Differentiators
Heat can be a problem for image sensors, especially CCDs, which generally require additional chips to process sensor information. Heat impacts reliability, introducing noise and artifacts in the image, which lowers quality and affects compression efficiency. Some sources of excessive heat are inefficient tracing, intensive processing, power-hungry components or inefficient wiring in the layout of the PC board.
Reliability issues caused by heat may result in camera crashes from overheating. The device will no long be functional unless manually rebooted. Signal integrity is another problem exacerbated by shrinking ICs and circuits. While slimmer chip technology has enabled incredibly small finished devices, interference between wires increases when power supplies and wiring are not laid out carefully or have not been tested thoroughly.
What the Future Holds
Today's network cameras have come a long way from their beginnings. While converging with the IT sector, video surveillance products are also beginning to evolve at a more rapid pace. This becomes more apparent with the movement towards establishing standards and improving interoperability
Interoperability bodies such as ONVIF and PSIA help remove the more tedious technical hurdles of IP-based surveillance systems. By improving plug-and-play capability between devices from different vendors, networks cameras become more user-friendly. “Previously, it was very complicated for installers to integrate products from different vendors into one system, whereas now products that are ONVIF or PSIA compliant generally ensure that they work well together,” Clocher said. “This helps boost the shipment of network cameras.”
Analysts such as IMS Research expect network camera shipments to surpass analog cameras between 2012 and 2014; this has already occurred in some regions such as the Middle East. “There has been a very strong trend from analog to network cameras for a few years now,” Schreiber said. “This trend will certainly continue and will reach the tipping point within the next few years.”
Other experts predict network camera dominance to take longer. Depending on the market, the tipping point can vary — analog cameras still dominate major markets such as China, Christensson said. “Since China is undergoing a big expansion, the dominance of analog in that region will push out the tipping point from a global perspective. Our sales data for network cameras indicate a possible tipping point in the 2016 to 2018 timeframe globally.”