ONVIF hosts 22nd Developers’ Plugfest as virtual event

ONVIF, the global standardisation initiative for IP-based physical security products, recently hosted its 22nd Developers’ Plugfest as a virtual event, duly supporting the continued demand for interoperable solutions.

Circa 50 developers and engineers from 26 ONVIF member companies gathered virtually over two weeks and completed nearly 200 hours of testing. Developers could test products independently for Profile conformance, as well as assess interoperability between their devices and those from other manufacturers. 

“Like so many other organisations, ONVIF has had to adapt to new ways of collaborating and exchanging ideas,” said Per Björkdahl, chair of the ONVIF Steering Committee. “Interoperability doesn’t happen in a vacuum and, while nothing will replace valuable face-to-face interaction with our members, we’re grateful for the continued participation of member companies in supporting ONVIF Profile conformance.”

Profiles tested at this event included Profile A for access control configuration, Profile C for door control and event management, Profile S for basic video streaming, Profile T for advanced video streaming, Profile G for edge storage and retrieval, Profile Q for quick installation and the Profile M Release Candidate for metadata and analytics for smart applications.

Impact of COVID-19

ONVIF Developers’ Plugfests are typically held twice a year around the world, allowing the global members of ONVIF to gather and test their implementations. Due to the uncertain nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, details of the 23rd ONVIF Developers’ Plugfest will be announced at a later date.

Founded in 2008, ONVIF is a well-recognised industry forum driving interoperability for IP-based physical security products. The organisation has a global member base of established camera, video management system and access control companies and more than 19,000 Profile-conformant products.

The organisation continues to work with its members to expand the number of IP interoperability solutions ONVIF-conformant products can provide. *Further information about ONVIF-conformant products, including member companies and their conformant models, is available on the ONVIF website at www.onvif.org

ONVIF makes plans to highlight member companies at IFSEC International 2019

ONVIF, the global standardisation initiative for IP-based physical security products, will be exhibiting at IFSEC International 2019. The show runs at ExCeL in London from 18-20 June. The organisation will be joined by 40-plus ONVIF member companies.

As part of its presence at the exhibition, ONVIF will host the ONVIF Lounge on Stand IF2524, which provides charging stations for attendee use throughout the show. Representatives from ONVIF and various member companies will be present at the booth throughout the event to answer questions about ONVIF and provide insight on how they use the ONVIF standards for their businesses. Participating companies will include Hikvision, Costain, Synectics and TDSi.

“We’re happy to be exhibiting at IFSEC again this year, giving those who are unfamiliar with ONVIF the opportunity to learn more,” said Per Björkdahl, chair of the ONVIF Steering Committee. “ONVIF provides valuable tools that can make things easier for practising security professionals and their host organisations. We hope that, by having member companies present on Stand IF2524, attendees gain the inside track on what it means to be an ONVIF member.”

IFSEC International is Europe’s largest dedicated security exhibition, with more than 27,000 security professionals expected to attend this year’s event.

Founded in 2008, ONVIF has a global base of established member companies whi produce cameras, video management systems and access control solutions, in trun realising more than 12,000 Profile-conformant products.

ONVIF offers Profile S for basic streaming video, Profile G for edge storage and retrieval, Profile C for door control and event management, Profile Q for quick installation, Profile A for access control configuration and Profile T for advanced video streaming.

ONVIF continues to work with its members to expand the number of IP interoperability solutions that ONVIF-conformant products can provide.

*Further information about ONVIF-conformant products is available on the ONVIF website at www.onvif.org

ONVIF set to discuss role of access control in smart buildings environment at ISC West 2019

ONVIF, the global standardisation initiative for IP-based physical security products, will be participating in ISC West 2019, which runs from 10-12 April at the Sands Expo in Las Vegas. The organisation will have a presence in the exhibition area as well as participating in the education programme.

The ONVIF Lounge (Booth L0) is where attendees can catch up on the latest ONVIF-related updates, relax and also recharge their mobile devices.

In addition, ONVIF will also be taking part in a panel discussion from SIA Education@ISC, the Security Industry Association’s educational programming at ISC West. Bob Dolan (director of technology at Anixter), Per Björkdahl (chairman of the ONVIF Steering Committee) and Bryan Montany (principal analyst within IHS Markit’s Access Control Intelligence Service) will present a panel discussion under the heading ‘Driving the Future: How Interoperability Standards in Access Control Can Enable Smart Building Success’. The goal of the session is to highlight the importance of an open platform approach as a building block for future Internet of Things functionality by discussing the role of access control systems within a smart building environment.

“As standards evolve along with the industry, there’s more and more demand for a system-to-system approach towards standards, in addition to the already prevalent interoperability standards within a single system,” asserted Björkdahl. “By examining how access control systems might fit into a bigger system, we can begin to see how different systems can complement each other through a common interface, in turn allowing for cost savings and ease of use for the end user.”

Founded in 2008, ONVIF exists to drive interoperability for IP-based physical security products. The organisation has a global member base of established camera, video management system and access control manufacturers realising nearly 12,000 Profile-conformant products.

Per Björkdahl: chairman of the ONVIF Steering Committee

ONVIF offers Profile S for streaming video, Profile G for recording and storage, Profile C for physical access control, Profile Q for improved out-of-the-box functionality, Profile A for broader access control configuration and Profile T for advanced streaming.

ONVIF continues to work with its members in order to expand the number of IP interoperability solutions ONVIF-conformant products can provide.

*Further information about ONVIF-conformant products, member companies and their conformant models is available on the ONVIF website at www.onvif.org

ONVIF reflects on 2018 activities at 10th Annual General Meeting

ONVIF, the global standardisation initiative for IP-based physical security products, held its Annual General Meeting earlier this month, with an overview of important activities in 2018 and perspectives on the year ahead the order of the day. Attendees heard presentations on the final release of Profile T, an advancement which represents how ONVIF is keeping pace with technological advancements that affect product development and interoperability between IP-based physical security products.

In an acknowledgement of the organisation’s 10th Anniversary, ONVIF chairman Per Björkdahl highlighted the forum’s achievements over the past decade, including an overview of the six ONVIF Profiles, with a clear emphasis on the newly-released Profile T for advanced video streaming.

Collectively, the ONVIF Profiles provide support for more than 10,000 conformant products that are increasingly included in various bid and specification processes in projects around the world. Björkdahl also cited the continued involvement of ONVIF as part of the work of the International Electrotechnical Commission’s TC79 for international standardisation.

ONVIF also recognised the contributions of four individuals from various ONVIF Technical Committees for their work on different profiles and committees. Fredrik Svensson of Axis Communications and Dora Han of Hikvision were recipients of the ONVIF Award acknowledging individuals and companies who have made significant contributions to the organisation. As chairman of the Profile T Working Group, Svensson was a leading force in the development and successful final release of the Profile T specification. Han received anaward for her extensions to the specification, and also for supporting the development of other members’ extensions to the specification.

Distinguished Service Awards

One of two 2018 ONVIF Distinguished Service Awards was bestowed upon Baldvin Gislason Bern of Axis Communications for his role in developing and proofing the evolution concept as chair of the Technical Services Device Test Tool Evolution. Joining him in receiving this award was Dr Hasan Timucin Ozdemir of Panasonic, who served as chairman of the ONVIF Video Enhancement Working Group from 2009-2018. This Working Group is directly responsible for formulating and prototyping new features for the ONVIF specification.

“All of our award recipients have shown their significant and long-term commitment to the organisation as a whole, and in turn have directly and positively impacted the work of ONVIF,” enthused Björkdahl. “The success of our organisation would not be possible without the innovative contributions and hard work of our members. For that, we say Thank You.”

ONVIF Technical Committee chair Hans Busch of Bosch spoke to members about the specification development roadmap and its alignment to the standardisation activities within the IEC TC 79 Working Groups for video surveillance and physical access control standards. Technical Services Committee chair Andreas Schneider of Sony gave an overview of the Committee’s work on new and existing profiles, client and device test tools, updates to the conformance process and tools and Developers’ Plugfests.

ONVIF Communications Committee chair Tim Shen of Dahua provided a recap of ONVIF communication efforts in 2018. There has been a continued focus on market education about the specific Profiles through presence at industry events coupled with much media activity. Shen also reported on the success of the first-ever ONVIF Open Source Spotlight Challenge that took place earlier this year.

ONVIF chairman Per Björkdahl

Election results

The results of the annual elections for ONVIF’s committees were announced by Kevin Schader, ONVIF’s executive director.

Re-elected to the ONVIF Steering Committee were Mayur Salgar of Honeywell and Stuart Rawling of Pelco by Schneider Electric. For the Technical Committee, Hanwha Techwin’s Sujith Raman, Pelco by Schneider Electric’s Steve Wolf and Tyco Security Products’ Stephen Serplus were re-elected, while Hikvision’s Dora Han joined the Technical Committee as a new member.

Bob Dolan of Anixter and Giri Guntipalli from Honeywell were re-elected to the Technical Services Committee, along with new member Marwan Obeidat of Pelco by Schneider Electric.

Tim Shen of Dahua, Jens Berthelsen of Hikvision and Xinming Kang of Honeywell were re-elected to the ONVIF Communications Committee, while Cathy Zhou of Huawei joined as a new member. Founding members Axis Communications, Bosch and Sony automatically retain seats on the Steering, Technical and Technical Services Committees.

*Further information about ONVIF-conformant products, including member companies and their conformant models, is available on the ONVIF website at www.onvif.org

 

ONVIF publishes Release Candidate for Profile T on Advanced Video Streaming

ONVIF – the global standardisation initiative for IP-based physical security products – has announced the Release Candidate for Profile T, a draft specification with advanced streaming capabilities that includes support for H.265 video compression and an expanded feature set that extends the capabilities of ONVIF video Profiles for system integrators and end users alike. 

ONVIF Profile T for advanced streaming employs a new media service that enables the support of High Efficiency Video Coding based on the international H.265 video compression standard that specifies how to decode data into displayable video.

Profile T-conformant clients support both H.264 and H.265 video compression, while Profile T-conformant devices support at least one of these formats.

The new Profile also encompasses Transport Layer Security (TLS)-enabled communications and new functionalities such as bi-directional audio streaming, standardisation of events, imaging configuration and on screen display configuration.

“Profile T broadens the scope of the ONVIF video profile to include both the H.264 video compression standard that’s widely used in video surveillance solutions today and H.265 video compression, which is set to become the de facto video compression standard in the very near future,” said Fredrik Svensson, chairman of ONVIF’s Profile T Working Group. “In addition to support for multiple video compression types, Profile T establishes conformance regarding motion detection, metadata streaming, analytics and other important features that ultimately offer an expanded and standardised feature set to system integrators and end users, in addition to interoperability between manufacturers’ solutions.”

Profile T for advanced streaming supports transport over Websockets, which allows end users to stream video to a browser instead of a VMS client. Profile T also features bi-directional audio that’s often used in city surveillance, transportation and parking security as well as for other security applications that require two-way audio communication. Support for the TLS protocol adds another level of security to communications between Profile T-conformant clients and devices.

Standardisation of events such as motion detection and tampering is included in Profile T. Digital input and relay output events are covered, as is their configuration through the device I/O service which can expedite installation.

Profile T allows motion region detector configuration through the analytics service, which means that a specific area of an image can be selected for analysis. Streaming of metadata – such as events and analytics data – is also covered by Profile T.

ONVIF circulates a new Profile first as a Release Candidate for at least six months, allowing members and stakeholders a final implementation review. When that process is complete, the final Profile is published and technology providers will be able to test their products for conformance to the final version of Profile T. This process is intended to allow members to more quickly introduce conformant products when the final version of Profile T is released in 2018.

*Further information about the Release Candidate of ONVIF Profile T and ONVIF conformant products, including the vendors and the conformant models, is available on the ONVIF website: www.onvif.org