An efficient process monitoring system is essential for business, giving you a clear picture of what happens in key areas of your office, facility, or building anytime. With the right tools, you don’t have to worry about ensuring that operations run as smoothly as possible.
If you are away doing business and want to check if production is going on as expected, you can have remote access through your industrial security camera system. You’ll be able to view footage of your company’s operations through a mobile device and quickly send instructions to the person left in charge if something is amiss.
Today’s industrial video cameras are valuable tools for monitoring critical processes in your company’s day-to-day operations. But how did video cameras revolutionize industrial process monitoring?
Let us walk through the evolution of video cameras, from analog to digital systems, including IoT tech.
Transformation of Video Cameras in Industrial Process Monitoring
The situational example described above illustrates how video solutions make industrial process monitoring possible. You can be out on a business trip thanks to video cameras and still call the shots to fast-track production. Your video camera system has to be hooked up to a network over the internet for this to work. However, this connectivity feature isn’t readily available in analog video cameras.
What is an analog video camera?
This security system lets you record video footage in an analog format using a closed-circuit television (CCTV) system. You can then watch the recording on a digital video recorder (DVR), which converts the CCTV footage into digital signals.
The main thing to remember with analog video cameras is that you won’t be able to watch video recordings remotely unless you link the DVR to a router and modem, which will connect to the internet and make the footage available for viewing on your computer or smartphone.
Learn more: SDI vs. Analog Cameras: The Pros and Cons
How does a network video camera work?
Also called internet protocol (IP) cameras, network video cameras capture images the same way as digital video cameras, then compress the files for transmission over a network. Since the cameras record footage digitally and send it to a network video recorder (NVR), any device with access to the computer network can view the footage off-site.
How do IoT-capable video cameras enhance industrial process monitoring?
IoT, or the Internet of Things, is a system that collects and shares data thanks to sensors on billions of digital devices connected to the internet. Tech analysts have pinpointed security or surveillance processes as IoT’s second-biggest use.
Manufacturing companies can benefit from adding IoT capabilities into their video camera systems. Besides detecting intrusions, unauthorized activities, and other event irregularities, IoT-enabled camera systems have smart sensors that help you monitor your team’s productivity, efficiency, and safety.
Whether it’s counting products in the assembly line to ensure there’s no bottleneck or preventing equipment from overheating in the presence of workers, sensors in your IoT video camera system can alert you of a potential issue in your warehouse or factory.
The Evolution of Video Management
Just like how video cameras have changed over time, there has been steady progress in video management. Here are the different ways of managing video assets then and now:
- Tapes
The earliest forms of video cameras recorded footage using reels of tape. At the time, securing files involved keeping racks of videotapes, which posed problems during handling and storage. For example, natural disasters like fires or floods can damage videotapes, and without backups, video assets can be challenging to retrieve.
- Video recorders
Both analog and IP cameras can store recordings in NVRs, DVRs, and hybrid video recorders (HVRs). These devices record images onto hard drives that can store large files of high resolution and high frame rates. One important thing to consider when using NVRs, DVRs, or HVRs is their storage capacity. You’ll need to increase storage if you plan to keep backups for a long time.
- Cloud/IoT
Videos use a great deal of bandwidth, which less powerful computer networks may not be able to support. Cloud computing offers the upgrade you need to receive, process, or retrieve large volumes of data from a multitude of video cameras, sensors, and the environment with minimal latency.
Then again, video management encompasses various aspects—not just storage—where cloud computing comes in handy. Cloud-based video solutions use artificial intelligence and machine learning software to monitor videos and generate metadata about events in those videos, enhancing your industrial process monitoring’s search and alert functions.
A New Era in Industrial Process Monitoring
Video camera surveillance systems are excellent tools for enhancing your premises’ security and increasing your operational efficiency. As technology continues to advance, your company will also have to keep up by utilizing smart technologies in monitoring processes and people within your organization.
Send an inquiry to IVC Co to learn more about our video process monitoring solutions.
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