An
IP camera, or Internet protocol camera, is a type of digital video camera
employed for surveillance. Unlike analog CCTV (Closed Circuit Television)
cameras, IP cameras can receive and send data via the internet or a computer
network. Although a majority of the cameras that do this are webcams, the
phrase “netcam” or “IP camera” is normally applied to those used for
surveillance.
There
are two types of IP cameras. Centralized IP cameras and decentralized IP
cameras. Centralized IP cameras require a central NVR (Network Video Recorder)
to handle the video, recording and alarm management while the decentralized IP
cameras do not require a central NVR, this is because the cameras have a
recording function built-in and thus making it record directly to any storage
media such as PC/server, network attached storage or SD cards.
Though
IP camera is a new technology which has developed quickly in the recent years
and even threatens the market of the analog security camera, many customers
hold some kind of suspicion about it. In this article, the author illustrates
the advantages and disadvantages of IP cameras so as to grasp a better
understanding of IP cameras.
The
advantages include:
High Image Quality
Image
quality is clearly one of the most important features of any camera. Superior
image quality enables the user to closely follow changes and details in images,
making way for faster and better decisions to more effectively safeguard people
and property. It also ensures greater accuracy for automated analysis and alarm
tools.
Flexible and cost-effective
Using
standard PC server hardware radically reduce equipment costs, particularly for
large systems where servers and storage have a significant portion of the total
solution cost. IP-based systems provide a means for network video products and
other types of applications to share the same wired or wireless network for
communicating data.
Remote accessibility
IP
cameras can be monitored timely from any computer anywhere in the world, and
from many mobile devices including iPhone, laptops, etc.
Encryption and authentication
IP
cameras offer the transmission of data through authentication and encryption
methods such as WPA, WEP, WPA2, AES, and TKIP.
IP
cameras post some disadvantages
which may include:
- High initial price for high-quality cameras.
- Lack of standards. Various IP cameras can encode video differently or use different programming interface, which may require camera recorder combination.
- Technical barrier. IP camera requires IP address, network settings, and DDNS, for this services one should hire a specialized technician who is familiar IP cameras.
- Network traffic requirement is high. A simple IP video in MJPEG mode requires about 3 Mbit / s.
Amcrest IP
cameras are used in an unlimited number of places; however, most of them fall
under the security surveillance or remote monitoring of people, property,
places and operations. Some typical place that has applied IP cameras includes
retail sectors, schools, industries, banks, government offices, etc.
