CONTENTS
October 2013
Vertical Market
Regulations Safeguard
Bank Security P.54
Viewpoint Uncertainty Over QE Tapering Tests Resilience of Emerging Markets
P.60
To IP or Not, That is the Question
P.66
ATM Security Takes Center Stage
Special Feature Uncovering
Wide Dynamic Range
P.34
P.94
P.42
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Analog Alive Again? Component Vendors Explore a New Blend of Refined Analog and High Resolution OCT 2013
P.102
WDR Applications: Now and After?
CONTENTS
October 2013
Product Exploration
“Musts”
Six for Selecting and Installing VMS
P.74
P.82
Case Study
Application-Specific Features of VMS
SMAhome Home Monitoring Hardware Revenues to Grow 6-Fold P.106
News Feature Sound Offers Alternatives to NFC P.32 P.48
Fighting Floods with Security
P.14 Contents P.18 Editor’s Note P.20 Corporate News
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P.30 Products of the Month P.110 Show Calendar P.112 New Products
P.117 Companies in This Issue
EDITOR'S NOTE a&s International, published by Messe Frankfurt New Era Business Media Ltd., is a monthly professional publication for channel players
Top 3 Headlines That Might Shape the Future
in the worldwide electronic security industry since 1997. It updates importers, distributors, OEM/ODM searchers, system integrators and other product purchasers on product sources and identifies developments in CCTV, Digital Surveillance, Access Control, Biometrics, Intrusion Alarm, Intercom/Video Doorphone, Home Automation and other fields relevant to electronic security.
ISSN 1997-6267 中華郵政北台字第1571號 執照登記為雜誌交寄
This September, we found some interesting events that might shape the future of the security industry. Some thoughts are summarized in the following.
Parson Lee Joseph Lee John Shih
Publisher & Managing Director General Manager General Manager
Editorial
Top 1 Access control market continues to grow quite strongly. With increasing market demand and innovative technologies, the access control market is attracting more and more players. This September, Axis Communications, the IP video surveillance leader, officially announced it was ready to tap into the access control market with its latest IP-based access controllers. Relying on its strength in IP video surveillance technologies and its ADP partners — Aimetis, Genetec, IMRON, Milestone Systems, Next Level Security Systems, and OnSSI — who were initially engaged in the integration of video and advanced access control functionality, Axis is quite confident in its new offerings. We can expect other IP video surveillance providers to follow Axis’ approach in the near future. This movement also foretells that more companies will get involved in total security solution development.
General Press Jill Lai Alf Chang Tevin Wang Alyssa Fann Christine Chien Eifeh Strom Jessie Lin
Editor in Chief Senior Consultant Reporter Reporter Reporter Reporter Coordinator
as-pr@newera.messefrankfurt.com jill.lai@newera.messefrankfurt.com alf.chang@newera.messefrankfurt.com tevin.wang@newera.messefrankfurt.com alyssa.fann@newera.messefrankfurt.com christine.chien@newera.messefrankfurt.com eifeh.strom@newera.messefrankfurt.com jessie.lin@newera.messefrankfurt.com
Executive Designer Designer Designer
gaven.lee@newera.messefrankfurt.com mao.chang@newera.messefrankfurt.com arthur.wu@newera.messefrankfurt.com
Art Design
Gaven Lee Mao Chang Arthur Wu
Circulation & Subscription
Collins Yuan Michelle Shih
Group Manager Coordinator
collins.yuan@newera.messefrankfurt.com michelle.shih@newera.messefrankfurt.com
Corporate Management
Veronica Chen Hayden Hsu Juihui Lin Thomas Pin Chihung Lee
Group Manager Product Manager Assistant to Managing Director Account Manager IT Manager
veronica.chen@newera.messefrankfurt.com hayden.hsu@newera.messefrankfurt.com juihui.lin@newera.messefrankfurt.com
Group Manager
veronica.chen@newera.messefrankfurt.com
thomas.pin@newera.messefrankfurt.com chihung.lee@newera.messefrankfurt.com
asmag.com
Veronica Chen
Secutech & Events (Overseas)
Top 2
Tina Chang
Assistant Project Manager tina.chang@newera.messefrankfurt.com
Secutech & Events (Domestic)
iPhone 5S with a fingerprint scanner might not come as too much of a surprise to the majority of Apple fans. Using fingerprint scanners even stirred up the discussion of privacy threats. However, on the positive side, we are finally seeing the market leader in smart devices acknowledging the benefits that fingerprint technology can bring to our lives. With the introduction of iPhone 5S, we can firmly say that fingerprint scanners, sooner or later, will become a standard for smartphones. We can further predict more and more mobile devices adopting biometrics for diverse applications. (For more comments, see “Products of the Month” in this issue.)
Top 3 The US Federal Reserve decided to maintain its economic stimulus program at the current level this September, despite previous speculations over the QE tapering. The announcement temporarily relieved the financial stress and anxieties of the U.S. itself and also BRIC countries. However, in the long run, the uncertainty of QE tapering still tests the resilience of emerging markets. The global security market might need to be extra cautious of the possible impacts it may cause when QE tapering really starts. Establishing independent and self-sustained financial systems should be an imperative task for each developing country. You may also check out our in-depth report in this issue’s “Viewpoint”.
Echo Lin
Trade Fair Manager
echo.lin@newera.messefrankfurt.com
International Advertising [Headquarters]
Kay Yang Audrey Fang Helen Chen Alex Pai
Operation Officer Coordinator Sales Officer Coordinator
kay.yang@newera.messefrankfurt.com audrey.fang@newera.messefrankfurt.com helen.chen@newera.messefrankfurt.com alex.pai@newera.messefrankfurt.com
[Branches & Representatives]
Bobbie Ferraro Carolina Pattuelli Cemre Ilkan Evris Consolos Muris Hadzic Manish Gandhi Iris Lai Y. C. Suh Takashi Komori Nguyen Thu Ha
USA/Canada Europe (Italy) Europe (Turkey) Europe (U.K.) Southeast Europe India China Korea Japan Vietnam
bobbie@globetrottermedia.com produzione@ethosmedia.it cemre.ilkan@asturkiye.com evris@kemainternational.com management@asadria.com manish@abcindia.biz iris@asmag.com.cn ycsuh517@naver.com komori@asj-corp.jp project1@vietfair.vn
Messe Frankfurt New Era Business Media Ltd. Taiwan Branch: 2F, No. 8, Lane 360, Sec. 1, Nei-Hu Rd.,Taipei 114, Taiwan Phone/886 2 2659 9080 Fax/886 2 2659 9069 Website/www.mfnewera.com 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
Jill Lai
Copyright© 2013 Messe Frankfurt New Era Business Media Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this magazine may be republished, reprinted or redistributed in any forms, including electronic, without written consent from the publisher.
jill.lai@newera.messefrankfurt.com Advertisers are responsible for their own advertisement content. The publisher is not liable for any legal, image, patent or trademark disputes from advertisements or among advertisers. Legal consultant: Julia S.H. Yu, Attorney at Law, First Law & IP Offices
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OCT 2013
PRODUCTS OF THE MONTH
Security,
Part of Our Lives Now
BY JILL LAI
eing safe and secure is the basic need of everyone in a society. End users, like most of us, probably are not aware of how much it influences our daily life. In fact, a safe and promising world can only be built with the advancement of security technologies and people’s awareness toward security. Therefore, I always think that security devices should not be just made for a “missioncritical” profession. It should be closer to us, being a part of our lives, to help everyone be secure in any moment, for any tasks. Thanks to the Internet and popularity of smartphones, now, I can see how the goal gets realized. In this issue, the a&s editorial team selected the new iPhone 5S and DVTEL TruWitness, a monitoring app for “Products of the Month.” Both products well-demonstrate how technologies make our lives and business operations more secure and convenient. DVTEL’s monitoring app is able to turn a smartphone into a surveillance camera, which optimizes the total performance of a security system for any kind of environment, even without coverage of surveillance cameras. It not only reduces the time for threat identification and response but brings greater convenience to security staff. In a broader sense, it allows people to easily implement security missions and be more aware of security in our daily lives. Same goes for the new iPhone.
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On the other hand, the new iPhone 5S will surely boost up the future adaptation of fingerprint recognition. Thomas Marschall, CEO and President at Precise Biometrics, also commented, “Apple is the thought leader when it comes to mobile ingenuity and it is our strong belief that the rest of the mobile industry now will follow this first step towards making fingerprint biometrics a standard on smart devices.” We can assume fingerprint will be further used in different verticals of commercial sectors.
Commentary on Fingerprint Scanner on New iPhones BY JOHN DAVIES, MD OF TDSI
As the world has been getting the first glimpses of the new Apple iPhone 5C and 5S, it’s not the funky colors of the 5C that have caught my eye but the fingerprint reader that has been introduced on the new 5S. Whilst fingerprint readers are nothing new, I believe the inclusion of this technology on a smartphone is an important indication that biometric security is becoming more mainstream than ever before.
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For the last few decades PIN security has been ubiquitous, so it was an obvious step that smartphones would also use this technology. But there can be complications, it’s easy to forget a PIN and equally it can be possible for a quick-witted individual to learn this and use it for unauthorized entry without the rightful owner necessarily being aware anything is amiss! Fingerprints (and indeed anything that uses
the unique properties of the human body, such as facial recognition or iris recognition) have great advantages. They won’t be forgotten or mislaid and can’t be replicated by any simple method. So the user will never struggle to prove their identity! Biometric security is already a very significant element of the security industry so it’s interesting to see the publicity with the launch of such a high-profile consumer product. It’s right that consumers will be able to choose biometrics as an
alternative to technologically and practically inferior methods of identification. In a fast moving world, people don’t want inconvenience – they want to be able to securely use what they are entitled to with minimumal fuss, whilst maintaining full security. I suspect this will be an important landmark in the wider adoption of biometric security and will encourage the majority of people to call for it elsewhere in their daily lives.
Apple iPhone5s Fingerprint Reader Apple just launched the much awaited iPhone5s. Beyond the basic system upgrade, the eye-catching biometric function – Touch ID stands out. iPhone users can now tap their finger on an integrated fingerprint sensor equipped under the sapphire home button to unlock the phone, eliminating the need for a passcode. The sensor scans the sub-epidermal layers of the skin at 500 points per inch to verify the users’ identity. The fingerprint data will not be backed up to iCloud which Apple confirmed with major Supplier media after the launch day. Touch ID's fingerprint info is • Apple "encrypted and stored securely in the Secure Enclave inside URL the A7 chip,” according to Apple’s latest press • www.apple.com release. As biometric technology gradually opens to the commercial market, the biometric smartphone is expected to be the most talk-about topic this year, and other major mobile device providers are likely to roll out something similar to stay competitive. Key Features • 64-bit A7 Chip • Fingerprint sensor • Supports OpenGL ES 3.0 for better graphics • 8-megapixel rear camera, 1.2-megapixel front camera • Larger image sensor than previous models
DVTEL TruWitness Mobile Surveillance Solution TruWitness from DVTEL allows security staff and first responders to use their Android devices as an IP video camera in the surveillance network. Security staff can enter locations without video coverage and stream directly from their mobile device into the video management system (VMS). Users can connect their smart phone to the VMS with a user name and password to transmit real-time video directly. Control center operators can see the location of TruWitness users on geographic information system (GIS) maps along with the streamed video. Furthermore, operators can search for TruWitness users at a specific time and location and see the results visually on the GIS map.
Key Features • Google Play App can be installed on any Android device • Alarm can be sent to DVTEL’s Latitude VMS to capture the attention of control center operators and initiate recording • MJPEG or H.264 streaming • Initiate a quick call with control center and vice versa Supplier • DVTEL URL • www.dvtel.com
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NEWS FEATURE
Sound Offers Alternatives to NFC BY JESSIE LIN
MICROSOFT'S SOLUTION The Microsoft India team announced in August their latest creation – Dhwani (“sound”in English), a novel, acoustic-based NFC system that uses the microphone and speakers on any smartphones to enable bidirectional communication between devices. Similar to NFC, Dhwani is created for short-range, peer-topeer communication such as data transfers and payments. Different from NFC, it requires no hardware, and it transmits messages by sound and the receiver reads the sound wave and decodes messages. To secure the transaction, the team developed a self-jamming technique called JamSecure, “wherein the receiver intentionally jams the signal it is trying to receive, thereby stymieing eavesdroppers, but then uses self-interference cancellation to successfully decode the incoming message,” according to Dhwani: Secure Peer-to-Peer Acoustic NFC , a paper released by Microsoft India. In other words, the message is cloaked so the eavesdroppers can only capture unprocessed messages and the jamming sound. This is not to be mistaken by the cryptographic security; the paper stated that Dhwani requires no shared passcodes or certificates to be set up beforehand. Note that the data transfer rate of Dhwani is at 2.4 Kbps. With the very limited transfer rate, it may be able to do simple data sharing such as transferring coded account and payment information, while sharing any images or videos exceeding 1MB remains unlikely. The team also claims that, at frequencies of 6KHz, Dhwani can operate fine in public spaces such as malls and cafes, where the ambient noise could automatically be filtered through by the system.
BRAZILIAN SOLUTION Kinetcs, a company based in Brazil, launched NearByte, a device that also harnesses the acoustic technique used for mobile
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communication. NearByte’s encryption technique is slightly different from Dhwani yet the concept is the same. Instead of the receiver jamming the incoming messages, the sender encrypts the data and sends it to the receiver as a series of buzzing noise. Although the transfer rate is somewhat higher than Dhwani, at 100 Kbps, it is still intended only for small data transfers. So far, the device has been deployed by several Brazilian and international organizations as a platform for exchanging contact information between devices. The company intends to expand its use to make mobile payment even easier for consumers at instances such as purchasing at a vending machine, paying for parking, buying a movie ticket, and many more. Smartphone-related technologies are gradually replacing the various tools around people with powerful features that never before existed. New technologies are likely to go into practice for many more applications in the foreseeable future. As the competition in mobile payment grows, we see major IT companies, like Microsoft, try to introduce a safer and more convenient way of communication to influence the market. In the mean time, biometric technology has gone commercailized and is used by some big names, like Apple, to secure information and mobile payment. More companies joining the competition can be expected.
VIEWPOINT
Uncertainty Over
QE Tapering Tests Resilience of Emerging Markets
BRICS DOWN BUT NOT OUT BY EIFEH STROM
merging markets grew like over-fertilized weeds when the U.S. began its quantitative easing (QE) program back in 2008. Billions of dollars poured in when investors started searching for new places to make gains while US interest rates were low, causing emerging economies to grow at an exponential rate. Emerging markets became the “it” place to go; however, growth of that magnitude is unsustainable and, like gravity, what goes up, must come down. Emerging economies riding the high of post-QE investment booms are now coming
E
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back down to earth, and the ride, to say the least, has been a turbulent one. And like the challenges posed by the global financial crisis in 2008, it looks like the global security industry will once again be put to the test. A report prepared by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the G20 gathering in St. Petersburg, Russia, in Sep. of this year stated that growth in emerging economies is down 2.75 percent from 2010 levels. Internal factors have caused growth in emerging economies to slow, but added external factors like the conflict in Syria and eventual tapering of the US’s QE program are dealing extra blows to emerging markets, leaving their economies black and blue.
For a while it seemed as if nothing could bring down the BRICS, but then the volatility of the global economy reared its ugly head and suddenly cracks began showing up in the BRICS wall. In a joint effort to stem any financial crises, the BRICS have set up the Contingency Reserve Arrangement. The US$100 billion fund is to be formed using central bank reserves from each of the BRICS. All of the members will have access to the funds which can be tapped for financial need and to help member countries fund current account deficits. China will put up the lion’s share with $41 billion, followed by Brazil, Russia, and India with $18 billion each, and South Africa with $5 billion.
TOUGH AS BRICS: RUSSIA AND CHINA
Of the BRICS, Russia and China have fared the best — Brazil, India, and South Africa have not been so lucky. This does not mean, however, that they have gone unscathed. The Russian government reduced its full-year growth forecast down to 1.8 percent from 2.4 percent, as the economy struggles with weaker exports and slowing consumption rates. According to the Federal Statistics Service, the Russian economy expanded 1.2 percent in Q2, lower than the 2 percent expected by some economists. The government has also downgraded its 2014 growth outlook range to 2.8 to 3.2 percent, down from 3.7 percent. Russia’s ruble is down about 8.5 percent against the US dollar this year amidst investors pulling out of emerging
markets. However, Anton Siluanov, Minister of Finance of the Russian Federation, assured that “the ruble is not weakening, it's fluctuating.” As the world’s second largest economy, behind the U.S., China experienced unparalleled investment growth in the wake of US stimulus money being injected into emerging economies. China became a global hotspot for investment. Double-digit growth, however, has turned into single digit growth and this year China’s GDP growth has slowed to 7.5 percent in Q2 from last year. This marks the longest streak of under 8 percent expansion in two decades, putting the government at risk of missing its target of 7.5 percent growth for 2013. Despite slowing growth and outflows of investment money, JP Morgan raised its estimate for China’s Q3 growth to 7.6 percent from 7.4 and Q4 growth to 7.5
percent from 7 percent.
IMPACT ON SECURITY Weakened economies and dim outlooks are usually a recipe for cutbacks in government spending — government spending, however, is usually what has the greatest impact on the security market in emerging countries. Mix in unpredictable situations such as the conflict in Syria and prospective tapering of the QE program and emerging economies are left to juggle even more uncertainty. Although the immediate future of emerging economies is unknown, security companies continue to expand in these countries. Recovery for these economies is likely to be an uphill battle in 2014; however, only time can tell whether or not emerging markets will be able to prove their resilience in the face of adversity.
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CASE STUDY
Fighting Floods
with Security BY EIFEH STROM
ver the last few years a flurry of devastating floods have affected countries all over the world. In order to minimize the damage, governments around the globe have begun taking the necessary steps to prevent and minimize the effects of such events. By integrating security products into existing flood management systems, global governments have turned to the security industry to strengthen their ability to mitigate flood problems before they happen. Flood-prone areas are generally covered by flood management systems comprised of various water regulating measures, such as dams, flood barriers, levees, and reservoirs. Taking advantage of and integrating security options, such as cameras, wireless networks, and encoders, into these flood management systems, governments around the world are entering the arena to fight floods with security.
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SOLAR-POWERED CAMERAS MONITOR LOCKYER VALLEY After floods ravished the northeastern state of Queensland, Australia, in 2011 and killed 38 people, the state government decided to take action in order to prevent future floods from devastating the state again. Opting to integrate surveillance cameras into the Lockyer Valley’s existing flood management system, the Lockyer Valley Regional Council commissioned Moreton Bay Systems (MBS), an Australian-based company that makes battery-powered video surveillance equipment, to supply the Lockyer Valley with three solar-powered cameras, the first near Murphy’s Creek at Spring Bluff. The project posed several challenges for MBS. According to David Hill, CEO of MBS, one of these challenges was
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▲By mounting their solar-powered cameras on top of five meter poles, Moreton Bay Systems keeps their equipment out of harm’s way in the event of a sudden severe flood.
coming up with a solution that could run indefinitely on solar power over a wide range of temperatures due to the remote locations of many of the cameras, making battery replacement difficult and expensive. MBS’ solar-powered camera fits this requirement — the camera only has a small internal battery. Another challenge was finding a solution that would allow the system to be easily mounted atop a large mid-hinged pole. “Traditional solar-powered CCTV camera systems require large metal cases full of tractor batteries which cannot be safely mounted higher than a meter or so,” said Hill. “This means that when a 5-10 meter flood occurs, the system gets flooded and stops.” By utilizing MBS’ patented PSIS (Programmable Still Image Sampling) technology, which enables the camera to capture images at one-tenth of the power consumption of normal cameras, their solar-powered
camera allows the system to run on very low power consumption and therefore a small battery. “Due to the low power consumption, a small solar-charged battery mounted inside the camera housing is enough to power the camera, modem, 50-watt spotlight, and wireless receiver indefinitely,” added Hill. Hill pointed out that in the 2011 Queensland floods, 25 percent of all water level gauges were washed away during the first hours of the flood, leaving emergency services with no information whatsoever on the water levels. Since most water gauges are placed in or near the water, or have a pipe positioned at the bottom of the river or waterway with the control equipment nearby, when a large unexpected flood occurs, the equipment is vulnerable to water damage or the measuring orifices are inundated by silt and debris. The 2013 flood at Spring Bluff, for example, deposited one meter of rocks and silt
on top of the existing measuring orifice rendering it useless. Having integrated a radar water level measuring sensor with their imaging system, MBS was able to place the system atop a 5-meter pole, keeping the equipment out of harm’s way. The sensor measures water levels and can read water levels within 3-millimeter accuracy. Additionally, the sensor measures water levels every 10 minutes, compares the measured values to preset levels, and sends an alarm image to the monitoring control room if the preset level is exceeded. It then uses the 3G network to relay real-time data, with images, to emergency services and councils. “When there’s a sharp rise in water levels, the software can alert monitoring staff, send SMSs to key disaster management personnel, and even activate ‘road closed’ signs to warn motorist,” said Hill. It was also important that the system operate 24 hours a day with color images at night. To accommodate this, MBS equipped the system with a 50-watt white LED spotlight, which at night is activated and allows the color megapixel camera to continuously take pictures uninterrupted. In comparison to an infrared spotlight, which reflects back the light in heavy rain and blocks camera views, a white LED spotlight particularly allows for continuous coverage in critical times of heavy driving rain.
WIRELESS MESH NETWORK AIDS WARNING SYSTEM As the most important basin in Thailand, the Chao Phraya River basin makes up 30 percent of Thailand’s total land area and is home to 40 percent of the country’s population; it is also very prone to flooding. To protect its citizens, the Thai government decided to deploy a video and data network that would allow not
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VERTICAL MARKET
Synopsis: Banks are prime targets for criminal activity as they are transit points for the fuel of the modern economy — money. The first article looks at regulations on bank security protocols in various countries, where security measures cannot be an afterthought. The second article delves into why banks have yet to adopt IP technology on a large scale, despite standing to benefit more than most users. Finally, as ATMs and online banking have taken center stage in the current fast-paced economy, the third article discusses the banking industry’s changing landscape and the need to upgrade security to face evolving threats.
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P.54
Regulations Safeguard Bank Security
P.60
To IP or Not, That is the Question
P.66
ATM Security Takes Center Stage
OCT 2013
Regulations Safeguard
Bank Security The banking industry has more regulations governing their security systems compared to other verticals, due to the significance of their business nature. Governments are also more likely to have a heavier say in the security measures that banks must adhere to. Although these regulations are similar amongst countries, there are still differences. This article takes a peek at security regulations for banks across the world. n BY ALYSSA FANN
anks are where the money is and although online banking has reduced customer visits to the bank, the brick-and-mortar branch bank is here to stay and remains a crucial component of financial institutions. Taking the U.S. for example, a survey by consulting firm Novantas2 showed that the branch remains the preferred sales and service channel for opening accounts (75 percent),
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getting advice (58 percent), and buying financial products (62 percent). In other words, bank customers are not ready to phase out brick-and-mortar banks to migrate completely to the virtual banking world. For the security industry, opportunities come from several areas. First, the upgrading of legacy systems in surveillance, access control, and alarms offers plenty of business
opportunities. Next, mergers and acquisitions in the financial sector also represent business opportunities as corporate policies on security might have differed and would now have to be unified or brought together under the expanded corporation. Finally, like every other sector, the financial sector faces changing threats and security systems need to be upgraded to adequately address new challenges
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PRODUCT EXPLORATION EXPLORATION
Synopsis:
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“Musts”
Six for Selecting and Installing VMS n BY THE a&s EDITORIAL TEAM
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PRODUCT EXPLORATION hen it comes to configuring surveillance solutions, it all comes down to two important factors — openness and customization. Over the years, video management software (VMS) has emerged as a business-enabling technology where a more open platform allows the integration of other value-adding system combinations such as POS, RFID, video analytics, time and attendance, access control, and more. The ease of use, improved algorithms, and data libraries are improving its reliability. The result is that the value of video is increased both in real time and when viewing recorded video. According to Jumbi Edulbehram, VP of Business Development at Next Level Security Systems, the decision-making process can be varied and complex when considering VMS solutions. These factors include price, ease of use, integration, features, and intelligence.
ownership. For total cost of ownership, some key points should be taken into account: cost of installation, cost of maintenance, and time to deploy and conduct the system setup.
COST
USER-FRIENDLINESS
One of the most important considerations when purchasing and installing VMS is total cost of
Another critical requirement is that the VMS should be simple and easy to use. As video surveillance systems
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▲ The VMS’ interface needs to be as intuitive as possible, and should not require technical savvy to operate.
It's important that everyone involved — from the head of security to workstation operators — can quickly find their way around the system and know how to configure VMS. Alan Ataev, Global Sales Director, AxxonSoft
In casino and city surveillance, smart redundancy is important as there will be enormous amounts of information and simple 1-1 redundancy is very wasteful. Patrick Lim, Director of Sales and Marketing, Ademco Far East (an Ademco Security Group Company)
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become more complex, people using surveillance systems not only include security personnel, but also administrative and IT staff. Different users will have unique needs when accessing video. “It's important that everyone involved — from the head of security to workstation operators — can quickly find their way around the system and know how to configure it,” said Alan Ataev, Global Sales Director at AxxonSoft. For instance, there is a security customer who has certain wants and needs, as well as a business user and administrator, and their demands differ. Being able to have an interface that communicates with these different groups is important. Gadi Piran, President of OnSSI agrees. “The VMS’ interface needs to be as intuitive as possible, and should not require technical savvy to operate. Users should not be required to memorize codes or commands, and the system should display all, and only, the actions available at the current time for each individual camera.”
Automated system health monitoring is a citical feature to help users manage geographically distributed video operations, while enhancing system uptime and reliability to ensure video is being captured and is available for review at all times. Debjit Das, VP of Global Marketing, Video and Situation Intelligence Solutions, Verint Systems
EASE OF DEPLOYMENT Deploying VMS can be a complicated task. “System integrators have to be educated on networking, hardware, operating systems, and edge devices to name a few,” said Ilan Krugliak, Product Manager at DVTEL. “The fewer tasks the installer is required to perform, the more automatic the setup procedure will be and therefore, the sooner the system installer can complete the project.”
An open VMS solution should be capable of integrating with a great variety of third party IP cameras and encoders. This ensures end users have greater freedom to select best of breed hardware. “We can already see today that the world [of ] security [industry] is heading for network solutions in a big way,” Ataev said. “Right now, we have 1,300 models of IP cameras integrated with AxxonSoft products, and this number is constantly growing.” An open
platform not only enables the user to optimize the system to do the job at hand, it also reduces long-term costs as it is possible to change components without a forklift upgrade.
Customization & Scalability Video is just one component in the overall security operation. The VMS may need to integrate with other systems, including access control, video content analytics, license plate recognition, facial recognition, fence detection systems, fire alarm systems, and others. In addition, users should be able to customize the software to meet their unique needs. Whether or not SDK is extensive enough for customers to develop integrations or to customize the user interface to meet their needs becomes crucial.
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SPECIAL FEATURE
Uncovering
Wide
Synopsis: Wide dynamic range has progressed to become one of the most important features in a surveillance camera. With WDR, cameras are able to capture images in environments with both extreme lighting and shadows, while maintaining image clarity and details. This is especially useful for entrances, areas with varying light patterns and large windows, and other similar instances. Before the availability of WDR technology, important details are often lost in the areas of over or underexposure, making it difficult for users to clearly assess the situation. With current WDR technology reaching the point of “True WDR�, that is no longer a problem.
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Uncovering Wide Dynamic Range
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WDR Applications: Now and After?
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Dynamic Range n BY THE a&s EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT
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s network cameras journey into the era of megapixel resolution, their internal sensors are also undergoing a change, owing to the different requirements needed to achieve high definition. With its affordable price tag, CMOS sensors are now replacing the traditional use of CCD sensors and slowly becoming the “eyes” of an increasing amount of megapixel network cameras. The differences in technology used by the two types of sensors, however, often create problems which affect the low-light and wide dynamic range (WDR) performance. Luckily, with the advancement of the different combinations of CMOS and digital signal processor (DSP), WDR technology is showing great improvement. At present, WDR surveillance cameras using CMOS + DSP combination is gradually dominating the market. From a sales perspective, the price of surveillance cameras with WDR features is slightly more costly. Technology wise, WDR is already in its third generation, also known as “True WDR”, from when Panasonic first developed this technology. “Currently in the market, any camera able to produce a dB range over 100 is considered ‘True WDR’, and is capable of handling any WDR applications,” stated Peter Pan, Product Manager at Dahua Technology.
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*The index is provided as an additional service. *The publisher does not assume any liability for errors or omissions.
SURVEILLANCE PAGE NO. 85 33 15 INSIDE FRONT COVER, 1 3 59 BARN DOOR, 13 8 43 HARD CARD 71 77 41 35 9 7 BACK COVER 10 12 6, FRONT COVER 45 91 120 67 INSIDE BACK COVER 5 57 111 23 4 97 89 79 117 93 52, 53 93 83 37 72, 73 27 63 21 19 2 81
ADVERTISER ACTIONTOP ELECTRONICS (SHENZHEN) CO., LTD ARECONT VISION AXIS COMMUNICATIONS AB CNB TECHNOLOGY INC. COMART SYSTEM CO., LTD. CONVEX CO., LTD. DAHUA TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD. DYNACOLOR INC. EOC CO., LTD. EVERFOCUS ELECTRONICS CORP. FITIVISION TECHNOLOGY INC. FOCTEK PHOTONICS, INC FUHO TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD. FUZHOU FRAN M&E TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT CO., LTD. GKB SECURITY CORPORATION HDPRO CO., LTD. HIKVISION DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY CO. LTD. ICATCH INC. IDIS CO., LTD. MERIT LILIN ENT CO., LTD. MICRO DIGITAL INC. MINRRAY INDUSTRY CO., LTD. MINTRON ENTERPRISE CO., LTD. OB TELECOM ELECTRONICS CO., LTD. PANASONIC SYSTEM NETWORKS CO., LTD. PINETRON CO., LTD. POWERTECH ELECTRONICS CO., LTD. QIHAN TECHNOLOGY CO.,LTD. QNAP SYSTEMS,INC. RIFATRON CO., LTD. SHENZHEN COMMANDER TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD SHENZHEN HUANGHE DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD SHENZHEN LAUNCH DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD. SHENZHEN LESHI VIDEO TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD. SHENZHEN SAFER SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD. SHENZHEN TVT DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD. SHENZHEN WENSHENG MOULD PRODUCTS CO., LTD. SHENZHEN WISION TECHNOLOGY HOLDINGS LTD. SJ MICROTECH CO., LTD. SUNELL ELECTRONICS CO., LTD. TAMRON CO., LTD. THREE BRAIN TECHNOLOGY TYCO SECURITY PRODUCTS VIVOTEK INC. WEBGATE INC. ZHEJIANG DALI TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD
MAJOR ITEM SURVEILLANCE CAMERA NETWORK VIDEO SOLUTIONS CCTV DVR SURVEILLANCE SURVEILLANCE IP CAMERA / NVR IP CAMERA / NVR CAMERA / DVR / IP CAMERA IP CAMERA / NVR LENS CAMERA/DVR DOME COVER CAMERA / DVR / IP CAMERA CCTV DVR DVR SURVEILLANCE IP CAMERA / NVR CAMERA / IP CAMERA / HD-SDI CAMERA / DVR SPEED DOME / CAMERA CAMERA FIBER OPTIC TRANSCEIVER DIGITAL SURVEILLANCE DVR CCTV SURVEILLANCE NVR/ STORAGE DVR CASING SURVEILLANCE CCTV SURVEILLANCE SURVEILLANCE SURVEILLANCE CASING SURVEILLANCE CCTV CAMERA CAMERA CCTV SURVEILLANCE IP CAMERA/SOFTWARE/VIDEO SERVER DVR CCTV
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E-MAIL sales@actiontop.com info@arecontvision.com contact-sap@axis.com korea@cnbtec.com sales@comartsystem.com sales@conves2000.com overseas@dahuatech.com info@dynacolor.com.tw sales@eoctech.net marketing@everfocus.com.tw sales@fitivision.com sales@neusion-lens.com exp_sales@fuho.com.tw sales@fjsmt.com sales@gkbsecurity.com sales@hdprocctv.com overseasbusiness@hikvision.com marketing@icatchinc.com sales@idisglobal.com sales@meritlilin.com sales@microdigital.co.kr minrray@mingricctv.com service@mintron.com.tw overseas@obtelecom.com --sales@pinetron.com powercctv@powert.net marketing@qihan.cn nvr@qnap.com contact@rifatron.com sjw@yjdcase.com sales@histream.cn info@launchdigital.net vip@lsvt.com.cn overseas@safer.com.cn overseas@tvt.net.cn cai@szwensheng.com overseas@wision.net sales@sjmicrotech.co.kr sales@sunellsecurity.com newbiz@tamron.co.jp younglee@tbtcctv.com emeasales@tycoint.com sales@vivotek.com support@webgateinc.com sales@dali-tech.com
MAJOR ITEM ACCESS CONTROL FINGERPRINT ACCESS CONTROL RFID MODULE / LOCK / READER HOME NETWORKING INTRUDER DETECTION RFID/LOCK/READER FINGERPRINT BIOMETRIC, ATTENDANCE
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ACCESS CONTROL PAGE NO. 46, 47 25 91 38 11 103 61 17 39
ADVERTISER ANSON (SHENZHEN) TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD FINGERTEC WORLDWIDE SDN BHD FUJICA SYSTEM CO., LTD. GIGA-TMS INC. SAMSUNG SNS CO., LTD. SENSORPRO CO., LTD. SOCA TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD. SUPREMA INC. ZKTECO INC.
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ADVERTISER SUNLIT TECHNOLOGY (HK) CO., LTD.
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