ONVIF Archives 1000+ Products

Many products that tout ONVIF conformance, like Avigilon, IndigoVision and OnSSI VMSes, have now been 'archived'. This move creates a second class citizen of ONVIF products and greater clarity about what is most likely to work and NOT to work.

Until the end of 2013, ONVIF categorized products into Profile S [link no longer available] and 'other' products. Now the 'others' has been reclassified as 'archived [link no longer available]' to better represent their old and limited conformance. Here is how it looks on the ONVIF site:

Archived products are literally segregated, reflecting the fact that conformance testing is at least 1.5 years old and often 2 to 3 years old. Most importantly, testing is from the 1.x version, which is far less likely to successfully integrate with ONVIF products and almost guaranteed to not support motion detection or PTZ controls.

One confusing element is that products may be listed on both pages. This occurs if a product was first tested using 1.x and then later tested for Profile / 2.x conformance. As such, simply being on the 'archived' page [link no longer available] is not a problem. One must still check the profile page [link no longer available] as well. If the product is not there, then it is a real risk.

Many VMSes as well as cameras released in the 2010 to 2012 time frame have now been archived, lacking conformance with the modern ONVIF specification.

For example, the Avigilon conformance test was done more than 3 years ago, being submitted in 2010 and only covers the date 4.6 version of their VMS. The IndigoVision one was submitted in 2011. Also, the OnSSI ones are from 2010, only covering the outdated NetDVMS / NetDVR, etc. versions.

This, of course, is not fatal as manufacturers can re-submit their products for testing and then have them added to the profile page. However, as is, 'archived' products should not be presumed to work with profile products.

Background: see our ONVIF tutorial and ONVIF technical answers post.