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NETWORk VIDEO: OVERVIEW, BENEFITS AND APPLICATIONS - CHAPTER 1
Network video: overview, benefits and
applications
Network video, like many other kinds of communications such as e-mail, web services
and computer telephony, is conducted over wired or wireless IP (Internet Protocol)
networks. Digital video and audio streams, as well as other data, are communicated
over the same network infrastructure. Network video provides users, particularly in
the security surveillance industry, with many advantages over traditional analog CCTV
(closed-circuit television) systems.
This chapter provides an overview of network video, as well as its benefits and appli-
cations in various industry segments. Comparisons with an analog video surveillance
system are often made to provide a better understanding of the scope and potential of
a digital, network video system.
1.1
Overview of a network video system
Network video, often also called IP-based video surveillance or IP-Surveillance as it is applied in
the security industry, uses a wired or wireless IP network as the backbone for transporting
digital video, audio and other data. When Power over Ethernet (PoE) technology is applied, the
network can also be used to carry power to network video products.
A network video system allows video to be monitored and recorded from anywhere on the net-
work, whether it is, for instance, on a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN)
such as the Internet.
