China Security & Surveillance Technology Inc. has joined an industry consortium developing specifications for the transmission of HDTV-quality signals over conventional CCTV infrastructures.
“With one of the world’s largest manufacturing bases for surveillance equipment, CSST’s commitment to HDcctv will make the full range of HDcctv-compliant products available,” said Todd E. Rockoff, executive director and chairman of HDcctv Alliance. “As China’s leading security company, CSST is also well positioned to introduce HDcctv to the rapidly growing end market in China.”
CSST plans to manufacture and sell HDcctv-compliant security products along with other alliance members, including other charter members Comart System, EverFocus Electronics Corp., Gennum Corp., Ovii and Stretch Inc.
In an interview, Rockoff said the alliance formed in May to guide standardization efforts and promotion of HDcctv, or the transmission of the 720p and 1080p video standards typical of high-definition television without packetization or perceivable compression latency.
The specs would ultimately address not just video transmission from cameras but controlling signals to the cams, plus well as power and audio.
The specs would cut through the current mix of technologies and standards in surveillance.
“At the end of the day, the goal of the whole thing is simplicity.” Rockoff said. “Plug it in and it works.”
Such a standard would mean easy upgrades from the plain old analog cameras common in surveillance, most of which transmit over coaxial cable. The specs would enable transmission of HDTV over 100 meters (330 feet) of coaxial cable, ultimately reaching transmission lengths of 300 meters (990 feet) when the standard is fully mature.
Rockoff said that while megapixel IP cameras involving compression and packetization have their place, especially for Web-based remote monitoring, those systems still require programming, server configuration and firewall maintenance. CCTV systems also are less vulnerable to intercept and hacking than IP systems.
HDCcctv specs will also cover transmission over Cat5 and fiber.
The alliance has about a dozen member companies, but hopes to gain more major players—such as Sony, Panasonic or JVC—to help reach a critical mass of users of the spec.
Members companies already have prototype spec, v0.9, with v1.0 expected in September. Version 2.0, covering transmission over unshielded twisted pair cables and the handling of pan/tilt/zoom protocols, has a target completion date of March 2010.
In addition to the voting memberships and adopting memberships available with the alliance, government users are offered free affiliate memberships, in which they will gain summaries of the work as it happens and be invited to give feedback about their technology needs.