Because so many IP video systems have open standards, campus IT personnel are becoming more comfortable with security video systems on their networks. “As long as they understand what you are trying to do with the network and it is planned correctly, they are on board with it,” says Cernium’s Vice President of Corporate Development Phil Robertson. “They just want to make sure they are doing the right things as far as security and planning the bandwidth.”
Megapixel Cameras are Gaining in Popularity
A megapixel camera is basically a high-definition or extremely high resolution camera, and it can only be used with IP systems. A typical standard resolution camera will produce images between 320 X 240 and 720 X 480 pixels. Some megapixel units offer resolutions up to 4,872 X 3,248 (although they are very expensive). According to Steve Payne of Warren Associates, however, cameras in the 1-, 2- and 5-megapixel range are beginning to match the price point of many standard resolution IP cameras.
“For general surveillance and the ability to recognize an object or person, you would require about 40 pixels per foot,” says Payne. “For forensic analysis or license plate recognition, you would want to get about 80 pixels per foot in your image. For extremely high detail, such as facial recognition, you would need almost 120 pixels per foot.”
According to Robert Grossman, president of the consulting firm R. Grossman & Associates, the advantages of these types of cameras are significant. “Customers are discovering that pan/tilt/zoom (PTZ) cameras tend to point in the wrong direction,” he says. “If they put in a fixed megapixel camera, they find they are better able to go back over scenes and analyze the images. Remember, with a megapixel, you’re getting a much wider field of view. We need to see that person’s face only at one point during the view. As long as we can track a suspect throughout the scene, we don’t need to see his face perfectly every time.”
Grossman says because a standard resolution camera shows a smaller scene, there is a greater likelihood the person will pass from one camera to the other without being recognizable when he moves into the second camera view. Megapixel cameras address this challenge.
