| The Source for Video Surveillance | Become an IPVM PRO Member |
Top 5 Reasons Analog Cameras are Easier to Install than IP
by John Honovich, IPVM posted on Jan 16, 2010 About John Contact JohnWhile IP has many advantages over analog, ease of installation is not one of them. IP cameras are far harder to install even if the installer has extensive networking expertise. And for the majority of security technicians with modest IT skills, it's even more painful.
Bottom line: IP cameras take significantly longer to install, require more training and face more pitfalls than analog.
Here's our top 5 Reasons (actually 6):
- Finding IP cameras on the network is time consuming and often problematic
- Focusing/adjusting the Field of View on many IP cameras is much more difficult
- Assigning IP addresses is an added step not necessary for analog cameras
- Setting up security and user access rights is a new requirement with IP
- Verifying VMS support is needed for each IP camera
- Installation varies based on the vagaries of each IP camera manufacturer
Finding IP Cameras
The 'best' way to find IP cameras is with a camera discovery application. In our testing, many of these applications often do not find the camera (even if it's the manufacturer's own application).
Often manufacturers hard-code an IP address requiring the installer to change the IP address of their PC to be on the same subnet as the hard-coded address of the IP camera in order to change the IP address of that camera to be on your subnet.
Focusing/Adjusting
Analog cameras can be focused and the Field of View adjusted using a small and cheap handheld monitor. Most IP cameras lack such analog outputs. Some newer IP cameras come with auto-adjustable zoom lenses such as the Sanyo HD4000 and Axis Q1755. These are easier to focus/tune than analog but 3-5x the product price.
While new appliances are coming out for IP hand-held monitors, most technicians setting up IP cameras are forced to use their laptops or communicate with a co-worker to awkwardly adjust the camera view.
Assigning IP Addresses
IP cameras require the added step of assigning IP addresses. If you use static IP addresses, you need to coordinate what IP address to use and set it up (usually in the web interface requiring a reboot of the camera). If you use DHCP, you run the risk of the camera's IP address changing when the power recycles. If the IP address changes, you need to re-find the camera (by looking it up in your DHCP client list, etc.) You can prevent this change by registering the MAC address of the IP camera with your DHCP server but then you need access and specific knowledge to accomplish this.
Setting Up Security/Access Rights
Since IP cameras are essentially Linux computers, one needs to set up security and access rights. You could leave all your cameras at the default (root/pass, etc.) but this makes it trivial for someone to access your cameras (probably not a good idea).
Verifying VMS Support for IP Cameras
Most VMS systems do not support most IP cameras. Even if a VMS says it supports an IP camera, there can be issues with needing to install newer firmware on the camera or issues with the stability of support (we see this with our H.264 testing repeatedly - see the Sarix/Milestone integration as an example)
Varies by Manufacturer
Just because you learn how to configure one manufacturer's IP cameras, does not mean you can immediately and simply set up another's. Each manufacturer has their own camera finding application, their own web interface, their own defaults for assigning IP address, their own default username/password, etc., etc. For instance, this week, we spent 2 hours troubleshooting accessing the web browser for an IP camera only to find out the camera does not support IE8, only IE7.
Compared to Analog
With analog, the big issues usually are crimping cable, pulling cable and connecting power. Crimping and pulling cable are common for both types as surveillance cameras are generally put away from network drops. Small analog systems can have cameras plugged directly into a wall. Larger systems need to be connected to a CCTV power supply which is not that difficult, especially for the majority of installers who have years of experienced with low voltage equipment.
Beyond that, just plug in analog camera to a DVR and you have a live video feed - no finding or changing the IP address, no web browsers to access or security settings to change on the camera, etc. Even cheap CCTV kits like the EzWatch one we tested was trivial to setup.
How Much Will Standards Help?
'Standards' should help somewhat in a few areas - specifically finding cameras and VMS support (though note in our ONVIF test, both of these still showed problems). We believe this will improve and these two areas should become simpler. However, this still leaves the other issues.
What Do You Think?
For the People Who Vote that IP is Easier
If you believe IP is easier to install than analog, I strongly encourage you to leave a comment explaining why, including technical details explaining your case.
Most Recent Industry Reports
How to Measure IR Illumination on Feb 16, 2012
Using IR for night time surveillance is a popular choice. The added non visible light can improve image quality when ambient street or visible lighting is absent. However, adding the right amount o...
Top Surveillance Storage Manufacturers on Feb 13, 2012
Determining the right manufacturer to provide storage for your surveillance system is a fundamental, yet complicated choice. The choice significantly impacts cost, reliability and scalability of th...
Favorite Surveillance Storage Type on Feb 06, 2012
When selecting storage for an IP surveillance system, there are four standard options: internal / direct-attached storage (DAS), network-attached storage (NAS), storage area networks (SAN), and on-...
S2 Enters Surveillance Market on Feb 03, 2012
Convergence between access control and video is a growing trend. While historically, independent systems from different vendors would be intergrated together, recently, manufacturers are developing...
Estimating IP Camera Cabling Costs on Jan 30, 2012
Cabling is a fundamental, yet often overlooked, component of any surveillance project. Indeed, often estimating cabling costs can be more difficult than camera pricing as cabling frequently faces d...
Calling Out Manufacturer Failures on Jan 24, 2012
Serious problems with surveillance products are commonplace - from cameras dying out of the box to significant VMS bugs causing unstable systems. These problems cause real pain for both integrators...
Storage: Redundancy / RAID Statistics on Jan 23, 2012
Increasingly, users expect their data will never be lost. From using web apps like Google mail to storing files with services like Dropbox, it is easier than ever to keep your data forever. However...
CBR vs VBR: Surveillance Streaming on Jan 18, 2012
How you stream video has a major impact on quality and bandwidth. Typically, when people think streaming or encoding, CODECs such as H.264, MPEG-4, etc come to mind. However, regardless of the CODE...
Megapixel vs VSaaS on Jan 16, 2012
The surveillance industry's most powerful driving force, megapixel cameras, is virtually incompatible with the industry's biggest buzzword - VSaaS. Indeed, looking through the industry's most well ...
The Axis Corruption Cruise Returns on Jan 13, 2012
Last year, we examined how Axis paid for an expensive cruise for A&Es/security consultants and their wives, expressing ethical concerns. Unfortunately, this year, Axis is running yet anoth...