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 network, whether it is, for instance, on a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN) such as the Internet.
The core components of a network video system consist of the network camera, the video encoder (used to connect to analog cameras), the network, the server and storage, and video management software. As the network camera and the video encoder are computer-based equipment, they have capabilities that cannot be matched by an analog CCTV camera. The network camera, the video encoder and the video management software are considered the cornerstones of an IP-Surveillance solution.
The network, the server and storage components are all standard IT equipment. The ability to use common off-the-shelf equipment is one of the main benefits of network video. Other components of a network video system include accessories, such as camera housings and PoE midspans and active splitters.
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