Personal photos and videos played a major role identifying the Boston bombing suspects and will likely grow in importance. A new service, that integrates surveillance cameras and crowdsourced images from mobile phones, is be...
One of the most common credentials is also the most confusing. How exactly do proximity cards 'read' into an electronic access system? Despite being widely used by more than a half-dozen 'contactless credential' types, that these...
Polaroid is one of the most spectacular failures of the century and has become, quite literally, a case study in failure. Now, after two bankruptcies, and partnering with Lady Gaga, Polaroid is targeting the surveillance market. ...
It is far too common to find RFPs and proposals with missing details, inadequate equipment, and out of date specs. Indeed, it is a top industry complaint. While we find a lot of examples of what not to do, recently we came across...
"It depends on the application" has to be the worst saying in the industry. It conveys no information. Worse, it is almost always delivered in a condescending, curt manner, as if the responder was somehow proving they are smarte...
A simple and common misunderstanding in specifying pushbuttons can kill people trying to escape burning buildings. Furthermore, determining buttons that are 'safe' versus 'deadly' can be difficult to detect unless you check how t...
We have been following Vicon's slow, downward spiral since 2009 and the company's struggles continue. The company's revenue fell steeply in the second quarter of FY 2013, and the company is even selling its New York headquarters ...
The most common technical request we hear from our members is how to properly calculate bandwidth / storage for video surveillance systems. It's hard to do correctly as at least 6 key factors impact the calculation, with no ...
An Australian city has shut off its surveillance system after being ordered to determine how to operate its cameras without violating privacy laws. The order was passed down months after a case brought by one of its residents who...
When we first looked at MicroPower's solar surveillance system in 2010, key limitations existed, making widespread use challenging. However, late last year, a second generation was released to overcome limitations found in field ...
In the past month, the so called 'bug eye' camera has captured popular attention around the world, from Nature Magazine, to CNN, to the BBC, and dozens more. A research team at the University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign has deve...
We are rolling out a new system that makes it easier to get input from manufacturers on new releases and key features, helping the community find solutions and learn more. What Is It We have extended IPVM to do two new things: ...
There's not a lot of innovation in PTZs these days but Axis's new P5414 offers a number of novel incremental features. While it does not break ground in resolution or zoom, it has the potential to improve aesthetics, ease of inst...
IFSEC has reported that Milestone has open-sourced their VMS. However, Milestone has confirmed that this is false and that they were referring to Milestone as being 'open platform', not 'open-source.' While it is disturbing th...
A Korean newspaper bemoans the waste of money spent on 17,000 surveillance cameras. The cause? "97 percent [of cameras] are unable to distinguish the faces of people or license plates of cars entering the grounds." While this may...
The US Department of Homeland Security is developing a 240MP 8fps 'super' camera. We spoke with them in depth and prepared the following report on key technical, operational and pricing details: One of the main problems of track...
Avigilon grew revenues a massive 80% year over year for Q1 2013. That's an incredible pace, faster even than what they did last year. Equally important, both gross margin and net margins raised substantially, closing their histor...
The foundation of IPVM's camera testing procedure is simultaneous, head to head comparisons, like so: This is unique among surveillance industry publications. Each camera is placed side by side, with the same FoV, connected t...
