Video analytics uses algorithms to scour through video content. Used by every industry from retail to education to healthcare, the technology reduces the work required to manage and analyze security footage (live or recorded).
In this blog, you’ll find an intro to different types of video analytics, how Razberi enhances your surveillance options, and the pros and cons of each technology. We’ll also talk about the practical benefits so you can see for yourself just how valuable video analytics are when stepping up your security offerings.
Integrating video analytics into your system
You can add video analytics to a surveillance system using software or hardware. Or, to put it another way, you can run the algorithms at either the server or network edge. But what does that mean exactly? And how do you decide which is best for your customer?
To help make things easier, here are the pros and cons of three different options for adding video analytics to a security system.
Server-side analytics
A server-based setup takes video content from a camera and sends it to a company’s network server. It’s on the server that the computing and analysis happen.
Advantages
- Potential to use existing or general video surveillance cameras
- Easy updates/upgrades without having to replace hardware
- Powerful server-based computing capabilities
- Retain control over sensitive data as it never leaves the network
- Interface with larger databases, such as license plate or facial registries
Disadvantages
- Expends bandwidth as the entire video stream is sent for processing
- Expends CPU/GPU resources as the server decompresses/processes video data
Razberi appliances and software are ideal for supporting server-side video analytics!
We’re one of the only vendors offering an all-in-one video analytics-enabled appliance. That means your server, switch, storage, and GPU capabilities all come in a single installation—it’s a game-changer for customers.
We also build servers and NVRs specifically for video content analysis. And, with Razberi, there’s even more value when you consider our built-in cybersecurity, health monitoring, and remote system management.
Camera-enabled analytics
Edge-based analytics happen at the edge of a network—on the camera itself. As the video stream is captured, the in-camera analytics crunch your data before the finalized info is delivered.
Advantages
- Near real-time analysis of video streams
- Low bandwidth usage (if you’re sending only relevant video data)
Disadvantages
- Specialized equipment needed (often with high price tags)
- Upgrading analytics means replacing cameras
- Computing power is limited to what a camera comes with
- Edge devices cannot improve through self-learning AI
The camera must be connected, powered, and fully functioning for edge analytics to work. Ensuring surveillance reliability is what Razberi does best.
- Our built-in cybersecurity (CameraDefenceTM and ApplianceDefenceTM) means analytics data is secure from outside or internal threat actors
- And, with MonitorTM, we can even alert you to potential errors before they happen so that you can reduce (and potentially eliminate) system downtime
Cloud-based analytics
Your third option is sending video data offsite to a cloud vendor who’ll run the analytics for you. This choice is feasible but has some intimidating challenges relative to server-side or camera-enabled analytics.
Advantages
- Powerful cloud-computing used to analyze video data
- Offload computing requirements to a third-party
Disadvantages
- Large bandwidth needed to transfer full-resolution video data to the cloud
- Relying on the security of a cloud provider to protect sensitive data
Benefits of Video Analytics for Surveillance and Security
Nearly every industry can benefit from video analytics, especially for surveillance—security staff can’t be everywhere at once, but a video camera can. And with intelligent video analytics, you’ll have a wealth of information right at your fingertips.
Automatic alerts – Analytics reduces the possibility of human error by scanning video for critical events. Events automatically get a proactive (rather than a reactive) response by automatically alerting staff.
Counting people – Algorithms can use video footage to create crowd number estimates to help security personnel manage building capacity and crowd control.
Facial recognition – When connected to a wider database, video analytics can identify individual faces so that security personnel can track persons of interest. The AI can even use cameras to search for a particular person within a facility based on a physical description.
Motion detection – Video footage with motion detection analytics can help security staff if an unauthorized person enters a restricted area. Advanced algorithms can detect traffic flow abnormalities, such as a person walking against a crowd or a vehicle driving on the wrong side of the road.
Search capability – With intelligent video analytics, you don’t have to review hours of video footage to reconstruct an event manually. Algorithms will automatically search for events, people, or objects, so you can quickly and easily check footage leading up to an incident.
All of these capabilities make for more efficient, effective surveillance.
Industries adopting VA
- Law enforcement
- Retail
- Smart cities
- Healthcare
- Finance
- Transportation
- Events
- Manufacturing
- Education
Razberi makes your video analytics better!
At Razberi, we’re committed to computing that makes your life better with simple, secure video surveillance and IoT solutions.
Whether you choose camera-based or server-side analytics, Razberi’s custom-built servers and NVRs support intelligent video analytics. Our team can work with customers to help design a compute and data transmission solution. And because we use open architecture, future upgrades and integration are simple, making Razberi a solid foundation for video surveillance today, tomorrow, and beyond.
