CONTENTS
Sep/Oct 2013
Regional Perspective
Thai Economy Uncertain But Interests Remain
The Kingdom of Thailand is the second largest economy in Southeast Asia, right behind Indonesia, and up until now, filled with bright prospects. The country was thrown into an unexpected recession after showing signs of slow growth for two quarters in a row in the first half of 2013.
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Thai Verticals Demonstrate Promising Growth
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Thailand Strides into Surveillance Awareness
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Product Highlights at Secutech Thailand
Product Exploration
Smart Video Ensures
Situational Awarness
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Video content analysis assists users when monitoring different environments. This feature highlights the pros and cons of intelligence in the front and back end.
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Food For Thought : Tips to Accurate VCA
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CONTENTS
Sep/Oct 2013
Product Exploration
Serving Up Network Storage P.94 P.100
Industry Report
Vertical Market
Chinese Products Prove Their Worth P.106
Home Owners Invest More for Home Automation
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Asia Grows Green
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P.14 Contents P.18 Editor’s Note P.20 Corporate News
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Standalone NVRs Advance in Market Over PC-Based NVRs
P.30 Products of the Month P.114 Show Calendar P.116 New Products
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P.123 Companies in This Issue
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EDITOR'S NOTE a&s Asia, published by Messe Frankfurt New Era Business Media
Innovation Becomes the Biggest Challenge for Major Suppliers
Ltd., is a bimonthly professional publication for channel players in the regional electronic security industry. It caters to importers, distributors, OEM/ODM searchers, system integrators and other product purchasers to get updates on product sources and developments in CCTV, Digital Surveillance, Access Control, Biometrics, Intrusion Alarm, Intercom/Video Doorphone, Home Automation and other fields relevant to electronic security.
ISSN 1997-6259 中華郵政台北雜字第1570號 執照登記為雜誌交寄
With the penetration of IP technologies into security, surveillance products have become much more mature. To drive each company’s presence in the market, valueadded and customized services are required. Many major suppliers have admitted that they are currently having a hard time creating major, revolutionary innovations. We will probably not see any major innovations in surveillance, but a shift in market shares for specific products can be expected. On the other hand, access control and connected home devices will continue to develop consistently. On the surveillance products’ side, the IP penetration rate still varies by geographic regions, because of different levels of network infrastructure and market awareness. As technologies in key components get much more mature, the overall quality and reliability of network cameras has improved greatly, echoed by Moore’s Law. However, some disadvantage also comes with these merits. Network cameras now are in a fierce price competition. Channels are experiencing the challenge of creating sufficient margins. It goes without saying that the slow recovery of the world economy has made the status quo even worse. Markets for network storage are also in a transitional period. According to our latest interviews with major network storage suppliers, the current market is sizzling with multiple options of network storage, roughly categorized by NVRs, edge storage, and cloud storage. With the trend of HD video quality and worldwide heightened security awareness, network storage has become much more important. It is worth noticing that the targeted market for each network storage method hasn’t yet matured. After NVRs took over DVRs during the migration from analog to IP, we can expect that NVRs will continue to penetrate all markets of network storage. One interesting finding is that PC-based NVRs, the early marketers, are facing competition from increasingly powerful standalone NVRs. The standalone NVR is regarded as a solution of ease-of-use, almost like the “plug-and-play” feature in most consumer electronics. IP products (such as standalone NVRs) will grow with momentum to take over markets originally dominated by PC-based NVRs. This issue has a more in-depth report. Providing new and innovative products has become more challenging for all security professionals. While the major market for security as a whole moves from government to commercial and residential sectors, we can assume more professional security products will follow the main trend of consumer electronics. Access control and connected home devices are moving toward this new level of security intelligence at the edge, similar to the evolution of smart phones, which could probably help drive surveillance products too.
Jill Lai
SEP / OCT 2013
General Press Jill Lai Editor in Chief Alf Chang Senior Consultant Reporter Tevin Wang Alyssa Fann Reporter Christine Chien Reporter Eifeh Strom Reporter Coordinator Jessie Lin
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Corporate Management
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Secutech & Events (Overseas)
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Secutech & Events (Domestic)
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International Advertising [Headquarters]
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Messe Frankfurt New Era Business Media Ltd., a company formed by Messe Frankfurt (HK) Ltd. and former A&S Group in 2009, is an integrated media service provider in the security industry. Our service covers magazines, Web sites, events and trade shows. The portfolio of a&s magazines includes a&s International, a&s Asia (above published in English), a&s China, a&s Installer, a&s Solution, and a&s Taiwan (above published in Chinese). a&s Turkiye, a&s Adria, a&s Italy, a&s India, a&s Japan and a&s Vietnam are licensed editions. For changes of address or subscription problems, contact us at mfne-circulation@newera.messefrankfurt.com
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Corporate News
IMS: APAC Leads Automation Capital Expenditures The APAC region accounts for more capital expenditures on industrial automation products than anywhere else in the world, with 46 percent of global investments in 2012, equivalent to US$76.6 billion. The power industry represented approximately one-fifth of total industrial capital expenditures attributed to industrial automation products, the largest of all industries in APAC. Investment in power has grown significantly in recent years — particularly in developing regions as demand for domestic, commercial, and industrial use has grown. China, for instance, is now the world’s biggest consumer of electricity. However, China’s per-capita consumption remains far behind most western countries, leaving plenty of room for further growth. With demand in APAC for power expected to continue expanding, the endeavor to move away from fossil fuels and governments striving for cleaner, safer, more efficient and reliable plants, the outlook for industrial automation products in its biggest market appears to be strong.
Japanese Police Station Enhances Staff Security with Qnap Security Surveillance Solution While police officers protect people, police officers themselves, likewise, need protection too. To enhance the total security of police stations, Japanese police stations turned to a Qnap security solution for a well-rounded surveillance solution. A total of 200 units of Qnap NVRs were deployed at 200 police stations around Tokyo and Osaka. One NVR and up to four Axis IP cameras were installed at each police station to monitor the inside and outside surroundings.
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Taiwan Life Insures Against Security Risks For New Headquarters with Messoa CCTV The new headquarters of Taiwan Life Insurance, one of the top insurers in Taiwan, was completed in late 2012. Looking to house thousands of employees while integrating corporate resources all under one roof, the company needed to employ a video surveillance solution that fulfills its highest requirements for securing the building’s overall safety. Several system integrators competed for the tender, and eventually Siemens came through based on the Messoa video surveillance solution. In early 2013, a total of over 100 Messoa video surveillance cameras were deployed, covering the capacious 30,000-square meters of gross floor space of the building. Of the over 100 cameras deployed, a dozen speed dome cameras were installed on the exterior of the building to secure the perimeter; over 30 IR bullet cameras were mounted at security-critical areas overlooking the lobby and key access points where adverse lighting is present; and the rest were indoor IR dome cameras, which were used for discreet monitoring of elevators, hallways, and staircases on each floor. Both the domes and the IR domes are fitted with varifocal lenses, which offer maximum flexibility in installation such that the security system can be easily adapted to various environments. Moreover, the lean, compact size of the domes made the cameras discreet and unobtrusive to complement the building’s classy interior design.
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Corporate News
Video Door Phone Market Opens Up to Fast Growth, Says IMS The US$1.8 billion global door phone market is transitioning from audio to video technology, with video set to grow and account for 50 percent of unit shipments in 2017, according to a new report entitled “The World Market for Audio and Video Door Phones” from IMS Research (an IHS company). Worldwide video door phone shipment units are forecasted to grow by 7.5 percent during the next five years, with several technological advances and benefits helping to drive the transition from audio to video door phones. These trends include increased integration with building automation, a transition towards “hands off” indoor units along with larger 7-inch screens, and an increase in the use of network systems and megapixel cameras.
Australian Mine Lit Up By Raytec LEDs LED illuminators from Raytec have helped increase productivity at the world’s largest bauxite mine in Western Australia, with a significant lighting upgrade in a remote and challenging environment. The conditions that light fittings operate under in the bauxite mine area are harsh due to vibration, dust, heat, heavy rain, and long running times; all of which affect the performance and life span of the illumination. The challenge was to find a lighting solution that could not only withstand the tough conditions on site, but could also provide adequate illumination for safe working conditions, and provide an energy and cost efficient solution with significantly reduced maintenance requirements. Raytec’s illuminators were able to satisfy all of these requirements. The tough, rugged illuminators are vibration resistant and are designed specifically for challenging environments such as mines and oil rigs. The illuminators performed consistently over the 12-month trial, compared to ordinary illuminators that typically have a 3-4 month durability timeframe. The illuminators deliver quality illumination for the safest working conditions. They provide crisp white, even illumination for improved visibility with no dark areas, compared to older sodium style lights that produce a dull and uneven spread of orange light.
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Vietnamese Int'l Airport Installs Bosch Public Address, Surveillance Systems Southern Airports Corporation (SAC) Lien Khuong International Airport is the largest among the four airports of Lam Dong province in Central Highlands, Vietnam. The airport is located in Duc Trong District and was built in 1933. In 2009, major reconstruction to handle bigger aircrafts was completed with a new 12,400-square meter passenger terminal being inaugurated on Dec. 26. The new two-level terminal is capable of receiving 1.5 to 2 million passengers each year. The challenge faced by the SAC was that their previous public address (PA) system and security system had used a combination of products from different manufacturers. This created many systemic problems and greatly disrupted operational smoothness at the airport, as well as the reputation of the SAC. Bosch Security Systems’ new PA and video surveillance systems were deployed at the SAC. The new PA and video surveillance systems have performed beyond their expectations by proving their versatility, reliability, excellent clarity, and ease of use, thus highly contributing to the effectiveness of Lien Khuong International Airport's daily operation.
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Corporate News
Axis Video Encoders Chosen by Chinese Hospital No. 306 Hospital of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in Beijing, China, is a comprehensive modern “Class III Grade A” hospital with advanced technology and sophisticated equipment. The hospital was looking for a stable, continuous, smooth IP-based video solution providing high image quality and low-bandwidth consumption, in order to meet the requirements for many video applications, such as operation demonstration for learning, expert consultation, and to further facilitate the standardized management of the hospital. Axis Communications was chosen to help develop this project. The system selected consists of Axis video encoders, which are H.264 encoders connecting the hospital’s analog cameras to the IP network. Images collected at the operation site use dual streaming technology, one channel of signal for the real-time medical treatment displayed and the other for video storage, to create future teaching materials, as well as identify possible medical incidents and collect evidence. The operation process can now be viewed on big screens outside the surgery rooms. Such a real-time teaching method breaks away from the restrictions on time, space, and number of people allowed in operation rooms and has greatly improved the quality of the teaching process.
Hikvision and Bosch Collaborate to Develop New Integrated Solution Recently, Hikvision and Bosch announced an integration program, which will see Hikvision’s Netra-based NVR series seamlessly integrate with Bosch HD IP cameras. The new integrated solution will also further improve product interoperability as well as provide the best product solutions to their customer base.
LILIN Total Solution Adopted By Large-Scale Apartment Complex in Malaysia A large-scale government subsidized apartment complex in southern Malaysia is a five-story apartment complex and home to over 1,500 units of apartments divided into two separate land sites, including open-air parking areas, tennis courts, and fitness centers. Residents' safety is the apartment complex's responsibility and finding a well-thought-out total surveillance solution was an absolute must. LILIN’s NVRs combined with CMX (central video management software), a total of 176 IP-based cameras, a failover device for backup redundancy, as well as ANPR (automatic number plate recognition) technology powered by LILIN were deployed to monitor the premises spread across 60 acres in real-time to prevent trespassing, identify license plate numbers, and perform event detection. The new system acts as a deterrent for external and internal theft to decrease incidents. The overall safety of the residents has been enhanced.
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CEM Systems Offers Five-Star Malaysia Airlines Integrated Security Established more than 60 years ago, Malaysia Airlines has a long history of providing excellent service and has won over 100 awards in the last 10 years, including Asia’s Leading Airline. Malaysia Airlines required a security solution that was powerful yet reliable and could be integrated with access control, video, and intrusion, as well as integration to an external visitor registration system to form a complete security management system (SMS). CEM’s security solution met the requirements for high-level integration using the intruder interface and the American Dynamics video interface. These modules allow the access control system to act as the SMS, with DSC intrusion and American Dynamics range of digital video recorders visible from one unified platform. In addition, an application programming interface has been provided to allow the seamless integration of an external visitor registration system to the system visitor’s module. Using industry leading technology, CEM has also provided Malaysia Airlines a stable solution with a high level of redundancy.
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Corporate News
Investors Eye Expressway Project in Vietnam Dau Giay-Phan Thiet Expressway in Vietnam attracted the interest of many investors who attended promotion events held in three Asian countries in July. A presentation about this project was delivered to international investors in Mumbai, India on July 22, Seoul, South Korea on July 24, and Singapore on July 26. Approximately 100 investors from infrastructure development firms and financial institutions in the region expressed their interest in the expressway project, said the transport ministry in a statement released on Monday. Bitexco Group has been named the first investor of this expressway project and will contribute 60 percent of the total capital. The second investor will be chosen via bidding and will contribute the remaining 40 percent. Dau Giay-Phan Thiet Expressway, stretching a total of 98.7 kilometers, will have six lanes and a vehicular speed of 120 kilometers per hour. The US$750 million project will help shorten the time for travel from Ho Chi Minh City to the southern central region and tackle traffic congestion on National Highway 1A. Also, it will facilitate formation and development of industrial zones and tourist sites along the route.
ONVIF Publishes Profile G Release Candidate for Video Storage, Recording ONVIF, the global standardization initiative for IP-based physical security products, announced the release candidate for Profile G, the specification designed to store, search, retrieve, and playback media on devices or clients that support recording capabilities and onboard storage. Profile G will encompass devices ranging from cameras and encoders to networked video recorders and client systems such as video management systems, building management systems, and physical security information management systems.
Gunnebo Acquires Korean Distributor to Gain 70 Percent of Turnstiles’ Local Market Share Gunnebo Security Group has signed an agreement with the owner of ATG Entrance, distributor of Gunnebo's turnstile product range into the South Korean market, to acquire all shares in the company. ATG Entrance has an annual turnover of some 5.3 million US dollars and 13 employees in its sales office in Seoul. The company has a solid customer base with leading South Korean corporations as LG, Samsung, Hyundai, and the government of South Korea. The company has been the distributor of Gunnebo's turnstile product range into the South Korean market for 10 years. Today, the company holds 70 percent of the South Korean market for turnstiles.
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ZigBee New Home Automation Standard Ratified The ZigBee Alliance, a global ecosystem of organizations creating wireless solutions for use in energy management, commercial, and consumer applications, announced that an update to ZigBee Home Automation has been ratified and is now available for product development. The new version is fully interoperable with the earlier versions of the standard. ZigBee Home Automation 1.2 adds several important new features that improve the battery life for security sensors to over seven years, standardize pairing of devices, and simplify installation and maintenance for consumers and custom installers alike. These features have a significant impact on operational and device costs to service providers and quality of service to consumers.
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Products of the month
Brinno PHV1330 Digital PeepHole Viewer The Brinno Digital PeepHole Viewer turns a hard-to-see peephole image into a big bright image. It uses a 3-inch LCD panel and a micro SD slot to display who is at the door and captures the image without alerting them to the homeowner’s presence. The image is easy to see for people of any height and is similar to that on the display of a digital camera. The viewer compensates for low-light images with the brightness enhancement mode and also eliminates fisheye distortion. A second press of the button provides a zoomed image, which enlarges the center of the image for viewing facial details. Repeated presses toggle between regular and zoom modes. In addition, the knocking sensor accessory snaps into the back of the unit and causes the PeepHole Viewer to record a photo every time someone knocks on the door, regardless of whether the homeowner is at home. Key Features • Simply push a button to see a larger image without darkening the peephole • Clear image on the LCD Panel on the door, easy to see for people of any height • Compensation for low-light images • Compensation for fisheye distortion Supplier: • Brinno
URL • www.brinno.com
Mio MiVue M300 Action Camera and DVR Mio’s MiVue M300 is an action camera and a full HD DVR designed for bicycles, scooters, motorcycles, and outdoor activities featuring a 120 degree wide-angle camera, 5-megapixel resolution, and full HD 1,080p (1,920 x 1,080 at 30 fps) video using H.264 encoding technology. It is cylindrical in shape and weighs only 92g. The MiVue M300 can be mounted on a motorcyclist’s helmet as well as on a forearm or backpack strap. The built-in Li-Ion battery 650mA keeps the device running for more than 2 hours without Key Features the need to • IPX8 waterproof constantly • Mountable and wearable plug it into • 1,080p full HD recording an AC socket. • H.264 codec Moreover, the • Light weight (92g) and great portability device and AC Supplier: charger are both waterproof • Mio Technology (IP X8), which makes it possible to use not only in difficult weather conditions URL (in the rain or snowfall) but also under • www.mio.com/index.htm water.
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Industry Report
Chinese Products
Prove Their Worth Manufacturers from China, Korea, and Taiwan each have their strengths in production. However, China is quickly overpowering the rest.
n By The a&s Editorial Department
I
n the highly competitive security industry, the preferred countries where visitors are interested in sourcing their products are narrowed down to China, Taiwan, and Korea. Most visitors agree that Taiwan reigns supreme technology-wise due to its longstanding history of having a superb IT background; China is able to offer better prices; Korea manufactures most aesthetically pleasing products. Though buyers used to source surveillance equipment mainly from Taiwan, the market has radically shifted its focus to China. China’s immense production power is further solidifying its status as the manufacturing hub of not just Asia, but throughout the world as well. With much improved product quality and competitive prices, Chinese products are attracting the attention — and the wallets — of buyers worldwide. The rapid improvements are also removing the previous skepticism of their technology-developing abilities. Despite the rapid improvements
and advancements of China, Chinese manufacturers are not as concerned about the appearance of their products. While Taiwanese manufacturers might be slightly more aware about product appearance, they are unable to compete with Korean manufacturers in terms of the consistency of the appearance of products they manufacture. “If you buy an iPhone, iPad, or a Mac computer, you can tell that it’s made by the same company. The design is beautiful. So the first impression you get out of that product is really good. That is often lacking in the Chinese manufacturers. Simple things that really shouldn’t be too hard to do are lacking. Similar with Taiwan, to a lesser extent,” said Neil Morgan, National Product Engineer at Ness, located in Australia. Morgan’s observation serves as constructive criticism for defect rate and quality control issues that Chinese and Taiwanese manufacturers need to acknowledge and address in order to achieve further advancements.
Though buyers used to source surveillance equipment mainly from Taiwan, the market is radically shifting its focus to China.
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Improved Quality in Chinese Products Buyers agree that China is progressing quickly in its technology developments, leading to increased sourcing from Chinese manufacturers. “Chinese products’ quality is improving, but their price is still very competitive. This makes it difficult for other countries’ players to compete in the market. In turn, companies are feeling that they need to work with Chinese companies,
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because there is a demand for it. Around three to four years ago, 50 percent of our products were Korean, 30 percent Taiwanese, and 20 percent Chinese. Now, it is 10 percent Korean, 30 percent Taiwanese, and the rest is Chinese. In other words, Chinese products have taken over the share of Korean products, mostly because of better prices coupled with improving quality,” said Nikita Panfilov, Marketing Department Head at Intant, located in Kazhakstan.
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“Their price to quality ratio is increasing very fast. We tested IP cameras from China two, three years ago, which has nothing to do with what is coming out today. It improved very fast. Two years ago, you couldn’t even trust their IP cameras. It was like an analog camera with something like IP. Today, it’s much better. But I think it’s also because the market was not big. Now the market is becoming bigger and bigger, so they are putting more energy on that,” agreed
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Karim Elleuch, CEO of Waycon in Tunisia, emphasizing on the vast improvements Chinese manufacturers have made. Their competitive prices coupled with their technological advancements increased their partnerships with buyers all over the world. Aside from its technological and quality improvements, Chinese manufacturers have started to provide enhanced after-sales support over the course of the past few years, one
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Regional Perspective
Thailand Rounds Off Thailand has been through its fair share of ups and downs, most recently, the major flood in 2011. Each time, the country was able to bounce back into action, picking itself off where it left off. Though the country’s economy hit a speed bump for the first half of 2013, temporarily halting its growth, experts believe the country will be able to round off by the end of the year. The increased amount of tourists is leading to a retail boom in Thailand, leading to the building of more new shopping plazas. Major government projects are being planned and put into action, with plans for more to be completed. The country’s growing sense of security is also the final driving force of security market growth, especially for video surveillance.
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Thai Economy Uncertain But Interests Remain
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Thai Verticals Demonstrate Promising Growth
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Thailand Strides Towards Surveillance Awareness
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Thai Economy
Uncertain But Interests Remain The Kingdom of Thailand is the second largest economy in Southeast Asia, right behind Indonesia, and up until now, filled with bright prospects. The country was thrown into an unexpected "recession" after showing signs of slow growth for two quarters in a row in the first half of 2013. The second half of 2013 looks a little more promising due to upcoming opportunities, but the influence from the termination of the fourth round of Quantitative Easing (QE4) of the U.S. makes the future growth of this country somewhat uncertain. n By Christine Chien (with reporting by John Shi)
Past Performance In 2012, Thailand’s economy grew like a child hitting puberty, making a speedy recovery from the massive 2011 flood that had caused great detriment to the nation. The Phoenix Capital Group reported that the total value of investment from January to November 2012 was just below US$29.6 billion, which confirmed the continuous confidence of foreign investors in Thailand. According to the Industry Minister, Prasert Boonchaisuk, the number of investment applications reached 1,943 projects during the first 11 months of 2012, which is 24.5 percent more than the total number of projects applied for the same period in 2011. Based on Thailand’s 2012 economic performance report from the country’s National Economic and Social Development Board, the Thai economy
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grew by 6.4 percent, with headline inflation of 3 percent and current account surplus of 0.7 percent of GDP in 2012. The hotel and restaurant sectors expanded by 11.5 percent and the number of foreign tourists rose by 16 percent, mostly coming from China, Malaysia, Japan, Russia, and South Korea. Meanwhile, public construction increased by 27.1 percent, owing to a higher disbursement in capital budget compared to the lagged disbursement caused by the flood in the fourth quarter of 2011, and the real estate sector expanded by 3.9 percent. By year’s end, everyone had high expectations and hopes for Thailand’s economy in 2013. Predictions such as continued growth, increase in public and private investments, inflow of foreign investments, etc. were projected from the World Bank.
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Regional Perspective Regional Perspective
Thai Verticals Demonstrate Promising Growth Thailand has recently suffered a minor setback; however, the country has proven its resilience against tough economic situations in the past. Several verticals are still displaying signs for strong growth. n By Christine Chien (with reporting by John Shi)
the government will be able to begin or resume them once the economy stabilizes. With an increased awareness of security, the Thai government is planning multiple large-scale projects across the country from Safe City to transportation. In fact, government projects account for the biggest growth of the security industry in Thailand. Thailand will be installing more video surveillance cameras and access doors due to upcoming government projects, such as airport and rail expansion. In Bangkok alone, 20,000 more cameras will be installed by the end of 2013, bringing the total number to 40,000 cameras in the nation’s capital.
Airports
T
he Thai economy has taken a slight tumble over the past few weeks after experiencing contractions in the first half of 2013. Although this speed hump may have sparked worries in some foreign investors, there are still many who believe in the country’s potential. In time, gradual improvements in the U.S. and eurozone, along with increase of intra-Asian trade, should lead to a modest increase in global trade flows. The Thai government has also been meeting frequently in order to address the unrest
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experienced throughout the nation, examining the necessary measures to keep the economy afloat and minimize further contraction for the remainder of the year.
City Surveillance Due to the political situation in Thailand, several public projects have been put on hold and are expected to be postponed until the end of this year. Although the recent setback will likely result in further delay for these public projects,
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Currently, the government is carrying out several airport projects to handle the influx of tourists visiting each year. The Thai Department of Tourism reported that international tourist arrivals jumped 21 percent during the first five months of this year. A survey from the University of Thai Chamber of Commerce’s Center for International Studies reported that Thailand was the second most visited ASEAN country in 2012, with 22.3 million visitors, and is expected to reach 34.5 million in 2020. Tourism now accounts for
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9.8 percent of Thailand’s GDP of US$34 billion and it is expected to grow to 11.3 percent of the GDP in seven years. Suvarnabhumi International is preparing to add a new terminal and planning to construct a third runway, acting as a reserve runway for when one of the two main runways are closed for renovation or other possible causes. Don Mueang International is renovating its Terminal 2 to alleviate visitor traffic from Suvarnabhumi and is expected to reopen in 2014. Phuket International is also being expanded to handle its increased amount of tourists wanting to visit the famous beautiful beaches of Thailand.
Rapid Transit The government also plans to extend and construct new lines for their rapid transit system. The blue line is due to be
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expanded while constructions of the pink, orange, and yellow line are being planned and pending approval. The purple line was originally due to open in 2014, running from Khlong Bang Phai to Tao Pun, but is now scheduled to open late in 2015. The Mass Rapid Transit Authority of Thailand (MRTA) has very recently approved in principle the building of a new mass transit route, the brown line, running between Kae Rai and Lam Salee. Scheduled to be completed in 2021, it is estimated to cost around $1.3 billion. According to a press release from the MRTA, once the nine routes are operational, the whole system will be able to accommodate 50 million commuters daily. The MRTA Governor also mentioned the state enterprise has already begun its project to develop shopping and business centers as well as real estate on its land in a move to ease the
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government's funding for the MRT system. The project will also increase the MRTA's revenue. Along with the various transportation projects planned by the government, the high-speed, long-haul rail is expected to finish completion by 2015. These projects might expect further delay depending on the country’s economic situation and how the government plans to finance the projects. The tracks will run from Bangkok to Chiang Mai and Nong Khai, providing a comfortable, inexpensive way for long-distance commuters.
Retail The retail sector is expected to be the second highest growth sector for Thailand’s security industry. This can be attributed to the many new malls being built or scheduled to be built in
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Product Exploration
Smart Video
VCA Levels UP Video content analysis is available on edge-based and server-based devices. Edge-based VCA is capable of utilizing the bandwidth, as video images are processed on the camera itself. Serverbased VCA allows for more advanced calculations since it has a larger processor. Though all VCA are prone to false alarms, advances in algorithms and use of high resolution cameras will continue to reduce those rates. Before deploying VCA in any environment, users must fully understand their environments to see if it is suitable or if it will actually assist in their operations.
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Smart Video Ensures Situational Awareness
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Food for Thought: Tips to Accurate VCA
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Situational Video content analysis assists users when monitoring different environments. This feature highlights the pros and cons of intelligence in the front and back end. n By Christine Chien
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Ensures
Awareness T
wo years ago, ObjectVideo waged a series of legal battles with some of the most prominent names in video surveillance, for the infringement of intellectual property relating to video analytics; among the defendants were Bosch, Sony, Samsung,
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and Pelco to name a few. These lawsuits shook the security industry and gave rise to an influx of video surveillance companies who quickly entered into patent licensing agreements with ObjectVideo, in fear of becoming its next target. According to previous reports, Raul Fernandez, CEO of ObjectVideo had not expected the lawsuits to halt the developments of video analytics or to suppress the adoption of the technology. Ironically, no major breakthroughs in the technology have emerged since the whole fiasco. Now, video content analysis (VCA) seems to be stuck in a peculiar situation where the technology is maturing, but with
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nothing out of the ordinary coming from it. However, its more advanced features are now able to reduce the rates and incidences of false alarms and are better managed in different devices. The industry is becoming more realistic and “down-to-earth” about the capabilities of VCA, instead of chasing after and/or promoting “new and cool” features that will most likely be unreliable once they are put to the test. The limited breakthrough in the technology however, will not be putting a stop to its growth. According to MarketsandMarkets, the video analytics market is expected to grow from US$180 million in 2011 to $867.8 million by 2017,
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Product Exploration at an estimated CAGR of 30.4% from 2012 to 2017. Current forms of VCA are available in front-end (edge-based) or back-end devices. Pros and cons exist for both the front and back end, and each have its most suitable use scenario. According to Mahesh Saptharishi, President & CTO of Video IQ, there are two primary factors that influence the performance of any VCA system — the quality and resolution of the video being analyzed and the amount of processing available to run VCA algorithms. Lower resolution video, such as video with considerable noise and heavily compressed streams all adversely affect performance. Sophisticated VCA algorithms require a substantial amount of processing to run effectively. More recently, advances in the science of pattern-based video analysis have helped dramatically increase performance while requiring a significantly lower processing budget.
Front-End Devices Advantages The advantages of using front-end devices are most apparent in two ways — it saves bandwidth and is cost effective. “If there is a large number of cameras requiring analytics, placing analytics on the edge makes sense. Edge placements keep the costs down by relieving network traffic burden, actual costs of the analytics, and costs involved in server farms,” stated John Sepassi, Account Executive at IntelliVision. The use of front-end devices works exceptionally well for remote locations or extended facilities where there is poor or non-existent bandwidth back to the monitoring location, “as it eliminates maintaining a remote server and needs only a low bandwidth connection to send snapshots of alarm instances,” said Sadiye Guler, Founder President of intuVision. “When video analytics are placed inside a camera, and a high degree of video processing is used to analyze the raw video as it comes off the imager, every video
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The most common VCA systems base their alarms on motion detection (frame difference) or pixel analysis (background modeling).
frame at full resolution is available for the video content analysis,” commented John Romanowich, CEO of SightLogix. The ability to analyze every video frame makes VCA on the edge more sensitive to feint objects. “Given the same algorithm, edge analytics using the original data works better than serverbased analytics, which works on compressed data from an IP camera. This is because video compression is ‘lossy’ and feint objects such as a person in dark clothing on a dark night may just be visible in the original video but filtered out and lost during transmission of compressed video to the server,” said Geoff Thiel, CEO of VCA Technology. Having the loads divided among multiple devices relieves network traffic burden as analytics are performed at the camera level, and only relevant video is sent back to the recorder for storage.
Mahesh Saptharishi, President & CTO, Video IQ
Disadvantages Major disadvantages of using VCA at the front end include its inability to run analytics that require high CPU, but also the analytic configuration that is needed for each device. “Low processing resources result in lower performance and less features, management of VCA on large numbers of cameras becomes
Source: MarketsandMarkets
▲ The video analytics market is expected to grow from US$180 million in 2011 to $867.8 milliion by 2017.
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Product Exploration
Food for Thought:
Tips to Accurate VCA Users often complain about the inaccuracies associated with video content analysis technologies, however, the inaccuracies are often caused by improper usage or incorrect solutions chosen for their facilities. n By Christine Chien
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any users purchase and employ video content analysis (VCA) in hopes that it would be the miracle solution to all their problems. As a result of the over exaggeration of VCA capabilities in its earlier days, users believed the technology will soon be able to replace human operators. They soon came to realize these claims were mostly propaganda, which resulted in great disappointment over the effectiveness of employing VCA. Nowadays, the technology is more
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advanced and mature compared to its previous prototypes. So why are users still having trouble with their VCA? The answer is quite simple. Users need to be educated about the technology and its capabilities, so there are no misconceptions about what the VCA can or cannot achieve. “In some respects, we are attempting to use computers and algorithms to replicate what the human eye and a substantial part of our brains are used to accomplish. Certainly, systems benefit from the automation achieved by today's video analytics but it
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is not a replacement for human decision making," said Larry Bowe, President of PureTech Systems. As humans are naturally equipped with the ability to read and decipher body languages of other people and register events as they occur, we automatically have the ability to register the meaning behind it and whether it is something that can or cannot be ignored. Video intelligence is not as flexible in that sense.“ Video analytics is good at detecting clearly definable simple activities. Video analytics is not
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Product Exploration
The Changing Face of Network Storage As network cameras surpass analog cameras in revenue, the spotlight on storage is shifted from DVRs to the various forms of network storage available. To assist the system integrator in selecting the best storage method among the various forms of network storage — NVRs, edge storage, and cloud storage, the first section looks at how to select an optimal network storage solution based on user's requirements. The second section discusses the brewing competition between PC-based and standalone NVRs.
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Serving Up
Network Storage n BY Alyssa Fann
Serving Up Network Storage Standalone NVRs Advance in Market Over PC-Based NVRs
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ith more options, selection of the best storage method to suit specific needs and situations becomes more complex. “Previously, technology revolved around reducing the quality of the recorded video or the frequency with which video frames are recorded on the storage media. In recent years, however, the advent of and attraction to higher resolution cameras, combined with regulations that require extended retention periods of high-resolution, real-time footage, have made these practices useless and obsolete,” said John Minasyan, Senior Product Manager of IP Video Management Systems at Pelco by Schneider Electric. “More than ever, the industry today is faced with finding a cost-effective, highly reliable, scalable storage architecture to satisfy end-user and regulatory agency requirements.”
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Storage Requirements The choice of storage typically depends on the size of business, the investment model, and the storage needs. Most importantly, security systems must be scalable, flexible, and able to adapt to a company’s changing protection needs. Considerations should factor in bandwidth and system requirements and whether the system is capable of delivering the demands. Typically, installations deploy one method or a combination of methods for storage. Government regulations, industry standards or internal best practice often set requirements regarding recorded video. “The storage time and the amount of recorded data determine what storage solution is required, not to mention that different markets have different requirements. For example,
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Product Exploration it is common for retailers in certain regions to save recordings for 30 days,” mentioned Jarmo Kalliomäki, Product Manager at Axis Communications. Regulations vary between states within the U.S. and between countries. “The backlog in criminal cases in California courts mandate that video evidence be archived for 365 days. In gaming applications in the state of Nevada, video footage for all gaming cameras have to be captured at 30 images per second at a minimum of 4 CIF resolution for seven days. In France, recently enacted public safety laws required 4 CIF resolution, real-time video for all public safety and city surveillance applications,” echoed Minasyan.
Large-scale installations NVRs are the go-to default storage option in the megapixel camera world. In addition, larger-scale projects prefer centralized management and storage of video and recorded data. There are a number of challenges in large-scale surveillance deployments. From a storage perspective, according to IDC, these include managing multiple, long streams of content, ensuring that enough storage is installed (or can be installed) so that video streams can be recorded continuously without interruption, and ensuring the quality of video stream. If a storage system cannot keep up, frames will be dropped. Large-scale installations, such as airports, governments, enterprises, and critical infrastructure will opt for PC-based storage or server-based storage. Such verticals require superior computing power, along with high security. PC-based storage or serverbased storage offers more reliability and stability on this front. Storage capabilities depend on the
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scale of the security system in question. For example, a 100-camera system with seven days of storage, recording at 24 hours per day at 15 images per second, using MJPEG compression could require more than 30TB of storage. Consequently, “a solution that will store large amounts of data for a long period, typical in a government segment, should consider centralized solutions like NVRs or server-based storage,” mentioned Kalliomäki.
Complementing Centralized Storage For large organizations, failover solutions are increasingly required. In these situations, edge storage is often deployed and work as a complement to central storage, recording video locally when the central system is not available for any reason. Alternatively, the end user may prefer to deploy edge recording simultaneously with the central system so that missing video clips caused by network disruptions or central system are not lost. The images are, instead, recorded by the camera,
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retrieved at a later time, and merged with the central storage. Hence, "today we do not see edge storage as a solution for primary storage in enterprise deployments. However, we do see a fit for edge storage as a way of adding redundancy to your deployment," echoed Tom Larson, Director of Global Accounts at BCDVideo. When integrated with a central storage system, edge storage increases the comprehensiveness of the video surveillance system for mission-critical installations, remote locations, and mobile situations. For example, edge storage can improve video analysis for systems with low network bandwidth where video cannot be streamed at the highest quality. “Edge and centralized storage can, and do, actually complement each other in many situations. Edge storage provides an excellent ‘buffer’ in the connectivity of a camera that would be otherwise considered unreliable,” explained George Scholhamer, VP of Sales Engineering at Pivot3. “Take for instance a shipping
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Vertical Market
Connect with Smarter Home The home automation (HA) market is witnessing growth thanks to the demand for HA and security systems that improve the efficiency of all kinds of homes. HA technologies not only enhance security, simplify living, but also increase energy efficiency and secure lives. The U.S. remains the largest market while European market is still under the economical weather. With considerable disparities in cultural values and awareness of HA, Japan, Korea, Australia, and New Zealand are leaders in the technology, market maturity, and potentials. Regarding other countries in APAC, continued education is required for customers to understand the benefits of HA for better and more efficient home life.
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Home Owners Invest More for Home Automation
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Asia Grows Green
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Home Owners Invest More for
Home Automation Besides listening to the consumer and developing around these requirements, it is crucial for technology providers to develop a long-term approach to the smart home. n By Elizabeth Mead, Connectivity and Smart Home Analyst, IHS Electronics and Media
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any end users are now aware of how “smart” their homes can be; they can manage climate, lighting, and security devices from within their home or via a smartphone. A small global percentage already have smart home systems, but what of those who might be considering home automation (HA), or those who have never heard of a “smart” home? These consumers are the target market, and they require customizable systems that make their lives easier. So how is the industry-led market for smart
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homes listening to the consumer and developing around these requirements?
Energy Management, Security, and Lifestyle Drive Global Home Automation From a global perspective, energy management is considered to be the dominant application system supplied by HA organizations. A new study from IHS projects that smart devices focused on energy management applications see most deployments during the period
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2010-2017, with almost 150 million nodes projected to be shipped. Legislation is one of the primary growth agents for energy systems: mandated smart meter and in-home display deployments in the U.K., India, and Australia have driven the uptake of home area network-ready, in-home energy systems in these countries. Consequently, in-home displays account for a significant proportion of energy management device shipments. Along with legislation, utility companies are also starting to drive the adoption of energy management
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