Top video surveillance trends for 2020

Advanced technologies are driving video surveillance trends in 2020. This ranges from continued application of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhanced cybersecurity. Driven by increasing threats and the push by governments around the world to build safer and smarter cities, the need for more sophisticated video surveillance solutions continues to grow. 

AI analytics on the edge

The last few years have seen a lot of talk about the wonders of AI and what it can do for analytics. Today, the use of AI is spreading to every facet of video surveillance. As such, while AI itself might not be so much of a “new” trend, edge-based AI is expected to become more prevalent. 

“AI represents the most significant opportunity to leverage huge investments made historically in surveillance networks worldwide, as well as re-define how new surveillance systems are designed and used, to bring better operational value to the users and to increase overall security and safety in the surveilled sites,” explained Itsik Kattan, CEO of Agent Video Intelligence (Agent Vi). “AI is maturing in the spectrums of functionality, accuracy levels and affordability, and is representing a great ROI opportunity for many surveillance users.”

A blog post by Hanhwa Techwin pointed to edge-based AI becoming more ubiquitous in 2020, enabling end-to-end AI technology. “Today, most security cameras send the data they collect to servers to be analyzed…edge-based AI…reduces the burden of transferring and storing large amounts of data to a server, thereby increasing efficiency, saving time and reducing server costs…” the post read.

While more sophisticated AI technology is sure to provide

significant benefits to video surveillance, Jeff Whitney, VP of Marketing at Arecont Vision Costar explained that there will also be a significant learning curve for systems integrators deploying AI-enabled solutions, and for the security end user to get the most out of the product.

“We’ve seen this repeatedly with other products in the security market, taking time and education to get the most out of IP technology, megapixel cameras, multi-sensor cameras and cloud solutions. The benefits [of AI] to video surveillance are many, but it will take time to achieve much of the promise beyond early adopters and narrow initial markets,” Whitney said.

Enhanced cybersecurity

As the number of devices connected by IoT continues to increase, so does the risk of cyberattack. Security players expect cybersecurity requirements to continue to grow this year. Growth will come from government legislation, market demand and the implementation of more secure cameras, VMS and recorders, particularly those leveraging the cloud. 

“When focusing on cybersecurity it is imperative to understand that it is a framework and all aspects of the system need to comply. It’s an interaction of cameras, network, hardware, VMS, interfaces/integrations — if there’s a gap in one of these areas, the whole system is in danger of being insecure,” said Andreas Conrad, Head of Marketing at Qognify.

Cybersecurity will continue to improve through legislation and best practices for network-enabled IoT devices, which will impact the products manufacturers deliver in terms of their security. It will also affect how industry practitioners design and deploy surveillance systems and adopt best practices, according to Whitney.

On January 1 of this year, the US state of California implemented new law SB-327 requiring manufacturers of connected devices to equip devices with “a reasonable security feature or features that are appropriate to the nature and function of the device, appropriate to the information it may collect, contain or transmit, and designed to protect the device and any information contained therein from unauthorized access, destruction, use, modification or disclosure, as specified.”

While this law only applies to devices used in California, Whitney highlighted that this type of legislation will shape how future products are built and used. It will also encourage other states within the U.S. to follow its lead. 

More cloud-based solutions

Cloud solutions have become more and more popular in video surveillance in recent years. The rate of adoption is expected to continue increasing as more end users drive their surveillance network design from IT considerations and not purely according to traditional security concepts, explained Kattan. 

The ability to record video locally combined with remote management and distribution of video all over the cloud gives end users in various verticals more mobility. This will continue to evolve and improve solutions for corporate, government, education, retail, medical and other customer environments. Furthermore, as more vendors introduce cloud services to their offering, market awareness will grow, leading to greater adoption.

“Cloud solutions themselves will grow, with local recording combined with secure cloud management and distribution of video in hybrid solutions appealing to large corporate or distributed environments, and cloud-only solutions appealing to consumer and small business applications,” Whitney said.

Higher attention to privacy

Privacy remains a concern for end users; however, regulations and reactions to privacy depend on the region and country. For example, while the use of license plate recognition (LPR) and facial recognition by law enforcement has been banned in some places, it is widely used in others.

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) made waves in 2018 as the strongest data protection law in the world. As Europe’s framework for data protection laws, it protects the personal data of all EU citizens within and outside the EU. Since then it has become a model for other countries looking to strengthen its own data protection laws, including the recently enacted California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) in the state of California — the CCPA became effective on January 1, 2020.

Conrad pointed out addressing issues of privacy requires the implementation of a combination of technology, organizational process and workflows. “It is for this reason that many functionalities supporting privacy and GDPR are workflow-related, for example, the way in which streams are stored and exported,” he said.

Improved camera hardware

More advanced video surveillance solutions all require a powerful camera component. Now that artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning and deep learning have all gained prominence, camera hardware will need to become more powerful to keep up. “For this reason, many new models now contain an enhanced GPU, or analytics chipset to handle more demanding functionality,” Conrad said. “We also expect an increasing demand for cameras optimized to run analytics on the edge.”

The multi-sensor camera segment is also expected to continue growing in importance. According Whitney, “This includes improved resolution, high frame rates and reduced bandwidth requirements combining with hybrid cloud solutions composed of local recording for reliability combined with remote administration and uploaded video of interest both over the cloud.”

He also believes that advanced compression technologies that reduce the amount of bandwidth needed, without impacting video quality, combined with codecs like H.264 and H.265 will continue to make an impact.