| The Source for Video Surveillance | Become an IPVM PRO Member |
Video Analytics Survey Results and Recommendations
by John Honovich, IPVM posted on Aug 18, 2009 About John Contact JohnResults are in for our 2 poll questions, "Do Video Analytics Work?" and "What, if any, improvements would you like for Video Analytics?".
Do Analytics Work?
- 64% of respondents said, "Yes," video analytics does work
- 36% responded "No."
Improvements Wanted for Analytics
The breakdown for improvements selected by respondents:
- 55% - Better Performance
- 26% - Easier Setup
- 12% - Lower Cost
- 5% - Other
- 2% - No Improvements Necessary
Poll Details
176 people answered the polls. They are obviously non-scientific. Specifically, respondents self-select whether to participate so people with agendas are more incited to vote (video analytic vendors, etc.)
I abstained from voting. However, I would have voted "Yes" given the choice between the two exteme options. Like many, to me, the issue is how well analytics work, in what conditions and with what setup.
What Does the Responses Mean?
It seems clear significant concerns exist about analytic's performance - both from the 55% who choose better performance as their top need and the 36% who said analytics did not work (separate polls).
While I am skeptical of polls (mine included), the results are in line with what I hear continously. Here are 3 recent on-line examples:
- SDN Editor: "Video Analytics went from being considered the holy grail of technology to end users experiencing that it was not working in real-world applications." (August 2009 on-line edition)
- ObjectVideo VP of Sales: "I am tired of hearing [Video analytics don't work]" (August 6, 2009 blog post)
- ADT Application Manager: "Everytime if I talk about Video Content Analysis most people try to convince me by the fact that it won’t work!" (August 4, 2009 blog post)
These are just the most recent ones where I could provide a link/public reference.
What to Do?
I would recommend video analytic vendors provide detailed technological and operational information including the specific setup and optimizations required and the various issues that impact performance, test results with videos and graphs, etc. - and make it ALL public. [A good example is from an integrator on deploying ioimage for perimeter protection.]
So much of the expectation problem and the frustration that you hear from industry people comes from unclarity about what analytics can do and how it can be made to do. Detailed, public information would be key in solving this.
At the same time, I worry that this recommendation is naive. This seems to be an obvious thing to do but it goes against the history of the video analytic market. However, given the increased dissapointment in the analytics market over the last few years, maybe it can happen now.
What do you think can or should be done?
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...