Estimated Timetable for PSIA and ONVIF Adoption

JH
John Honovich
•Published Oct 21, 2009 00:00 AM
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With ASIS announcements demonstrating broad manufacturer commitment to IP camera specifications, the key questions now turn to timetable for actual production deployment and use in general commercial projects.

A number of points should be kept in mind that impact the timing for adoption:

  • While a number of camera manufacturers are announcing support for one of the protocols, many of them are not planning to ship the PSIA/ONVIF firmware in commercial products until the first half of 2010. Such pre-announcements are common for product releases and should be factored in estimating general availability.
  • Even on an announcement basis, most of the committed public support is coming from the camera manufacturers rather than the VMS providers. This is not to say the VMS providers will not support the specifications. However, it is likely that the timetable for general VMS support may be even later than the first half of 2010.
  • Many manufacturers seem to be releasing support first for their new product releases. Axis has made this clear in their announcement. Discussions with other manufacturers confirm that others will take this approach. To the extent that older models do not support these specifications or are released later, general usability of these specifications in commercial deployments could be impacted.
  • These limitations being noted, even manufacturers who have not publicly announced ONVIF/PSIA release have consistently told us privately that they are working on implementing support. As such, it is likely a matter of when, rather than if all major manufacturers offer support.
Given these factors, 2010 will likely be the year when a majority of IP video manufacturers release production support for PSIA or ONVIF. However, it will likely take until 2011 for these specifications to be broadly enough supported for common production use. See our earlier survey on standards for community opinion on timing and group interest.
 
While I still believe that ONVIF has a lead in 'mindshare' and a larger global commitment, PSIA is certainly not going away. Specific signs of strength include commitments for PSIA adoption by Asian manufacturers Everfocus [link no longer available] and HikVision [link no longer available] and the recent release of an interoperability specification for video surveillance recorders [link no longer available]. 
 
I do not think there is enough information to predict the ultimate conclusion of PSIA vs ONVIF. However, in 6 months as products start being deployed in production with these specifications, further clarity should be possible.
 
[Update 2012: While PSIA has not gone away, they are more pest than factor. ONVIF has very broad support and now widespread use.]