SAN RAMON, Calif.—ONVIF, one of a number of organizations working toward IP video standards and interoperability, announced in May a test tool and conformance process for its device discovery specification, which will allow manufacturers who have joined ONVIF to declare conformance to its released specification.
“Writing specifications does not ensure interoperability,” noted ONVIF chairman Jonas Andersson. “It takes much more than that.” He noted that ONVIF’s specification is based on Web services, developed by the World Wide Web Consortium, which should allow each manufacturer to generate the correct code. But, he said, “I would say that’s not even enough, it’s just insuring that the interface is correct. If you request the H.264, you have to make sure that you get that stream, so you need a test tool and a conformance process to ensure that interoperability.”
ONVIF now predicts that ONVIF-conformant products will soon be on the market. At the first ONVIF members meeting last fall, Sony, for one, predicted compliant products before the end of 2009.
By way of comparison, IQinVision demonstrated its compliance with the PSIA specification for device discovery with a camera at ISC West. SSN
By Daniel Gelinas, associate editor TACOMA, Wash.—In what SIAC director Ron Walters called a “great example of cooperation between law enforcement and our industry,” a Washington sheriff’s department suspended the county’s false alarm fines and enhanced call verification requirements to
catch a group of five suspected burglars. The temporary suspension of procedure worked.
Suspension of ECV and fines, “and sometimes all calls,” is something that “occurs a couple times a year,” Walters said. SIAC and others actively encourage police departments “to interface with
the alarm industry when there’s a specific problem in an area [such as the situation in Tacoma],” Walters said.
In March and April, the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department appealed to the Washington Burglar and Fire Alarm Association to ask its members to temporarily
modify alarm dispatch procedures to assist in the Sheriff’s attempts to capture a group of individuals believed to be responsible for a series of connected burglaries. The Sheriff’s Department asked alarm companies in a designated area, where the break-ins were
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Alliance has its .9 version of the interoperability specification available to members (who must pay a fee based on level of participation), and the alliance plans to have a more robust specification, which will include things like controlling PTZ cameras, sending sound, and possibly sending power “up cable,” much like PoE, ready by September 1.
Nilsson called HDCCTV “an interesting concept, but it will be a huge investment to get it off the ground.” He also said it will require buy in from the major camera companies, like Panasonic, Sony, Bosch, and others. Beachler said he’s already been in conversations with those kinds of companies, and when it comes to DVRs, “I’ve got customers just waiting for me to make the cards.” He predicted a variety of HD DVRs and cameras by January of 2010. “That’s the great thing about this,” he said. “The roll out to adoption will be really quick.” SSN
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Robert B. Hellmuth -
Department of School
Safety & Security,
Montgomery County
Public Schools
References:
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