Video analytics (IVA) can be used for many functions. Many manufacturers deploy the analytics on a server while others like Sightlogix and Bosch deploy the analytics at "the edge."
Edge deployment provides many benefits. First, you can create rules that allow you to only stream video on very specific behaviors. This means that guards are alerted only when a specific type of incident is in progress and only then is video and data sent across the network. This takes care of two key issues: first, alerting staff only when necessary, and second, saving on network bandwidth consumption. Video analytics can also cause recording to start rather than continual recording which consumes a significant amount of hard drive space.
As an example, we set up this Bosch 5 megapixel Starlight camera to have two different analytics rules running at the same time. We chose to create a field of interest in the grass area behind our office. Any object that enters the grass covered area from any direction will intiate recording. Next, we created a direction of travel line across the road that will alert us when a car approaches the office, but not when one drives away. This keeps only pertinent information in front of our staff and also records only the dangerous behaviors we have decided to track and record.
Setup of most IVA rules is easy. More complex rules such as object size, color, and speed of travel require more time for programming.
This playback screen shows "behavior violations" highlighted in yellow on the timeline at the bottom of the image. By recording only on
very specific alarm criteria, we are able to record for about 24hrs on a 4GB microSD card. If we used normal "motion detection" we would also receive alarms due to shadows caused by cars traveling in the opposite lane, thus decreasing the amount of important recordings. Using IVA behavior rules allows us to be very specific about what lane of travel we are interested in thus ignoring nuisance behaviors and irrelevant information.
So why is Starlight important to this discussion? Starlight allows you to capture images in virtually total darkness. This image shows the Bosch 5MP Starlight operating with minimal street lighting. Without Starlight we wouldn't need to worry about IVA because capturing behavior violation alarms would be impossible. Non-Starlight cameras will often require the implementation of additional visible lighting or perhaps even infrared illumination.
To learn more about how Starlight and IVA can help you provide a perfect surveillance solution, please contact us.
