IP video surveillance can be defined as the transmission of video utilizing open internet

protocols and standards for the purpose of recording and monitoring. This should not be
confused with more proprietary methodologies of transmitting video in which only the
manufacturer of the camera can decode the video for the purpose of recording and/or
display.
The first IP camera was released in 1996 by Axis Communications, and it utilized an
embedded Linux platform internal to the camera. Axis also released documentation for
their low-level API called "VAPIX" which builds on the open standards of HTTP and
RTSP. This open architecture encouraged third-party software manufacturers to develop
management and recording software resulting in exponential growth of the IP video
surveillance market.
As with still digital cameras, resolution are increasing all the time. multi-megapixel IPCCTV cameras are now available at resolutions of 1, 2, 3, 5 and even 11 megapixels.
This said, affordable lenses that can deliver sharp enough images for cameras of 5Mpix
and above are not yet available
Some of the advantages of IP-based video surveillance include:

Reduced system cost and added functionality due to general-purpose IP

networking equipment infrastructure.
Choice of open-platform video recording hardware and software.
Greatly reduced system cost due to low-cost cabling in large installations (CAT5e
instead of RG-59 coaxial cable).
Ability to use Power over Ethernet allowing for one cable to handle power and
data.
Flexible and seamless support for a variety of standard and multi-megapixel
image resolutions way beyond NTSC, PAL and SECAM.
Transmission of commands for PTZ (pan, tilt, zoom) cameras via the same cable.
On-camera automated alerting via email or file transfer in response to video
motion detection or dry-contact alarms.
Support for different streaming media and compression formats to relieve
transmission bandwidth and data storage requirements.
Support for new embedded intelligent video motion detection with shape
recognition/counting applied to objects, people, and vehicles.
Integration of video surveillance with other systems and functions such as access
control, alarm systems, building management, traffic management, etc.
Future-proof installations with field-upgradeable products due to the ability to
upgrade camera firmware over the network.

Today there are many vendors of IP cameras and many vendors for digital video
recorders and network video recorder (NVR) software. IP surveillance equipment
vendors typically include both specialized digital imaging equipment manufacturers and
larger manufacturers that are active in consumer, broadcast, and security video.

Some specific advantages and disadvantages of IP

cameras
Advantages -

Higher resolution. Megapixel cameras can far exceed image detail from
conventional CCTV cameras.
Convergence onto existing IP cabling infrastructure
Easy to route long distances over existing IP infrastructure on multibuilding sites
Reduced space requirements in large (many camera) CCTV setups as video
switching and routing is done via computer and does not need physically large
and expensive video matrix switchers.
Progressive scan (versus interlaced scanning). Allows still images to be removed
in better quality from a video feed and can render clearer images from a fast
moving target (interlaced scanning will have shutter blind artifacting). Not all IP
cameras are progressive scan. Those that are currently progressive scan seem to
use CMOS image sensors (as opposed to CCD sensors) and have some
disadvantages.
No additional hardware required to convert vision signal into computer domain
for recording onto hard drives.

Disadvantages

Current generation CMOS sensors (for high resolution/megapixel and progressive

scan) do not have the light sensitivity of the more mature interlaced CCD image
sensors. Low light performance is currently not a real option for IP camera's
unless they are built on conventional PAL/NTSC resolution interlaced CCD
image sensors. As such, low light performance does not currently seem available
with quality progressive scanning or megapixel technology.
Image sensors generally seem to be of a far cheaper grade than the quality of the
current line of conventional analog CCTV sensors.
The range of IP cameras is still significantly limited when compared to analog
CCTV (although this is beginning to change quickly).
Consistent framerates do not seem to be a strong point of IP cameras when
compared to the almost real-life smooth and consistent frame rate of analog
CCTV. Many IP cameras seem to be underpowered as well. When it gets dark,
their image processors spend more time trying to compensate for low light images
and can not output the same higher frame rate from normal lighting conditions
(e.g. Axis 206 appears to deliver 20-30fps in normal light, but drops to less than
5fps in dark conditions). On playback (unless the frame has been timestamped in
a way that the playback engine can use) a consistent playback framerate causes
strange time warping problems manifesting as speed-ups and slow-downs.
Lack of standards for IP Video protocol. Not all IP cameras send video the same
way and this means only certain cameras work with certain IP video recording
solutions (which again further limits the range of cameras that can be chosen for

an installation). Analog CCTV has practically one standard of transmission (being

either PAL or NTSC depending on the world region).
High nework bandwidth requirements: typical CCTV camera with resoultion
640x480 and 10fps in MJPEG mode requires about 3 Mbit/
Latency: the stream encoded at the camera source takes time to travel to the server