This Manufacturer Shuns IP Cameras

Retail customers, Clinton's largest customer base, have not embraced IP systems as heavily as other verticals, according to Clinton.

As an integrator who deals almost exclusively with retailers, I can say this is one of the most ridiculous statements they have made.  We've been actively working with our existing and new retail customers and the discussion is always "How do I get to IP".  Cost is always a discussion, but I haven't found a retailer yet who we haven't found a working IP solution for.  With encoders, Hybrid DVR's, decoders, edge recording, there's a solution for every budget a migration plan in every case.  We've used Clinton's IP PVM's (with the Axis camera in them) in the past.  Even used them to upgrade customers from their older analog PVM solution.  Looks like that will have to change.

John, what's with the Click-Bait for title?  Why not just lead off with Clinton Electronics? 

If I learned anything from Clinton’s video, it was within the last six seconds when they showed us that WDR performance is better on SDI.  Sold.  </sarcasm>.

Pure Sarcasm on my part;:)

I'm nostalgic for the good old days, so maybe I'll start a new company, with analog phones, pagers, and fax machines.  I will require all PO's be issued via mail, as thermal paper can fade if exposed to heat.  While I'm at it, I will sell my modern SUV and buy a mid 80's SUV, dump my LED lighting and go back to Incandescent, and last, but not least, remove my high efficiency furnace and pick up a nice one in the 60% efficiency range.

If I can find one, I'll buy some old tube tv, preferably something small, and dump my flat screens, after I cancel my DirecTV account.

We had some experience with HD-SDI when it first became widely available in the CCTV segment somewhere between 2010-2013. Back then we found it had (or at least the products we did use) serious limitations:

- Short running distance - after 90-100 m picture quality seriously degraded, in many cases it was totally lost

- Video signal was highly susceptible to interference caused by lower quality coax cable and/or using mainstream BNC connectors. Expensive high quality gold plated BNCs had to be used in order to make sure distances of over 70-80 meters would be reached without losing the signal. Using Cat5 UTP/FTP cable was also out of the question.

- HD-SDI Cameras/DVRs were not compatible with older analogue cameras, so they were economically not feasable as an easy-to-do upgrade

When the CVI / AHD/ TVI technologies appeared, they basically solved exactly those same issues and became the natural choice for the lower end systems - no matter if it is an upgrade of an existing CCTV system or a totally new one. 

In my view, the decision of this company to focus on HD-SDI was not driven by some technological advantages, but the possibility to "lock' customers to their offering. Once you have a HD-SDI system and you need an upgrade with HD-SDI cameras - there are not many companies selling this, so it makes the SDI a kind of "exclusive" offering which would distinguish the company from the rest.

Actually stating that it helps "in avoiding getting caught up in the race to the bottom" is also strange, as even Longse offers tons of EX-SDI cameras now:

My knee jerk reaction to this was that this strategy will someday die at the vine, but more I think about it, its probably a smart idea to focus and specialize on one technology while everyone else is going in all sorts of different directions. With 4K over coax coming out, one cant really argue the "resolution limitation" factor as much anymore either.

I have several Clinton DVR's and cameras deployed at the dump. Clinton is avoiding the race to the bottom because their product line is already there.

That's a bold strategy Cotton... 

I want to address some things that have come up in the comments around this report.

In short, I believe that Clinton has "shunned" IP cameras in their current business. This is based on the fact they have had a very limited IP product lineup in their surveillance solutions, have promoted EX-SDI heavily, and have used Axis cameras when they needed IP camera capabilities in one of their main product lines (PVMs). 

When I spoke with Dan Clinton, I was upfront about the fact that the lack of IP cameras/recorders in their catalog/website was what I found most notable. I found it intriguing that Clinton was able to offer a surveillance lineup in the current atmosphere that ignored IP solutions, and also focused on a more esoteric option in EX-SDI. This was much different than the approach some manufacturers/brands have taken around OEMing HD analog gear and selling their "value add" around things like support or warranty, etc.

Dan is correct that we discussed some of their PVMs that featured IP cameras. However, these utilize Axis cameras, not an IP system designed or sourced by Clinton. While we left PVMs out of the report, because that was not the core focus, I think the fact they use Axis cameras in the PVMs further highlights how Clinton is not putting a lot of R&D effort into IP cameras, instead using Axis products in their PVMs. 

When the report was initially published, Dan sent me a couple of minor corrections via email (e.g.: I had them listed as selling HD analog products, which he clarified as being SD analog, not HD analog, and some comments on EX-SDI vs. HD-SDI). He did not state that the title or report itself was inaccurate or misrepresented them. This is hopefully due in part to the fact that we did not claim anything like "Clinton vows no IP ever!". Clinton may change their strategy around EX-SDI/IP in the future. If they do, we may cover that change and how/why it came about. For now, though, "shunning" IP cameras certainly sets them apart in some ways.