4K Security Cameras

4K AHD/CVI/TVI cameras are not yet to come

4K IP camera is the hot topic during the recent two years. As the main trend, the global top HD video solution providers such as Ambarella and Hisilicon developed and launched SoC processors which featuring 4K video encoding and decoding capability, at the same time, many leading video surveillance brands launched new high-end IP cameras supporting 4K ultra high definition resolution. Will 4K ultra resolution analog cameras be available in the surveillance market soon? Well, the answer is 4K analog cameras isn't yet to come.

Currently, the analog video surveillance market is dominated by three different HD-over-coax technologies including AHD, HD-CVI, HD-TVI. All of them are able to capture the high definition video, and provide the similar performance. Many people feel confused among them, often asked us what the difference among them. As far as I know, there is not distinctive difference, Hikvision advocates HD-TVI, while Dahua developed the HD-CVI, both companies produce the camera. AHD owned by Nextchip, the company only develop the image signal processors. Therefore, AHD has the largest group of camera manufacturers. The competition among three different technologies is fierce. Based on our study, AHD cameras are the cheapest among them, The HD-TVI camera is slightly expensive than HD-CVI.

4K AHD Camera

Thanks for the price battle among Chinese manufacturers, now users can buy AHD cameras with very cheap price, 720p/1080p AHD cameras have flourished in analog surveillance market. According to the product information from Nextchip, the company now only has AHD image signal processor supporting up to 3-megapixel resolution. Although 3MP AHD processor (NVP2470H) is available, it will take at least 2 years to be adopted by camera manufacturers.

4K HDCVI Camera

HDCVI 3.0 is the newest version of HD-CVI technology. Dahua says “Dahua’s solutions are designed to be scalable and modular to provide flexible configuration options. At the very beginning of 2016, Dahua is ready to push HDCVI technology one step further with “HDCVI 3.0”. This dedicated revolution features 4 attributes, namely full compatibility, ultra HD, intelligence and simplicity.”

HDCVI 1.0 supports 1 megapixel or 720p resolution, HDCVI 2.0 supports 2 megapixel or 1080p resolution. Now the HDCVI 3.0 can support 4 megapixel resolution. Dahua calls the HDCVI 3.0 as the world’s first “4K” over coaxial solution. Apparently, it is not 4K ultra high definition solution.

Why not 3-megapixel? Well, compared with 3 megapixel resolution, the 4-megapixel resolution can maintain 16:9 video aspect ratio, can be perfectly fit to current HDTV system without causing image distortion or black areas on the both sides of screen. No wonder Dahua skip the 3MP development, directly moving forward to 4MP.

4K HD-TVI Camera

Techpoint 5-megapixel HD-TVI Solution

Oct 2015, Techpoint demonstrated 5-megapixel HD-TVI solution on CPSE exhibition in Shenzhen. Techpoint is the orignial developer for HD-TVI technology, rumors revealed their engineers were the people who developed HD-SDI technology. The company recently launched the HD-TVI 3.0, new standard claimed to support higher resolutions from 3-8 megapixel over 500 meters of distance.

Hikvision, the major advocate of HD-TVI analog cameras has a complete 3-megapixel HD-TVI cameras product portfolio. 5-megapixel resolution HD-TVI has released according to the news report released by Hikvision.

Conclusion

4K resolution is four times higher than 1080p/2MP resolution, unlikely the image signal processor companies can develop 4K processors in the foreseeable future. Additionally, 720p and 1080p resolution seems sufficient for analog video surveillance, the segment market for 4K cameras is quite tiny, lacking the market incentive, we don’t know if the solution companies have plan to develop analog cameras supporting 4K resolution. If you have different views on this topic, please comment below.

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Tags: HDCVI, HDTVI, Hikvision, Dahua, HDTVI camera