Standards governing the interoperability of hardware in the security industry have been a long time coming.The two big ones in our marketplace are ONVIF (Open Network Video Interface Forum), and PSIA (Physical Security Interoperability Alliance).
If you ask many in the industry today, the prevailing opinion seems to be that ONVIF has won the battle. I see that standard implemented far more than PSIA.
That being said, has the adoption of ONVIF really been the wondrous fix to all of our industries issues like we thought it would be? Recently, blogger John Honovich tested several VMS systems and cameras, and found while there were many improvements in the ease of connecting cameras and systems together, there were still many issues and challenges.
In my own experience, I still find hesitance on the part of larger camera manufacturers to implement either standard in their hardware programs, or are taking an extraordinarily long time to do it. Now, some manufacturers are adapting and “tweaking” the ONVIF standard itself, leading to new problems.
As integrators, has the ONVIF or PSIA standard made life easier? Have you noticed a change at all? Do you still have to chase down updated driver files, etc?
