Altasec touts HD-over-coaxial

For those looking for high-definition surveillance, they probably think of IP, which may not be a viable option for traditional analog players due to the overwhelming cost of a complete overhaul. HD-over-coaxial, a technology that takes advantage of the user’s existing coaxial cable, has thus become an ideal solution.

In fact, most experts agree that HD-over-coaxial will only become more popular in the near future due to users’ upgrade demands. “In the area of surveillance, analog users still account for about 50 to 60 percent of the market. With HD-over-coaxial, users just need to change the cameras and DVRs and can keep their existing cables,” said Duncan Chou, CEO of Altasec. “With the price gap between traditional analog and HD-over-coaxial narrowing, we expect a replacement cycle, with HD-over-coaxial set to completely replace traditional analog in a year or two.”

Right now there are five primary HD-over-coaxial technologies, namely HDCVI, HDTVI, AHD, ccHDtv, and Ex-SDI, which is a generic term for the new version of HD-SDI and may be known by different names for different vendors. Among them, HDCVI, HDTVI, and AHD transmit analog signals, while ccHDtv and Ex-SDI transmit digital ones.

“We choose AHD, which is a solution created by Nextchip,” Chou said. “In terms of cameras, AHD offers more choices compared to the other solutions. At the same time, it offers more competitive prices, which are conducive to a replacement cycle.”