Axis IP-Surveillance system Design Manual page 7

A security personnel's ability to protect people, property and assets can be enhanced by the flexibility
and power of IP-Surveillance technology. IP-Surveillance systems have been installed in indoor/outdoor
and private/public spaces; for example, in stores, homes, day care centers, schools, banks, government
offices, factories, warehouses, railway/subway stations and airports.
1.2.
Overview of an IP-Surveillance system
An IP-Surveillance system can be as simple or as sophisticated as your needs require. In a simple sce-
nario, you have a PC where you want to view and record video. You have an Ethernet cable between a
PC and a network switch (which allows different devices to connect to each other and share, for in-
stance, a common Internet connection) and a cable from the switch to the camera location. You then
need equipment that can capture video and send a video stream over the network. This can be a network
camera, or an analog camera connected to a video encoder (also sometimes known as a video server).
1 2 3 4
LOOP
POWER
Analog
cameras
Figure 1.2.a Overview of an IP-Surveillance system
A network camera or a video encoder connects directly to the network—not to a PC as is the case with
a web camera. Once the network camera (or analog camera and video encoder) is installed and config-
ured, you can view and record live video using a web browser on a local PC or a remote PC via the Inter-
net. If you want to access and record video from many cameras simultaneously, it is advisable to install
a video management software program on the recording PC.
As mentioned earlier, an IP-Surveillance system is easy and cost-effective to scale up. It is also flexible,
and each component of the system can be customized to your needs. The following is a brief overview
of the components that can be tailored to your application:
a) Network camera/video encoder: A wide variety of network cameras and video encoders are avail-
able. Network cameras range from fixed cameras and fixed domes, to pan/tilt/zoom (PTZ) and PTZ
dome cameras, and may be designed for use indoors or outdoors. Other network camera features in-
clude built-in support for wireless communication, megapixel resolutions and vandal resistance. Both
network cameras and video encoders may offer a variety of capabilities such as: 1) several simultane-
ous video streams using different video compression formats (e.g. H.264, MPEG-4 Part 2, Motion JPEG)
that are optimized for bandwidth and image quality; 2) input/output ports for connection to external
devices such as sensors and alarms; 3) built-in intelligence such as video motion detection and tamper-
ing detection; 4) sophisticated alarm and event management functions that can communicate with
different devices and applications simultaneously, and can send separate video streams in different
resolutions, at different frame rates and to different places; 5) audio support; and 6) Power over Eth-
ernet, which enables power to be delivered over the same cable as for data transmission.
Axis video encoders
PS1
PS2
FANS 0 -
POWER
Axis network cameras
IP NETWORK
Computer Computer with
with web video management
browser software
Home
Office
Web
browser
INTERNET
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