in raising the technology’s profile in this timeframe. The Society for Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE), which manages worldwide technical standards for motion imaging, including HDTV, permitted the Alliance to re-use key parts of the SMPTE HDTV standards specifi- cations under licence, a deal that allowed this specification to be quickly developed for the security market by directly repro- ducing many of the key technologies and requirements for standards for digitally transmitting unadulterated HDTV signals directly over coaxial cable – collectively known as HD-SDI. Gareth Rhodes of CCTV manufactur-
er and distributor COP Security doesn’t believe HD-SDI currently offers a mid- way point between analogue and IP. He blames the way the technology is mar- keted: “Nearly all manufacturers and dis- tributors are selling HD-SDI as a simple cost-effective upgrade on an existing analogue platform. Terms like ‘re-use existing RG-59’ and ‘saving on installation costs’ are grossly misplaced. Most engineers who have tested it have found that it’s not going to work with ‘just any’ RG-59 cable and if there is a need to replace existing coax isn’t labour a large part of an installer’s cost? Many installers enquiring about HD-SDI products also believe they’re fully compatible with existing analogue DVRs, radio kit, video baluns etc, but this isn’t the case. Many of the original analogue products will have to be updated to HD, at significant cost. “But as more and more HD-SDI CCTV equipment is launched it will
satisfy demand for a midway solution between analogue and IP. The migration to IP gives HD-SDI CCTV the breathing space it needs to develop, and with more HD-SDI products becoming available prices will start to fall, leaving the technology as a genuine alternative to analogue.” Meanwhile, Rob Watson of distributor Videcon agrees that HD-SDI
is a long term option for upgrading to HD surveillance. “In some quarters people have been quick to dismiss HD-SDI, but in our experi- ence there are end users who want HD quality footage but find IP too expensive or impractical. Typically, this occurs where a CCTV system is already in place using coax cable or where the end user’s IT network will not support an IP-based system. “This scenario will apply to a lot of end users in the UK, so for HD-SDI to grow it doesn’t need to rely on stealing business away from IP. There are already plenty of opportunities where IP is not practical for the foreseeable future, and plenty of installers who prefer
to work with technology they understand. “We’ve believed from the
start that there is room in the market for analogue, IP and HD-SDI because they all bring different benefits. The UK mar- ket has some genuinely unique characteristics. The large legacy of coax-based systems and the relatively slow roll- out of high speed broadband compared with other countries, such as Spain, have impacted on the rate of adoption of IP systems. These are both long-term issues which will not be addressed overnight, meaning that there is a long- term opportunity for HD-SDI.” From a practical standpoint, Watson points out that the technology
Gordon Smith, GVD
does require cameras interfacing to DVRs equipped with HD-SDI inputs, as well as a signal repeater if the coax between the two exceeds 100m (because the signal is digital, it may simply disappear rather than gradually degrading as it would with analogue).
IP pros and cons IP may have downsides, including the need for Cat 5 cabling rather
than coax, and potential issues with latency and image compression, but there are of course a number of advantages too. These include interoperability benefits and flexibility – for instance, you can add megapixel cameras easily, without issues such as having 17 cameras and one 16-channel DVR. This means it’s more akin to the ease of add- ing a printer to a network. IP take-up is being spurred by “dramatically” falling equipment pric-
es and the majority of new-build projects and retrofit installations are now using the technology, declares Gordon Smith, MD and founder of GVD, a specialist ‘value added’ distributor of IP technology products including Milestone video management software. Dublin-based GVD recognizes the installer up-skilling issues asso-
Runnymede: Becoming a CCTV hub Issue sponsor
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ciated with IP, describing skill sets and networking expertise among many installers as being behind the IT sector. It aims to bridge this skills deficit with tailored IP knowledge and skills training pro- grammes in both the UK & Ireland under its NIPX brand – National IP Cont’d next page
Wint e r 2013 27
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