IT’S the global security industry’s largest exhibition of new product and it takes place in the world’s largest security market, making ISC West the perfect place to get a sense of where we are at. And not just in 2013 but in the coming years. 

The buzz at the show seemed to centre around video analytics, mobile management of video, growth of integration and the buzz at the show. The mood was universally positive though not surprisingly some people griped about a lack of new product. This is a hangover from the past 5 years of tighter margins which have reduced stray venture capital and pressured spending on R&D. A slowdown in new product is also something that’s indicative of a maturing market. 

One observer noted there was no ‘new iPad’ technology – in other words nothing with the wow factor digitisation of electronic security has led us to expect at every show over the past 10 years. The fact people wanted to be amazed is a good sign in my opinion. But there were new things and there were hints of new things to come. 

It goes without saying that video surveillance was big. ISC West saw excellent camera releases including Panasonic’s new SmartHD and Sony Gen6 with IPELA ENGINE EX among others. There was talk about video analytics being used in domestic applications for intrusion and smoke detection. There was also a lot of talk about cameras presumably owned by the wider public being generally accessible on smart devices through apps. And there was talk about the issues surrounding access control going mobile.  

There was the spooky release of the world’s first Win7 video surveillance camera. There was Raytec’s IP-based Vario lighting solution. There was Avigilant Robots’ Vigilus Mobile Camera Platform. This Dalek-ish unit comes with a price tag of around $US20,000 and patrols 10 hours between charges. Worth considering for sites with 1 or 2 onsite security officers.   

There was a lot of talk about the cloud from many serious players. There was Bosch’s revelation it was developing a 12MP 4K camera. I think that’s a good move from Bosch – 4K is coming. There was the announcement Polaroid was making a play in the video surveillance market. There was the noticeable push of home automation into the domestic alarms market, which is nice to see at long last, and there was lashings of IP alarm reporting. 

Axis talked about partnering with Boston’s Wentworth Institute of Technology in a move that will see students designing apps for cameras that can be viewed on smart phones. At the show an app said to function in 3D – no I don’t quite understand that either – allowed the camera to alert an owner to events in the scene. 

Bosch launched 110 new video products at IFSEC and previewed that 4K Ultra HD camera, NICE Systems showed its Situator solution which manages protection for critical infrastructure and Avigilon showed the new bullet camera we reviewed last issue. 

Milestone was showing the company’s new Arcus product, a streamlined VMS that’s only for Milestone technical partners to embed. Partners at the show were Veracity and LenovoEMC (formerly Iomega), with LenovoEMC NVR and Razberri’s Netswitch appliance. Arcus runs on Linux, Mac OS and Windows and allows Milestone partners to sell a preconfigured, pre-installed, simplified VMS.

Samsung was showing off its new 6000 Series which is driven by a core WiseNet II chip. This camera is 2.4MP 1080p HD and has analytics including defogging to get rid of smoke or fog. Meanwhile Genetec was talking about it’s new cloud-based video surveillance as a service solution for small and medium-sized businesses with 6-12 cameras. 

DMP showed a new intrusion, access control and fire panel. FLIR plans to sell low resolution thermal cameras to domestic users using the Digimerge brand of its subsidiary Lorex. And System Sensor was displaying the i4 Series Combination CO/Smoke Detector and Integration Module, said to be the first low-voltage, system-connected, combination smoke and carbon-monoxide detection solution on the market. 

At the show alarm and automation manufacturer 2GIG announced it has shipped 1 million Go!Control system panels since the company was launched. Remember that Nortek, the parent company of Linear which helped develop the 2GIG Go!Control product, recently announced the acquisition of 2GIG for $US135 million.

Moog was showing EcoKit, a remote solar and wind power generator for surveillance systems. The company also just released its EXO GeminEye high-definition network thermal and HD visible imaging system. March Networks released a next-gen retail platform. March Networks is growing fast in the banking, retail and transportation sectors, they said.

Inovonics is focusing on “people protection” as a part of physical security with its Enterprise Mobile Duress System, while Ingersoll Rand’s NFC technology is being adopted on campuses nationwide, making smartphones into access control credentials.

Polaroid was at the show and is getting into CCTV in a big way. Vice President Nathan Needel said that a full line of surveillance solutions will be offered to end users starting June 1. The solutions come with a killer 10-year warranty and there will be an ‘integrator dedicated to every user’. There’s obviously an RMR model behind that sort of talk.

Interlogix was pushing the migration from analogue to IP and BRS Labs’ was talking about its behavioral recognition offerings over rules-based cameras. OnSSI’s Moshe Levi emphasized the importance of mobility in security surveillance. Among other products, its LiveVest, worn by SWAT teams and security guards, contains 3 cameras.

DVTel hosted a series of video analytics sessions and released Latitude 6.3 video management software (VMS), which incorporates advanced Google Earth functionality, integration with ShotSpotter and advanced mapping features. IQinVision (distributed locally by Infratherm) released new IQeye camera models featuring Wide Dynamic Range (WDR). This enhancement will be available in the company’s Alliance-pro, Sentinel, and 7 Series camera lines and is offered in 720p, 1080p, and 3.1MP resolutions.  

Meanwhile, OPTEX released Fiber SenSys FD508 APU, an 8-zone fibre perimeter solution with an 800m range, as well as the REDSCAN REDWALL IP detector portfolio with an integration with the HawkEye Site mapping module, which creates a custom GPS map within minutes by precisely placing cameras and REDWALL sensors/detectors on a blueprint or satellite image of a facility.

There were 84 products and services across 21 categories. The Lynx from Innovative Security Designs (ISD) scored the Best New Product Award at ISC West. Yes, that’s the same ISD that won best new product award at Security 2012 in Sydney with its Jaguar camera. Lynx is an edge computing platform for video surveillance that runs Microsoft Embedded Windows 7, delivers high-definition (HD) 1080p resolution, multi-streaming, at 30ips, all encased in an IP66 dome enclosure. 

CCTV people can be excused for feeling slightly nervous about the medium term outcome of a Win7 camera platform but it’s impossible to deny such a product has potential in cloud and domestic applications and it will be welcomed by IT technicians everywhere. The camera performance specifications don’t look particularly amazing but the win at ISC obviously revolved around the idea of a camera that was a Win7 edge computing device. 

Meanwhile, 3M Cogent won Judges’ Choice Award with MiY-Touch indoor biometric touch screen. Described as one of the lightest readers in its class, the access control reader is compact and fast. In other areas, the Access Control Hardware & Software award went to DAQ Electronics, with Entro-Watch with an Honorable Mention to HID Global’s iCLASS Seos Credential. The Access Control Products Wireless award went to the MEDECO M100 and the Biometrics, Identification and Credentialing Award was won by SRI International Sarnoff’s, IOM PassThru.

The Commercial and Monitoring Solutions Award was won by Louroe Electronics, IF-PX with an Honorable Mention to Vigilant Robots for its Vigilus Mobile Camera Platform. The Convergence and Integrated Software and Solutions Award went to Stanley CSS’s Pacom Systems 8002 Pacom-Edge Controller.

Emergency Notification Systems Award went to Firelite Alarms’ Emergency Command Center, with Entry/Exit Screening Systems and Asset Tracking going to the Stanley CSS AeroScout MobileView Locator for iPad. The Fire/Life Safety and System Sensor Award was won by the i4 Series Combination Carbon Monoxide/Smoke Detector and Interface Module and the Green Solutions Award was picked up by RBH Access Technologies’ High Density 32-Door PoE Fault Tolerant Controller.

Intrusion Detection and Prevention Solutions was won by Bosch Security Systems for its B Series Control Panels, while the Intrusion Detection and Prevention Solutions Wireless went to Honeywell’s LYNX Touch 5100 with an Honorable Mention to Inovonics’ Area Control Gateway.

In Locks/Safes/Hardware ASSA ABLOY Americas Securitron M380 Series Magnalock won, while in Network Support Solutions Quest Technology International won with LocJack. Outdoor Perimeter Protection went to TOTUS Solutions, while the Outdoor LED Secured Wireless Surveillance Platform Residential and Monitoring Solutions went to ipDatatel with its IPD BAT CU.

The Video Analytics award went to BriefCam, VS Enterprise V2.4, the Video Storage, Distribution and Management award went to NUUO’s NVRsolo and the Video Surveillance Advanced Imaging Technologies was picked up by Axton’s True Hybrid IR & White Light Illuminator with an Honorable Mention to Samsung Techwin America, SCP-2370RH.

In the Video Surveillance Cameras HD (Megapixel) segment the award went to the Innovative Security Designs (ISD) Lynx. I’ve not seen this camera working but I was a wee bit surprised to see the award going to a camera on the basis of characteristics not related to outright performance. I though Sony or Panasonic deserved this one in 2013 after their recent releases. 

Compounding my sense of weirdness was the fact the Honorable Mention in HD cameras went to StarDot Technologies for its Multi-Channel Long Distance Coaxial (MCLDC). Finally, the Video Surveillance Hardware and Accessories award went to Nuoptic for its True Hybrid Varifocal Illumination System. 

It was a pretty good show technically and a very good show in terms of mood. The broader U.S. market is experiencing the long awaited bounce. The talk is that recovery will be slow and sustainable, fuelled by real profit, not by credit. And that’s good news for all of us in the Australian security industry.