Promising Market
The security and surveillance market can be regarded as one of the most promising markets so far this century. Since the 911 event and subsequent terrorist attacks and explosions all over the globe, the number of places needing security and surveillance has greatly increased. Traffic checkpoints, casinos, banks, shops, governmental offices, homes, schools, enterprises and other public places are placing more emphasis on security maintenance.
Security and surveillance products can be categorized into four groups: video surveillance, entry guards, burglar alarms, and intercoms. Of these groups, video surveillance remains the mainstream. In Taiwan, this group comprises more than 150 Taiwan-based suppliers and accounts for over 80 percent of the industry’s total production value.
Traditionally, the core video surveillance products were analogue CCTVs and VCRs (or DVRs). But as Internet infrastructure has become sounder, the IP surveillance system, which is Internet- and intelligence-compatible, is attracting ever more attention and gradually taking the place of CCTV. According to the Topology Research Institute, the compound annual growth rate of CCTV from 2006 to 2010 will be about only 10 percent; on the other hand, the scale of the global IP surveillance market is going to generate a compound annual growth rate of more than 40 percent, increasing from US$1.4 billion in 2006 to US$5.5 billion in 2010 (see Chart 1).
The IP surveillance system includes network cameras (IP cameras), video servers, cables, Power over Ethernet (PoE), UPS power supply, Internet stretchers, video surveillance software, NVRs, etc. Among these, network cameras, NVRs, video surveillance software and video servers generate the greatest sales.
The network camera can be viewed as an IP site, allowing others to access it through the Internet using various devices, such as mobile phones, PDAs, and notebooks. So users can easily monitor their target wherever they are, as long as they can get online. At present, out of the four products, the network camera has the majority market scale. It is predicted that the scale of the network camera in IP surveillance will remain between 34.3% and 35.4% for the next three years (see Chart 2).
NVRs are mainly applied to the gambling market. In 2006, as much as 26% of the IP surveillance storage market was used in casinos, followed by 20% by the government. In view of the high demand of IP surveillance systems, J.P. Freeman and Frost & Sullivan predict that the market scale of NVRs may reach US$1,656 million in 2010, exceeding the US$1,568 million made in DVRs.
Video surveillance software, including video management software, intelligence surveillance software, and other application software, is predicted to show stable growth (27%) from 2008, with market scale possibly reaching US$67 billion by 2011.
Video servers are used to convert analogue video into digital video and therefore play a bridging role between CCTV and IP surveillance. According to IMS Research, the top 5 global players in this fierce competition are AXIS (17.1%), Verint (15.4%), Bosch (10.9%), GE Security (7.3%) and Telindus (5.9%). Other companies take about 43.4% of the whole pie.
Why Does IP Surveillance Stand Out?
IP surveillance has the potential to be vastly more successful than traditional analogueue CCTV systems. Just imagine how boring it can be to sit in front of a monitor and watch an empty street for four hours! A study has shown that attention dramatically decreases after focusing on one thing for 20 minutes. Therefore, the traditional way of using CCTVs, which requires a security guard to sit in a small room looking at a monitor, has not proved very effective. The central feature of IP surveillance solves this serious problem. Over the Internet, the security guard can monitor his target at any time and any place; the intelligence analyses provided by IP surveillance can also point out abnormalities for the security guard to check further, without requiring a time-consuming review of the whole tape. “We can even set up a ‘virtual area’ first with the software and calculate how many people enter this area, how many seconds a person stays in this area, etc.,” says Maxwell Chang, a researcher at Topology Research. “Another amazing way to monitor abnormalities is to set up several standards and ask the system to do a sweeping abnormality-search based on these standards.” (See Figure 1)
Other benefits that IP surveillance can offer are its progressive scan for better video quality and its PoE for easy expansion (i.e., adding more cameras does not require more cables). More importantly, the set-up fee for an IP surveillance system is even lower than that for a CCTV system. Vivotek’s Director of Product Marketing, Steve Ma, says, “The coaxial cables used in CCTV systems are relatively expensive. Each time you add another camera in your system, you have to add another cable. So the expansion costs you more not only because of the added cameras, but also because of the added cables.” (See Table 1)
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Three Groups Grabbing the Pie
With an eye on this emerging demand, three groups in Taiwan are aggressively catching up: networking suppliers (Alpha Networks, D-Link, PLANET Technology), security & surveillance producers (AVerMedia, AV Tech, Dyna Color, Geo Vision, Hunt Electronic, Vivotek, Topco, Yoko Technology) and industrial PC manufacturers (Advantech, IBASE Technology, Portwell). These companies are focusing more on network cameras than other products (see Table 2). In 2006, Vivotek had the highest shipping volume of network cameras. Dyna Color and Topco have also invested deeply in innovating speed dome cameras, which have a higher technology threshold; but 85% of Taiwanese video surveillance manufacturers only produce CCTV surveillance equipment.
“Taiwanese manufacturers’s competitive advantage is in assembly. Many are doing OEM for international brands or fighting in the low end of the market with their own brands,” says Chang. “However, the proportion of Taiwanese companies in the IP surveillance field is still low. Especially the development of video surveillance software and NVRs is a serious lacks of this country.”
Innovation Demonstrated
While IP surveillance is the rising star of the security and surveillance industry, other innovative designs and features have been introduced to the market. At this year’s Taitronics Autumn, NUUO won attention for its Smart IP Network Surveillance System, which fully meets the common need for medium-high quality video conferencing, security, remote control and surveillance devices. Face-Tek Technology also launched the Face Recognition Wall Mounted Unit, an integrated gatekeeper which, according to the company, is capable of face recognition within only one second, and whose two sets of four screen-mounted LED lights can provide lighting in poor lighting conditions. The IR Outdoor Speed Dome from Camdeor comprises an infrared night vision function. Its unique fitting can exclude excessive light, and the class IP66 waterproof makes it suitable for outdoor use. Finally, the Agile TV Modulator from Weihai Systems can support multiple TV systems (NTSC/PAL B/G, D/K, I) and is suitable for use in CCTV, cable TV systems, satellite TV systems, DVD and any A/V device.
Apart from these products, many companies also did their best to promote their advantages to buyers at the show. For instance, Kingdom Communication Associated (KCA) displayed its own brand components at their booth to show customers that they are able to offer a total solution, from components to design, with products including CCTV cameras, DVRs, and network systems. Daniel Kuo, President of Kingdom Communication, stressed that unlike most security and surveillance manufacturers in Taiwan, who outsource product components to Chinese factories, his company is capable of strict quality control by producing components themselves.
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In addition, as all mini speed dome cameras currently on the market are either analogue or IP solution, users may be faced with a difficult choice: whether to continue with analogue or go directly to an IP solution. In view of this, Eyeview Electronics has designed the GPOWER IP Basement, which was introduced at the show. The product allows users to upgrade their analogue GPOWER mini speed dome to a MPEG4 IP solution. GPOWER explained the upgrade as follows, “For instance, at the first installation, because of budget concerns, users may choose an analogue camera. But some time later on, they might want to go for an IP network camera. What they need to do then is to buy an extra Eyeview IP Basement to plug into their current analogue GPOWER camera. This will allow them to exercise maximum budget control because they don’t need to get rid of their current analogue camera and buy a completely new IP camera; it also allows distributors very flexible stock management.”
In general, the key displays at the show were infrared cameras with built-in LED, night-vision and long-distance surveillance functions, various kinds of speed dome cameras, wide dynamic cameras and DVRs. Some companies also showed signs of looking for new application markets such as car rear-view cameras.
Noticeably, a Taiwan-based software company called Penpower Technology has seen the potential for integrating video surveillance and biometrics and begun development.
Biometrics refers to the process of identity recognition or the characteristics used in this process, such as fingerprints, facial features, iris, voice, signature, hand geometry, vein patterns, signature dynamics, gait dynamics, and many other features that can be used as natural passwords. Take a daily scenario as an example. To get into the office, we may have to scan ID cards at the door access control and attendance system. Or before logging on to our account, we may have to enter a password first. Both of these behavior events can be replaced by biometrics. “Video surveillance has entered our daily lives without causing much attention because it is non-intrusive, while fingerprints failed to be part of our identity authentication system because of its intrusive nature,” says Jison Hsu, Senior Manager of Intelligent Video Surveillance at Penpower. “However, if we can use surveillance cameras to recognize faces, which is a very user-friendly biometric access control, can we expect to see a “Camera Guardian” in the future”
In 2001 Penpower started related research and has already developed technologies like SSL-encoding/decoding security technology and FaceMetrix. Using a normal camera, FaceMetrix can automatically extract facial images, recognize proactively, determine identities and save facial images for later reference. Hsu points out that as the market for face-recognition technology is increasing from year to year, “The concept of a ‘Camera Guardian’ may be realized in 10 years.”
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