Video surveillance: the black art of keeping your stuff safe

Axis' Wai King Wong says image quality of video surveillance systems is continuously improving.

Originally costing a bomb, video surveillance was once the exclusive preserve of large corporations, governments and big banks.

More recently, however, it has undergone massive technology changes, with HD-capable, networkable and remotely controlled surveillance gear now available at a fraction of what it cost a few years ago.

Unsurprisingly, as these take off globally, the implications on privacy, crime prevention, and health and safety are massive. We caught up with digital video surveillance guru Wai King Wong from security specialists Axis Communications.

Do you have video surveillance as part of your home security set up?

WKW I have set up a number of networked cameras with remote triggering and monitoring around my house for when I am away travelling for business and pleasure. I like to take advantage of motion and audio detection for when no one is supposed to be inside my house. Remote monitoring and auto triggering by email is also incredibly useful as I can monitor my own security setting no matter where I am in the world.

Critics have attacked video surveillance networks as the beginning of the big brother state, what's your take on this?

All new technologies attract scrutiny and questions, and video is no different. It's who uses technology, and how, that counts. The technology itself is neutral – it's digital video cameras linked into a network. I should also point out that these cameras are not covert by any means – they are industrial-strength cameras, designed for use in all kinds of weather and locations. They are used by educational institutions, government departments, businesses of all sizes, and industry. There is also signage associated with the use of video surveillance – you have to disclose to people that specific areas are being monitored.

When people talk about "video surveillance" I think they are overlooking just how broad the real world applications of digital video networks are. Axis video networks are used by customers in a huge number of applications such security and health monitoring in prisons, safety monitoring in factories, the monitoring of remote sites in industrial settings, checking out surf conditions on beaches...

In many cases, surveillance is used to provide visibility of places that are too distant, inconvenient or inefficient to monitor in person. Without this technology, there would have to be many more security, maintenance and health personnel deployed – and often in difficult, remote or dangerous situations. Who uses the technology and how are more far important than the technology itself. Video surveillance could be used for negative purposes in the wrong hands, but the positive applications of far outweigh the negatives.

So what about the benefits of networked digital video?

The biggest benefit with it is that almost anything can be monitored in real time, from anywhere, because the cameras are networked via the internet. As long as you have an internet connection, the right security authorisation and passwords, you can access the network. Digital cameras can also be put anywhere and are also low maintenance. They're also cheap and fast to deploy and move, because they don't need their own cabling and digital technologies such as HDTV and progressive scan images mean the quality has improved significantly.

Okay, so what about negatives?

There are no specific negatives, but it is worth noting that all digital video networks require human management and intervention. Just detecting a problem with a piece of industrial equipment is not enough. Obviously there also has to be a process for someone to respond and repair that machine.

Similarly, if a customer is seen collapsing in a shopping mall, someone has to respond by administering first aid and calling the ambulance. Technology does not operate in a vacuum – it is designed to improve and supplement other services and procedures, and make people's jobs easier and more efficient.

How have video surveillance technologies changed over recent years?

Video surveillance has been around for many years. Ironically it has not gone through any huge technology changes until recently with the use of digital technologies and the transmission of HDTV images over networks such as the internet.

IP technology has allowed organisations to do much more with video surveillance. One key development is that video surveillance is no longer restricted to just a single premise. Organisations now have the flexibility to securely transmit and view video anywhere over TCP/IP.

Video quality has improved with the HDTV standards whereby customers can see real HD quality footage in real-time and with accurate colour fidelity. In the future, video surveillance will also be used for marketing and operations as well as security. This is broadening the usage of video surveillance in general.

What benefits does networked video surveillance offer over older analogue counterparts?

Digital video is better than the old VHS in terms of image quality, reliability, improved management, faster distribution of images, and much lower cost of operations over time. It also offers greater storage capacity using hard drives, higher resolution imaging, faster frame rates. A single ethernet cable can also provide video, power, audio and control. In the analogue world users would need a cable for every control.

Networked digital video also offers great flexibility with camera placement and movement, simply because cameras can be linked wirelessly. This means they are cheap and fast to deploy because they don't require cabling into their own local area network. It also means they are far less vulnerable to service interruptions, and accidental or deliberate damage because there's no exposure of the supporting network or cables to damage.

Looking to the future, what technologies can we expect to see with digital video surveillance networks?

The ease of use, ease of deployment, improved image quality and flexibility of IP-based digital video networks will lead to an accelerated shift away from the old analogue systems and will see an even wider use of digital video across even more industries and applications

There also is a lot of focus globally going on the development of image compression, data fusion, image processing to 3D vision, remote sensing, object detection and video analysis

The current use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in theatres of war is proving the value of this technology. Over time, we can expect to see it transition over to peacetime applications that require mobile, remote monitoring.

There is a lot of work being done on the accuracy, resolution, timeliness and convenience of handling of remotely-sensed data via these UAVs. These further advances will make remote, mobile monitoring via UAVs an attractive proposition for industries such as energy, mining, utilities, homeland security, or any application where large areas or remote assets need to be monitored.

What's the funniest thing you've seen caught by a surveillance camera?

I have seen a clip from an Axis partner - a camera with built-in mic and speaker to monitor their sandpit at home to keep local pets clear of it. They setup the camera on detection and whenever an animal goes into the area, the camera will be triggered by motion detection and a loud hissing sound is issued from the camera, scaring the animal away.