The increased popularity of HD and megapixel resolution security cameras has been a hot topic in the video surveillance industry over recent years. And quite rightly so, world shipments of megapixel resolution network security cameras are predicted to out-sell standard resolution network security cameras in 2012 for the first time.
The increased popularity of HD and megapixel resolution security cameras has been a hot topic in the video surveillance industry over recent years. And quite rightly so, world shipments of megapixel resolution network security cameras are predicted to out-sell standard resolution network security cameras in 2012 for the first time.
In recent years some manufacturers such as Arecont Vision, Avigilon, Dallmeier, and ipConfigure have pushed for a greater number of megapixels, upwards of 20 megapixels to giga-pixel resolution. However, these are niche resolutions and are only used in wide area surveillance application such as borders and stadia. IMS Research does not expect high megapixel resolutions such as these to be a mass-market trend.
In a similar fashion to consumer hand held video recorders, there is unlikely to be any great leaps in the resolution of security cameras. For Whilst it is possible for manufacturers to produce higher resolutions, they have decided to compete on camera features to improve image quality.
IMS Research expects to see a similar trend within the security industry. The 1 – 1.99 megapixel range will meet the general needs of the end user. However, as end-user demand for image quality becomes more important, there will be an increase in camera feature sets and the quality of the image will not just be about the number of megapixels.
These trends have already started to be seen. Wide dynamic range (WDR) sensors allow cameras to filter image noise caused by bright and dark areas of an image; this produces higher quality images in varying light conditions.
The same is also true for day/night cameras. These cameras have the ability to switch from colour operation in the daytime to monochrome operations at night. However, the day/night feature has already started to see competition from new technologies such as Lightfinder by Axis Communication. Lightfinder is able to use colour operation in both day and low light situations.
During 2013 and beyond, IMS research expects that technology developments and camera features that improve image quality will become the new battleground as manufacturers try to establish their own USP.