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Choose ONVIF Prescribe ONVIF By Arindam Bhadra
for the standardiza on of communica ons between IP-based physical security products, Axis Communica ons, Bosch Security Systems and Sony Corp. in 2008 formed the Open As an eSecurity Professional I always prefer to use ONVIF. Network Video Interface Forum (ONVIF). ONVIF allows me to be truly independent of brands and recommend a way forward for customers that is not going to e ONVIF has surpassed 10,000 conformant products that meet them in to a single, specific manufacturer. As I work as a System its global interoperability standards, further broadening the integrator in last 12yr found purchasers have probably all heard organiza on's offering and relevance in the IP-based physical of ONVIF, but in my experience, the high level of compe on in security marketplace. the CCTV market drives many manufacturers to a empt to differen ate themselves to understandably stay ahead of the Membership is open to manufacturers, so ware developers, pack. Unfortunately, I have seen many cases where the consultants, systems integrators, end users and other manufacturer tells the customer they make ONVIF-conformant interested groups. The organiza on's membership base products, but they then upsell addi onal features for their covers six con nents and offers more than 9,000 profileproduct and in many cases will say how that method is be er conformant products. than ONVIF. This doesn't help many buyers of CCTV products today as they are not always experts in the field of CCTV or in the How important is it for devices to be able to openly business of security, so they don't see the strategic benefits of communicate, with some sort of standardiza on in effect? employing an ONVIF approach. We also see that the end users The technology researchers at the Gartner Group predict that do not yet see the wider benefits of using an open standard and by 2020 there will be 50 billion devices connected over IP what that can offer them in the longer term. They are instead networks, or what's known now as the Internet of Things (IoT). more focused on the short term project, so there are many As ONVIF standards have evolved they have been designed strategic influencers who are not yet aware of ONVIF. around a list of performance profiles. Each ONVIF profile has a
Many projects I work which under government-funded customers that have long approval cycles and need to be able to have longer term plans. ONVIF allows this, as it has a stable roadmap and retains backwards compa bility in most things, so I am able to set a roadmap and a vision for a customers that they can plan around whilst having access to a large range of vendors and innova ve new products. Government-funded long term projects will benefit the most from using ONVIFconformant componentry. In India very few consultant prescribe ONVIF product, basically they s ll not clear about spec of ONVIF profiles. In UK, USA, Australia whether it is rail, roads, na onal or local projects, ONVIF has to be a key considera on in government-funded projects.
fixed set of features that must be supported by a conformant device or client. An example would be that an ONVIF Profile S device must work with other ONVIF Profile S devices. Within each profile are product features listed by ONVIF and classified as mandatory (M), condi onal (C) or op onal (O). You can check online at the ONVIF Conformant Product List page and search for compliance confirma on. Do remember smarter video systems play a clear role in genera ng data.
More systems will be ONVIF conformant and people buying products will be able to choose new and innova ve solu ons like thermal cameras - as they become available, based purely on quality and cost instead of the manufacturer. That is a much simpler decision for them to make and the best products will rise to the top and remain in the market. There will also be more opportuni es for systems to interoperate so that systems can be shared. Each ONVIF profile has a fixed set of features that must be supported by a conformant device or client. Realizing a need
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October 2018 - www.visionmediahitech.com
ARTICLE To get an idea where products for your next project stand, here's a look at current ONVIF profile specifica ons.
encounter some problems, such as network video recorder can't discover the IP cameras in the same LAN network, mo on detec on doesn't work. Why is this happening?
ONVIF Profile Specifica ons For electronic access control systems:• Profile C conformant devices and clients support site informa on, IP door access control and event and alarm management. • Profile A devices can retrieve informa on, status and event, and configure en es such as access rules, creden als and schedules. Conformant clients can provide configura ons of access rules, creden als and schedules. The client can also retrieve and receive standardized access control-related events. For IP-based video systems:• Profile S could be a camera or video encoder that can send video data over an IP network to a Profile S client. A client might be video management so ware (VMS). This profile also covers pan/ lt/zoom control, audio, mul cas ng and relay outputs for conformant devices and clients that support such features. So it addresses common func onali es of IP video systems, such as video and audio streaming, PTZ controls, and relay ac va on. • Profile G products such as a camera or video encoder device can record video over an IP network or on the device itself. A Profile G VMS client is one that configure, request and control recording of video data over an IP network. Profile G also includes support for receiving audio and metadata streams. So it addresses video storage, recording, search, and retrieval. • Profile Q aims to provide quick discovery and basic configura on for Profile Q-conformant products. Profile Q also covers specs for TLS (transport layer security) configura on. TLS is a secure communica on protocol to protect against tampering and eavesdropping. • Profile T is a release candidate for IP-based video systems. It supports video streaming such as the use of H.264 and H.265 encoding formats, imaging se ngs, and alarm events such as mo on and tampering detec on. This profile is designed to work with Profile S and not replace it. The most majority IP-based security products claim to compliant with ONVIF standard. However, when end-users try to install these devices marked with this standard might
October 2018 - www.safesecuremagazine.com
First, you need to verify that your installed devices are truly compliant with ONVIF standard. Some manufacturers o en mark their products as compa ble with ONVIF, although this is not true. It's be er to buy/use the IP-based security products from members of ONVIF. You can find the full list of members/manufacturers who are verified to offer ONVIF compliant products. Second, it's not possible to be ONVIF compliant only; the IP-based security products need to be compliant to a Profile as well. You can be ONVIF conformant only, but if you are it is not guaranteed that you would get interoperability between other ONVIF devices and clients. To truly reap the benefits of ONVIF, you need to be Profile S compliant as it drama cally increases the chance of things like video and audio streaming or video configura on and mul cast actually working well together. One may encounter cases within a set of devices with Profile S, having no problems with connec vity and video streaming, but with some func ons (e.g. mo on detec on). It is usually caused by errors of the standard or, more o en, by an incorrect implementa on of the standard/profile made by the manufacturer. Such problems should be immediately reported to the manufacturer that, in turn, should release improved so ware. ONVIF forum is heavily working on new, improved versions of the standard, which will be debugged and more precise in terms of terminology. Please share this handy guide to all consultant, System integrator & customers. A er reading this guide if you ask any of them, what would make your life easier? They'll likely reply with open source integra on of systems. Well, it's been some me coming, but it looks like that wish is becoming more of a reality these days. Biography:Arindam Bhadra is an eSecurity professional 12yr + in this industry. He is a good freelance blogger. His blog is now No 1. Blog in India. 4.0Lakh page viewer globally. Mr. Bhadra is an Electronics & telecommunica on Engineer from IETE, New Delhi.
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