Is The Analog-To-IP Video Transition Complete?

By Jumbi Edulbehram, Regional President, Americas, Oncam

In short, the answer to this question is: no. In fact, the transition from analog to IP cameras isn’t over by a long shot. While the video surveillance market within the security industry as a whole has done an excellent job in marketing new IP solutions to replace old analog cameras, there is still a long way to go until the majority of end users have fully deployed IP cameras across all industry segments.

For the most part, many users of analog systems have invested significantly in their analog infrastructure, which has had the effect of slowing the adoption of IP-enabled devices. Replacing these systems can be disruptive and expensive. Additionally, the learning curve can be overwhelming, as many security professionals are intimidated by the notion that an all-at-once overhaul must be done rather than a gradual shift to the new way of gathering intelligence beyond security, as what is possible with IP-enabled devices.

On the camera side, there are a number of reasons why the analog-to-IP transition is not complete. One of the biggest issues is the replacement of coaxial cable with IP-enabled CAT5/6 because of the cost to rip and replace. More specifically, coaxial cable can go approximately 1,000 feet, while CAT5/6 cable can only go around 320 feet, so in larger installations, replacing coaxial cable means the entire wiring infrastructure may need to be redesigned. In installations with a large number of cameras that cannot be home run, cost increases since the design must include intermediate distribution frames (IDF) and main distribution frames (MDF). Depending on the amount of video, the connectivity between the IDFs and the MDFs may have to rely on fiber, which can significantly add to the cost of the system.