Industry Insight

High-resolution Difference

• By Steve Beaulieu
• Mar 02, 2007

AS an innovator of varifocal lens design, Tamron sees the CCTV industry following consumer trends into the 21st century. The industry will migrate from standard, color resolution to high resolution, much like the progression from black and white to color images. The slow transition will gain momentum as the cost of high-resolution cameras decreases and the selection of lenses for the cameras increases.

The current market has seen a shift from analog box camera-box lens combinations to integrated products like mini domes and bullet cameras. A few reasons for the change are cost and ease of installation.

Tamron invented its first varifocal lens in 1986 and continued into the 1990s with development of telephoto varifocal lenses. In early 2001, Tamron introduced the 2.8-12 millimeter varifocal lens, which gave the market another everyday lens similar to the industry standard of the time—the 3.5-8 millimeter. The new, extended range standard lens gave more wide-angle and telephoto capabilities—something the industry was demanding. In the last few years, Tamron has continued to follow CCTV market trends by introducing an IR-corrected lens series that allows for higher-quality images during nighttime surveillance using day/night cameras.

Seeing Integration
The current market has seen a shift from analog box camera-box lens combinations to integrated products like mini domes and bullet cameras. A few reasons for the change are cost and ease of installation. Another reason is that mini dome or bullet cameras give installations a more aesthetically pleasing look. That has allowed the residential CCTV market to grow to double-digit numbers in the past few years, which has affected the C-/CS-mount lens business.

Camera manufacturers are now promoting 540 TV-line cameras that require high-resolution lenses to optimize performance and offer a high-quality picture. In response to the trend, Tamron has recently introduced a series of high-resolution varifocal lenses. The lenses were designed to optimize performance of the new high-resolution cameras. Additionally, digital IP and megapixel cameras that have recently entered the CCTV market are high-resolution cameras that require high-resolution lenses to maximize picture quality. IP cameras let end users, from their local network or via the Internet, to view, monitor, record or print images from anywhere in the world. Many industries, like banking, education, government, retail and transportation, are looking to IP solutions because they can be directly tied into current networks, and in many cases, save money.

Worldwide terrorist attacks have escalated in the last several years, requiring Homeland Security to tighten U.S. borders. IP solutions allow the government to monitor the activities from a centralized location. Current IP cameras come in both box and integrated styles, but the integrated solutions offer fewer lens choices. However, many current security applications require telephoto varifocals and zoom lenses, making C/CS varifocal lenses preferred.

The Next Generation
Megapixel cameras are the next generation in the CCTV market and will offer higher resolution and higher quality images than standard, analog cameras. This is similar to the difference in broadcast-quality television versus high-definition television. The trend towards higher-resolution imaging is driving the market to demand higher-quality lenses for the cameras.

The current market is divided into two separate segments. The first segment is the low-cost, analog solution, where price is more important than overall picture quality. The second segment is the digital IP and megapixel solution, where quality and cost are equally crucial.

Industry trends suggest digital IP and megapixel solutions will make up a greater percentage of the industry in the next few years as end users demand higher quality pictures. This will compel lens manufacturers to meet the needs of higher-resolution cameras. As the cost of the high-resolution market segment comes down, the analog market segment will begin to decrease. Exactly when the change will happen is unknown. But it will take a better effort on the part of manufacturers to educate distributors and integrators on end-user benefits for end users for the industry to see digital solutions become the new standard any time soon.