Well plenty of banter on linkedin this week around the subject of price on HD SDI cameras verses the price of an HD IP equivalent. With some commentators now claiming you can purchase HD SDI products cheaper than their analogue equivalent the battle for HD supremacy is starting to hot up.

Of course in reality most installers and CCTV experts know that when you specify an HD camera installation there will be various different angles it can be approached but usually the ideal camera set up is easy to work out based on the site size and infrastructure.

The great thing for end users though is the desire for HD cctv solutions is driving the prices of all hd cctv cameras DVRs and NVRs downwards.

It has to be said though that the rise of HDcctv (HD over coax) is dramatic, the driving force has been the HDcctv alliance and camera manufacturers and chip designers have really bought into the idea. Of course some say that HD SDI CCTV is just a passing trend but its tolerance to criticism has so far been good and the products have become more diverse and indeed cheaper in a dramatic time frame.

Where will it all go from here? Well IP cameras and IP software solutions are giving us some fantastic images. Companies such as Arecont and Avigilon are showing us all the way to go with some excellent software and quality products but HD over coax has a huge market place using existing coax and fitting into many different applications. When the new HDcctv standard is released and we can also use CAT5 cable, who knows how quickly every camera installation will be HD quality and above.

For a long time now many people have asked why the images  they see on crime watch are so poor. If you come from outside the CCTV community its hard to understand what is so difficult about producing a set of images that will actually be able to identify a criminal who is taking part in some kind of burglary, vandalism or any kind of illegal event that is captured on CCTV.

The truth is analogue CCTV was never going to cut it, well not unless you put hundreds of cameras into a system and recorded at ridiculously high frame rates. Memory has only recently become available that would allow the sort of length of recording time most consider necessary anyway.

So over the last few years the CCTV industry has taken short cuts. It has failed to sell enough cameras to cover a scene . It records but electronically throws away most of the information and worse of all we scimp on lighting and quality lenses. This adds up to gross mis-selling and customers who find that when they really need CCTV evidence it actually has never been captured beyond a set of jerky fuzzy images that make a laughing stock of CCTV installers.

To be fair though CCTV has actually worked to a degree over the years. It has deterered crime , it has led to convictions , confessions and resignations so the concept of CCTV cameras is a sound one.

Now the exciting news, We have the concept and now HD CCTV solutions can actually deliver images that will be not only be crystal clear but will be what most would consider excellent in quality. Of course with quality comes deterrent. HD CCTV solutions can deliver images that will be able to show criminals features and crimes taking place in addition HD cameras can also see number plates when sited and focused correctly as well as view processes such as scenes within a factory such as a  production process.

HD cameras are here now and we can deliver HD through IP or over coax the opportunity for clarity now is just beginning but with a few short years HD CCTV cameras will have transformed the CCTV industry beyond recognition. Those fuzzy unusable CCTV images of the past will be resigned to the history books