WELLINGBOROUGH, U.K. -- More than 50 percent of all network security cameras shipped will be megapixel or HD resolution by 2014, according to a new report by IMS Research.
Titled "The World Market for CCTV and Video Surveillance Equipment - 2010 Edition," the report notes a main benefit of network security cameras has been the availability of megapixel and HD resolutions, a feature that until recently analog products had been unable to offer.
However, recent developments from the HDcctv Alliance, the organization responsible for developing the high definition over coax standard, could see end-users given a greater choice when specifying megapixel and HD surveillance requirements.
Although a large percentage of new, enterprise-class projects are implementing network video security, existing video surveillance installations, which are primarily analog, still represent a majority of the installed base.
The study highlights this sector of the market "will be most interesting in the coming years; will customers reuse their existing analog infrastructure and invest in HDcctv, transition to network security cameras, or adopt a hybrid system?"
While there is little disagreement in the industry that video surveillance systems are transitioning from analog to networked systems, there is discord regarding the system topology needed to achieve this, according to the report. For customers looking to capture high definition and megapixel video, this can be done using a "pure" network video solution or by using an HDcctv analog video surveillance solution that brings the data onto the network using an Ethernet enabled DVR.
"HDcctv cameras will not impact the uptake of IP cameras in the short term," says Gary Wong, a video surveillance research analyst who authored the report. "Many large and well-known vendors of video surveillance equipment have already invested heavily in developing and marketing network security cameras. It is unlikely that these vendors will adjust their technology roadmaps and marketing messages to accommodate HDcctv products into their product portfolios in the near future."
The lack of recognized brand exposure will prove detrimental to HDcctv equipment sales at the enterprise-class project level, according to Wong. However, HDcctv cameras could potentially limit the available market for network security cameras.
"HDcctv may gain traction in the low and middle segments of the market. These market segments are serviced by small, local and regional security systems installers who have generally been slow to embrace network security cameras," he says. "HDcctv allows installers to offer the benefits of HD to their customers without having to operate outside of their technical comfort zone."
Despite the potential impact of HDcctv, IMS Research forecasts that by 2014 worldwide shipments of HD and megapixel network security cameras will outnumber sales of HDcctv cameras by a factor of six to one.
IMS Research's recently published report, "The World Market for CCTV and Video Surveillance Equipment - 2010 edition" forecasts the growth of HD network cameras, megapixel network cameras and HDcctv cameras and other video surveillance equipment types in greater detail.