They are everywhere, in banks, casinos, airports, train stations and even shopping malls. Closed Circuit Televisions are an effective means of surveillance that have become a necessity for both security and evidence.

Closed Circuit Television, otherwise known as CCTV refers to the usage of video surveillance cameras to monitor public and private areas. Surveillance cameras send a signal to a restricted number of monitors where security personnel can keep track of them.

In comparison with broadcast TVs, Closed Circuit Television systems are not directly sent out. However, CCTV does make use of point to point wireless links.

Ever since the first appearance of CCTV back in 1942, when it was used to observe the launch of rockets, Closed Circuit Television systems have come a long way and become more and more widespread. They were also used and developed after the IRA bombings as a silent reaction to these aggressive acts.

Currently, CCTV is part of the security systems of banks, public spaces and is also becoming increasingly popular among home owners looking to protect their assets. However, the presence of Closed Circuit Television has given way to a controversial debate, mainly as it relates to privacy issues.

CCTV offers a truthful broadcast of what is happening in a public space, rendering footage that might prevent crime or identify illegal activities or criminals. For example, in a bank, CCTV images can monitor the presence of a break-in during the night and the police can be notified allowing the robbery to be prevented. On the other hand, if the theft has already taken place, the images can unveil the identity of a suspect.

At airports or train and tube stations, these surveillance cameras can also be of great help. The images from CCTV cameras have helped in finding the persons who planned the bombings in London 2005, and have also been central to solving many other crimes.

Closed Circuit Televisions are also being used to monitor traffic on highways and motorways. The CCTVs can point out the places where there is a traffic jam or an accident, allowing measures to be taken within minutes.

The latest trend for CCTV usage is on private properties and housing areas. The aim of the Closed Circuit Televisions is that of social control. People are becoming more and more concerned in keeping their property safe and so they choose CCTVs to help do it.

CCTVs have proven to be a great help in crime prevention and detection and are being successfully used in many circumstances and places. Conversely, Closed Circuit Televisions being in many public places is a threatening fact to people’s privacy. Just imagine that everywhere you go, there’s a big chance that a CCTV system has been installed there. For many this feels like they are being watched at almost all times; that’s not a pleasant thought. However, the thought that Closed Circuit Televisions can bring more safety can act as a comfort that undoubtedly outweighs any negatives.

DVRs with network functions (sometimes more advanced than those of some IP cameras) supported by low-cost analog cameras were an attractive alternative to IP CCTV systems.

But the limit of analog CCTV (PAL, NTSC) is resolution of the images. Such restrictions do not exist in the IP CCTV systems equipped with megapixel cameras.

An analysis of the advantages of megapixel cameras can be carried out assuming that the optimum monitoring requires approximately 130 pixels per one meter of the observed object. For a 50-meter wide scene, an analog system (720 pixels) would require to employ 9 cameras. In the case of a camera with 1.3 Mpix resolution (1280 x 1024), the number can be reduced to 5 such cameras, for a 2 Mpix camera – only 4 cameras will do the same job.

A smaller number of cameras has other advantages. First of all, it lowers the cost and time of installation and maintenance. It also lowers operational costs – it is easier to conduct surveillance with a smaller number of points.

Of course, there is another alternative for megapixel cameras – very popular speed dome/ PTZ cameras. With adequate lens, it is even possible to cover the area mentioned above with a single PTZ camera. However, such a solution has many drawbacks. First of all, the camera can be set only in one of two ways. The first one provides an overall view, without possibility of recognition of some important details, e.g. the license number of a car. The second way, using optical zoom, increases the capability of identifying details, but at the expense of losing the rest of the scene.

In addition, PTZ camera has to be controlled by the operator, who must decide what is interesting at the moment and focus on that area. In the case of fixed megapixel cameras, there is always available a complete picture, with all events recorded by the system. Due to a very high resolution of the cameras, the details can be viewed using digital zoom.

IP cameras have come a long way since they appeared on the market a decade ago, and promise to be the wave of the future for CCTV surveillance, not only catching up with analog and hybrid versions but providing a movement from forensic analysis to preventive analysis. However there are still challenges to be conquered along the way.

The benefits of each system are outlined below:

Analog CCTV Solution Benefits:

• Mature market with wide acceptance
• Readily available with standard output interfaces
• Tried and tested
• Closed system which is perceived as tamper proof
• Structured market in place
• Lots of products available in the market place
• Perceived as lowest cost solution

Benefits of Hybrid CCTV Solutions:

• Use existing analogue infrastructure
• Readily available
• Multi-user access
• Low cost remote transmission
• Remote management and configuration
• Move from analogue to digital recording

IP Solutions:

Technology benefits:

• Direct Ethernet connectivity – no external boxes. This translates into ease of installation and re-configuration
• Complete system – pan, tilt, zoom, presets, alarms
• Still image capture and sequence capture on HD
• Ability to “ping” for operation testing
• 85 ms remote alarm verification vs. 7 sec for remote analog system
• Resolution constant regardless of distance

Users benefits:

• Use existing cabling – do not need to install new cables (70% world CAT5 cabled) – reduced cost
• Reduced installation time – which also results in reduced cost and disruption
• Low cost remote transmission
• Remote management and configuration
• Multi-user access – in other words many people can view simultaneously
• Interactive applications e.g. email, text on alarm

Intelligent video surveillance systems are emerging as a new trend that is driving the video surveillance software market. According to IMS senior research director Simon Harris, the CCTV surveillance market trends point to an IP network system, with a consistent growth of 45% in 2007 from 2006 but expecting to slow to 35% in 2008 from 2007. However the growth can still reach 40% if the economy improves.

A recent report from Research and Markets outlines that the global CCTV market (including both analog and IP-based CCTV) grew at a CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) of 24.28% in 2007 over 2006 and is forecasted to grow at a CAGR of approx 23% from 2008 to 2012. The global demand for CCTV systems is escalating at a faster pace due to a robust growth in the IP-based CCTV surveillance systems compared to analog.

However video analytics have not lived up to their expectations and promises made. This is still a pioneering field with decades of research yet ahead of us before intelligent cameras can perform human-like analysis. According to a recent report by Australian Customs Service “while motion detection is the most common application of video analytics, few of the intelligent video products achieve low false alarm rates (a maximum of 20 false alarms per night). A false alarm rate beyond this can lead to security staff ignoring the alarm or having video analytics switched off all together. It is also possible to defeat motion detection by very slow movement through the detection zone.” The report concluded, in part, “security consultants, clients, and end users should understand that the technical functionalities are highly dependent on environmental variables and that the analytical algorithms do not contain artificial-intelligence program structures. Therefore, there should be no expectation that a CCTV system incorporating video analytics will replicate human perception or learn from previous detection events to reduce false alarm rates.”

Intelligent video is drawing more IT integrators into the rapidly growing video surveillance industry. WashigntonTechnology.com reported as early as 2005 that a significant development in the video surveillance industry is the aggressive entry of integrators that are networking the new, advanced digital cameras and intelligent video software with existing systems, including analog cameras, and with other security systems and IT networks for access control, intrusion detection and cyber security. Formerly dominated by burglar alarm companies and camera experts, experts noticed that the video surveillance field is being influenced strongly by a growing number of IT integrators who offered a more holistic and sophisticated approach.

The future may belong to IP based security networks, with substantial progress made in newly developed IP products but for now, the choices depend on issues such as:

• Infrastructure (bandwidth) availability
• Frame rate requirements
• Image quality needed
• Use of existing infrastructure
• Total costs of system

Various industries such as retail, healthcare, gaming and transportation (ports and airports) offer the most opportunity for market growth however smaller companies, the SMB (Small Medium Business) sector have shown the largest increase in sales in 2007 as more affordable solutions become available.