i-PRO Video Surveillance Overview PDF
i-PRO Video Surveillance Overview PDF
i-PRO Video Surveillance Overview PDF
This document provides an overview of the features and benefits of Panasonic i-PRO video
surveillance products.
2. Applications
Whether you are in retail, education, healthcare, finance, manufacturing or other institutions,
Panasonic i-PRO video surveillance is designed for your safety and security. Panasonic helps you
make things better by translating technology into benefits that you can use. With advanced
i-PRO video surveillance, you can find a solution for your everyday and long-term challenges so
you can improve your operational efficiency, reduce costs and promote business growth.
2.1 Retails
Ensuring a safe environment for customers and employees,
reducing shrinkage and preventing loss are important. i-PRO
video surveillance maximizes store profits by deterring shoplifting,
sweethearting, employee theft, vandalism and other problems.
The Intelligent face recognition system makes surveillance
operation more efficient and also helps improve marketing by providing visitor statistics such as
people counting and heat maps.
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2.2 Education
An education environment should be open and safe, while
maintaining student and teacher privacy. i-PRO video surveillance
is an essential tool to protect students, teachers, staff and visitors
from bullying, violence, vandalism, unauthorized entry and theft
on campus. Panasonic provides a privacy-conscious camera that
is ideal for schools and education. Mobile monitoring on smartphones and tablets enables staff
and teachers to share live and recorded videos, ensuring safety and good communication on
campus.
2.3 Healthcare
Nothing is more important than the safety and security of
patients, doctors, nurses, staff and visitors. Patient records,
medicine and medical equipment are to be protected as well.
Medical facilities have many places to monitor including
entrances, exits, waiting rooms, emergency rooms and parking
lots. i-PRO video surveillance is effective for ensuring security with intelligent detection features
such as intruder, loiterer and removed/left object detection. Clear recordings with irrefutable
visual evidence can prevent dishonest customer claims and resolve employee disputes.
2.4 Finance
Banks and financial institutes are one of the industries that need
video surveillance the most to improve protection against
robberies, prevent internal and external fraud and increase
security and safety for employees and customers. i-PRO video
surveillance provides a reliable and flexible system from the
parking lot to the bank vault. When analog CCTV is already installed, Panasonic protects your
existing CCTV investments, providing a scalable and cost-efficient migration path.
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3. i-PRO system components
As shown in the figure bellow, i-PRO video surveillance system is composed of cameras,
microphones, viewers, recorders, a management system and optional systems. The wide range
of i-PRO video surveillance products enables you to build up optimal video surveillance for your
requirements.
Management system
Video encoder
Analog camera
3.1 Cameras
A network camera is a networked surveillance camera that transmits images directly over an IP
network. Network cameras enable users to locally or remotely view and manage them from
anywhere on the network. Analog cameras can be used in IP systems by connecting them
through video encoders that convert analog video signal to IP video signal.
3.2 Microphones
Sound can make help operators to grasp what suspicious motion is, understand quickly what is
going on and respond accordingly. Audio-capable network cameras and network microphones
transmit audio on a single IP network.
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3.3 Viewers
A viewer is a monitoring interface that displays video from the network cameras and recorders.
IP video surveillance enables viewing video on devices such as HD monitors, PC monitors,
smartphones and tablets from anywhere on the network.
3.4 Recorders
A Network Video Recorder (NVR) is an IP-based video recorder that stores videos directly sent
from network cameras and plays back the stored footage. NVRs can be categorized into
hardware and software. The hardware NVRs are robust, compact, fully featured all-in-one
solutions including viewing, recording, alarms, searching, networking and management. The
hardware NVRs provide easy deployment and ease-of-use. The software NVRs run on a PC
server, providing flexibility, high-functionality and scalability.
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4. Network cameras/microphone
Panasonic offers a wide range of network cameras which are categorized into Fixed, Fixed dome,
360-degree and PTZ/PT types. Each type may have indoor, indoor vandal-resistant and outdoor
models.
Standard -
Indoor
Vandal-
- - -
resistant
Outdoor -
Table 1. Types of network cameras and network microphone. The pictures above show major
examples of each type.
IP ratings
The Ingress Protection (IP) rating classifies and rates the degree of mechanical casing
protection provided. IP66 indicates no dust ingress. The enclosure protects the
camera against harm from powerful water jets projected from any direction.
IK ratings
The IK code is an international numeric classification for the degree of protection
that enclosures provide for electrical equipment against external mechanical impact.
IK10 is the top grade.
NEMA ratings
The NEMA rating classifies and rates the grades of electrical enclosures against
environmental hazards. Type 4X indicates corrosion resistance in addition to the
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waterproof performance equivalent to IP66.
Dehumidification
The built-in electrical dehumidification keeps the camera dry inside, using
electrolysis to remove any moisture from the camera. This anti-humidity technology
is safe and green due to low power consumption and no heaters or mechanical fans
being used.
Hydrophilic Coating
The hydrophilic coating on the camera dome keeps visibility in rainy weather,
sheeting water off instead of forming droplets that scatter light.
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Figure 4. The left half of the dome is coated with Rain-Wash coating and the image
is clear. For comparison, the right half is not coated.
Sun shield
The shield protects the cameras lens from direct sun light.
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360-degree network cameras
360-degree network cameras provide a 360°/180° field of view with wide
area coverage from wall to wall and ceiling to floor. In camera dewarping
delivers clear fisheye, panoramic and dewarped images with an electrical
WV-SF448E Camera pan-tilt-zoom. 360-degree cameras are ideal for surveillance that
requires wide area coverage such as at shopping malls, retail stores,
airports, railway stations, parking lots, factories, warehouses and offices.
SD memory Power
Audio I/O interface card slot (PoE, DC)
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9 Capturing - Advanced optical system
Clear images need clear input. The optical system including lenses and an image sensor is
precisely designed and manufactured for superior imaging performance. Aspheric lenses have
many advantages such as less spherical aberration, less distortion and smaller lens size, but
manufacturing aspheric lenses was difficult due to their high precision requirements. Panasonic
lens technology including ultra-precision machining and measurement achieves superior
imaging performance, now clearly capturing every square inch of the view area.
Figure 6. Parallel incoming rays converge at the same point after passing through the aspherical
lens.
Auto Back Focus (ABF) maintains a fine focus, automatically controlling the precise image sensor
position. The built-in shock absorber also protects the optical system from vandalism.
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9 Imaging - Smooth 60 fps video
60 fps video provides non-jumpy, smooth monitoring. Analog video is smooth compared with 30
fps digital video due to the scanning difference: interlaced and progressive. Interlaced analog
video scans the display twice, using two fields, to complete a single frame. The interlaced
NTSC/PAL video scans around 60/50 fields per second, creating a perceptual illusion of smooth
movement. The 120 fps-capable high speed image sensor and the powerful UniPhier processor
produce a smooth and flickering-free 60 fps video.
30 fps progressive:
60 fps progressive:
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High Light Compensation (HLC) enables easy identification in
areas next to bright spots such as headlights, compensating for
excessive light.
Panasonic network cameras are equipped with many other image processing features including
Adaptive Black Stretch (ABS), Face Super Dynamic, Fog compensation, Smart DoF, Lens
Distortion Compensation (LDC) and intelligent resolution technology.
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Object detection detects objects disappearing that should be present or something
left behind that should not be there. A network camera constantly keeps watch on
pre-defined areas, comparing current and past footage. When a left or removed
object is detected, the camera sends an alarm to the operators.
Figure 18. Object detection. The image to the left, a person left a suspicious backpack in
the corner. The image to the right, a person took a picture away.
High
Main/
Extended
C o m p le x ity
Baseline
Compression efficiency
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requirements for image quality and network bandwidth. Panasonic network cameras enable
saving the network bandwidth by sending out multiple H.264 and JPEG streams appropriately
sized for each device requirement. The latest network cameras support up to four high Profile
H.264 streams.
Mobile
Monitors 180p
Recorder
Full HD Full HD
HD
Figure 21. Streams sized appropriately for each device requirement are distributed.
Network bandwidth can be used efficiently by setting a proper transmission mode from
Constant Bit Rate (CBR), Variable Bit Rate (VBR), Advanced VBR, Framerate priority and Best
effort. Each transmission mode has its own advantages;
Transmission mode Condition Usage example
Constant Bit Rate Constant bandwidth LAN: constant bandwidth allocation
(CBR) Variable frame rate required.
Variable Bit Rate Constant image quality LAN: recording disk space saving.
(VBR) Variable bandwidth
Advanced VBR Constant image quality LAN: recording disk space saving.
Constant average bandwidth Better image quality than VBR.
Frame rate priority Constant Frame rate LAN: constant frame rate required
Variable bandwidth
Best effort Depending on network Internet, Wireless network
Table 2. Transmission modes.
IP multicasting effectively reduces the network bandwidth requirement when many end-points
such as viewers and recorders receive the same image. While IP unicast transmission uses a
stream for each end-point, IP multicast uses only a single stream for a group of end-points.
Unicasting Multicasting
Network Network
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Variable Image Quality on Specified area (VIQS) is one bandwidth saving technology focused on
the degree of importance in a view. Areas where operators have to watch cautiously require
high image quality, but the rest do not. VIQS enables assigning proper image quality to each
area in a view based on their importance, resulting in substantially reduced bandwidth
consumption. VIQS also saves recorder disk space; up to eight areas can be defined.
Low image quality to
unnecessary area
Figure 23. VIQS saves network bandwidth and recording disk space.
Cropping enables simultaneously sending out the full view and up to four areas cropped from
the full view. While recording the full view on the recorder, operators can watch the cropped
area closely with less network bandwidth.
Monitor
Monitor
Recorder
Figure 24. Cropping enables close monitoring and full view recording.
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unit turns a fixed camera into a fixed day and night camera.
RS-485
VMS
IP
WV-SPN631/611
Fixed camera with optional lens
Pan-tilt positioner
9 PoE/PoE plus
Power over Ethernet (PoE) makes it easy and simple to install IP cameras by providing electrical
power over a copper Ethernet cable. PoE provides up to 15.4W of power, while PoE plus allows
up to 30W of power which some outdoor cameras with built-in heaters require.
9 Audio communication
Sound can help operators to grasp what suspicious motion is, understand quickly what is going
on and respond accordingly. Most Panasonic indoor and outdoor network cameras have one- or
two-way audio capability. The cameras are easy to install because both audio and video are sent
on a single IP network; no additional cabling is required. Some countries and areas restrict using
audio in video surveillance. Panasonic suggests checking the relevant laws and regulations
before using audio.
360-degree Camera
and Network Microphone
Network
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9 Pinpoint audio monitoring
Equipped with a 16-microphone array and Panasonic’s
6m (20feet)
advanced audio signal processing technologies, the
network microphone picks out sound in any direction at
20-degree directionality (half-width at half maximum).
9 Easy operation
Audio monitoring starts by clicking on the screen where you
want to hear. All sounds are recorded on the Panasonic NVR
and any place can be selected as a monitoring point when
needed.
5. 4K network cameras
5.1 New era of video surveillance
The latest 4K HD video technology opens a new frontier of video surveillance. The 4K standard
provides 8-megapixel resolution which is four times higher than Full HD 1080p, six times higher
than HD 720p and 24 times higher than NTSC standard video. The 4K technology is becoming
popular because 4K televisions are penetrating into homes and offices. With its superb high
resolution, 4K surveillance cameras enable capturing wider areas and more detailed distant
people and objects. It is time to start 4K video surveillance.
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4K (3,840 x 2,160)
HD (1,280 x 720)
Analog
(NTSC)
720 x 480
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- Powerful 4K Ultra Engine
Equipped with a dual-core 1GHz processor, the new 4K Ultra Engine performs vast calculations
per second including Wide Dynamic Range (WDR), in camera dewarping and advanced
Intelligent Video features.
9 In camera dewarping
The high-performance 4K Ultra Engine offers real-time in camera dewarping, distributing images
in display formats such as fisheye view, single and double panoramic views, and single and quad
dewarped views with the electrical pan-tilt-zoom.
Panoramic view
Fisheye view
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9 Business intelligence
Covering hundreds of square meters, the 9 MP 360-degree cameras track people flow in their
wide view and provide useful information which helps business improve operations and
customer service.
Protecting customer privacy is important in marketing surveys. Moving Object Remover (MOR)
maintains customer privacy, delivering translucent or transparent images of people for
marketing and clear actual images for security.
Marketing department
Security department
Figure 36. 9 MP camera simultaneously sends out translucent/transparent and actual images.
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6. Viewers
6.1 HD display
Monitoring on an HD display is a simple way to view live and recorded images. Equipped with
HDMI output, Panasonic NVRs enable PC-less, HD display monitoring. The WJ-NV300 Network
Video Recorder supports up to two HD displays, providing extensive monitoring such as
multiscreen monitoring, dewarping and pan-tilt-zoom control.
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6.3.2 System970 viewer
The WV-ASC970 IP Matrix Client of the System 970 i-PRO management system provides an
efficient, full-featured and scalable integrated operator console for a multi-operator system such
as a large and multi-site system. The WV-ASC970 supports up to four PC monitors with up to a
16-screen split and one operation display, resulting in 64 monitor windows per client system.
The details are described in chapter 7.
Panasonic NVR’s re-encoding delivers smooth playback on a slow network such as the Internet,
converting the large-sized recorded video to a properly-sized stream when accessed.
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7.1 WJ-NV300 Network Video Recorder
The WJ-NV300 Network Disk Recorder is a 2U-sized, compact, robust, all-in-one IP-based
recorder that provides the user with full-featured video surveillance including viewing,
recording, alarm, searching, networking, management and optional intelligent video.
Supporting up to 32 network cameras, the WJ-NV300 is the perfect solution for small to
medium video surveillance. The NVR is also suitable for large systems by multi recorder
configuration with the i-PRO management system. The multi recorder configuration offers
easy-to-manage and highly-reliable recording capability.
Small system
Smartphone
Sub monitor
Network
WJ-NV300
Main monitor
Network
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9 4K compatible
The powerful WJ-NV300 supports the 4K network cameras. Firmware upgrading enables existing
WJ-NV300s to handle 4K cameras and 4K display.
With RAID technology, the WJ-NV300 protects the recorded video from hard disk failure. RAID
provides increased reliability through redundancy. The WJ-NV300 supports RAID 1, 5 and 6.
RAID 1 (Mirroring) RAID 5 RAID 6
When one of two HDDs fails, When an HDD fails, data can be When up to two HDDs fails, data can
data can be recovered from recovered from the rest. Over be recovered form the rest. Over four
another HDD. three HDDs are required. HDDs are required.
9 Quick search
The WJ-NV300 provides effective searching to find a video
quickly from a vast amount of videos. The calendar and
graphical timeline search provide intuitive search operation.
The picture is also searched for by logs such as intelligent
i-VMD and alarm inputs from external sensors.
Figure 45. Quick search example
9 In recorder dewarping
In recorder dewarping provides easy viewing of live and recorded 360-degree camera fisheye
videos. The powerful WJ-NV300 dewarps them on a real time basis without a PC.
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9 Re-encoding for remote and mobile monitoring
Remote and mobile monitoring enables viewing live images and playing back recorded videos
on a PC, smartphone or tablet from anywhere on the network. The re-encoding transforms a
large recorded video to properly-sized data for the network, resulting in smooth playback, even
on a slow network connection such as the Internet or wireless.
9 Face matching
Optional Face matching makes the video surveillance more
efficient and accurate, enabling the real-time, automatic
detection of a person by their photo. One camera can be
assigned for face matching. When the registered person is
detected, the WJ-NV300 informs operators by icon, buzzer,
e-mail, external devices such as a light and Panasonic alarm
protocol. Figure 46. Visitor statistics
The face matching also helps businesses to improve marketing. The WJ-NV300 automatically
estimates visiter age and gender from facial characteristics and outputs staticstical reports.
Combining it with a POS system enables better understanding the correlative relationships
between customer behavior and marketing.
9 ONVIF
The WJ-NV300 is compliant with ONVIF Profile S for IP-based video systems. ONVIF makes it
easy to run with 3rd party ONVIF-compatible cameras.
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with nine HDD slots in the WJ-ND400 and five WJ-HDE400 Hard Disk Extension Units, which
have nine HDD slots per unit.
9 Flexible recording
The WJ-ND400 supports recording modes for secure and effective recording. Emergency mode
gives recording top priority. Scheduling recordings and alarm recording such as Pre-event and
Post-event enables saving disk space.
9 Uninterrupted recordings
RAID 5 and 6 protects the stored video from hard disk failure. In case of hard disk failure, the
hot-swappable HDD slots enable users to replace hard disks without having to turn off the
system.
9 Quick search
The WJ-ND400 provides effective searching to find a video quickly from a vast amount of videos.
The search filter helps operators to quickly narrow down target videos by time, date and events
including VMD detection and cameras.
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9 Scheduled and Event linking recording
Based on schedules or internal/external events such intruder detection, users can automatically
start and stop recording. The event linking also enables operators to set event-driven rules up,
resulting in prompt response in emergencies.
8. Management system
Panasonic offers two centralized management systems: the WV-ASM200 for small to medium
systems and System 970 for medium to large systems.
z Single display
z Two displays
z Multi displays
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The WV-ASM200 i-PRO management System manages up to 32,000 Panasonic network cameras,
up to 1,280 analog cameras with encoders and 500 Panasonic network and digital video
recorders. The WV-ASM200 offers secure access management; up to 32 users can be registered
with five customizable user access levels from viewer to administrator.
Mobile viewer
Network
Network camera
9 64 camera view
The live windows provide operators with up to 64
camera views simultaneously on up to four displays.
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9 Consolidated alarm management
When a camera or exterior sensor detects an alarm, a red-colored icon with a pop-up message
notifies operators. The operation window is also switched to the alarmed camera’s view for
immediate visual verification.
9 Visibility enhancement
The WV-ASM200’s Visibility Enhancement produces clear images even in poor visibility such as
snowfall, heavy rain, high contrast and dark lighting. Combining GPU-accelerated computing and
high-speed image processing algorithms, it delivers clear moving images on a real-time basis
without losing important details such as color, contrast and movement.
Figure 53. Road on a snowy day. At left, there is almost zero visibility due to heavy snow. At right,
the visibility is greatly improved by Panasonic Visibility Enhancement Software.
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Management system
WV-ASC970 IP Matrix Server
Mobile viewer
Video wall
Network camera
Main operation console
Video encoder
Analog camera
Network
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9 High reliability
Hot standby server configuration provides operational continuity. The standby server takes over
automatically when the active server fails. System 970 with the WJ-ND400 NVR provides
recording continuity. When a WJ-ND400 fails, the standby NVR switches over automatically.
9 Effective monitoring
The WV-ASM970, a PC viewer of System 970, supports one Operation and Map window for
centralized operation and up to four Image Viewing windows for monitoring. The Operation and
Map windows offer a comprehensive overview of camera layouts and alarm information from
devices such as cameras, recorders and external sensors, enabling quick visual verification by
overlaying their icons on up to 100 maps. The Image Viewing windows provide operators with
up to 64 camera views simultaneously per WV-ASM970 client system.
9 Advanced search
The System 970 enables operators to quickly search for a video clip from large amounts of
recorded video. Time and date search, event search and VMD search make it easy and quick to
narrow down a search.
9 Smooth IP migration
Supporting analog devices such as an analog matrix switcher, the System 970 offers a smooth
and cost-effective migration path from an existing analog video surveillance system to an
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IP-based system.
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Figure 58. Advanced face search and playback.
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Intelligent Video
(Face detection and clipping)
Alarm
Clipped image Operator console
Advantages:
9 Simple upgrade process
9 Lower total cost compared to step-by-step upgrade
9 Avoids problems that result from coexisting analog and IP systems
Disadvantages:
9 Financial challenge for the initial investment to purchase and install all the IP equipment at
once.
9 Disposal loss of analog equipment that can be still used.
9 Downtime till the new IP system starts (The duration depends on the installation plan.)
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Full IP system
Analog system Smartphone
Remote sites /Tablet
Controller
Replacement
Controller
Advantages:
9 Enhancement at your own pace
9 Short downtime during migration
9 Effective use of the existing analog equipment
9 Ease of the financial burden for the initial IP equipment investment
Disadvantages:
9 Potential problems that may result from coexisting analog and IP systems
9 Expenses for migration equipment such as video encoders
Controller
IP cameras
Digital Video Recorders (DVRs) PC monitor
PC monitor
Video encoder
IP camera
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10.3 Equipment supporting IP migration
9 Video Encoders
Video Encoders enable integrating your existing analog system with a new IP system, converting
analog video signal to IP video signal. The WJ-GXE500 Video Encoder delivers clear images with
3D Interlace-to-Progressive conversion and cable loss compensation. The compact WJ-GXE100
Video Encoder can be installed where convenient, including in an outdoor camera housing or
outdoor power box, on a wall or ceiling or in a room.
9 Coaxial-LAN converter
9 A coaxial-LAN converter offers IP transmission over existing coaxial cables, when continuing
to use the analog cable infrastructure is necessary because of factors including past huge
investment for cable, limited cable space and distance between the IP camera and
operation center.
Analog camera Matrix switcher
IP camera
Coaxial-LAN converter
Figure 64. BY-HPE11KT Coaxial-LAN Converter
9 Video Decoder
A Video Decoder enables viewing IP cameras without a PC, converting IP video signal to HDMI
or analog video signal. It is suitable for places such as remote sites.
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11. VMS flexibility
11.1 VMS Partners
Many industry-leading video management system (VMS) companies participate in the
Panasonic System Developer Network (PSDN) partner program. These seasoned partners
provide excellent video management solutions with unique features and functionalities.
11.2 ONVIF
The ONVIF forum defines industrial standards for interfacing IP-based security systems so
products from different manufacturers can easily work together. ONVIF Profile S is for IP-based
video systems and Profile G is for edge storage and retrieval. Supporting the ONVIF as well as
i-PRO proprietary interface, the i-PRO products work with a number of 3rd party systems.
12. Conclusion
Technology drives business success more than ever before. The age of Internet of Things (IoT) is
upon us. The network is connecting everything; people and all devices are connecting with each
other on a large scale beyond all imagination. The world will become smarter, more efficient
and move convenient. Panasonic continues to work to provide better surveillance solutions
including 4K video, intelligent video and business intelligence for your security and businesses.
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About Panasonic System Networks Co., Ltd
Panasonic System Networks Co., Ltd. is a subsidiary of Panasonic Corporation. The company was
launched in 2013 by merging three companies: Panasonic System Networks Co., Ltd. and Panasonic
System Solutions Infrastructure Co., Ltd., which were engaged in product development and
manufacturing, and Panasonic System Solutions Japan Co., Ltd., which marketed a variety of system
solutions.
Panasonic System Networks Co., Ltd offers everything from development and manufacturing to sales,
implementation and maintenance. By leveraging the full capabilities of this comprehensive
enterprise to help you resolve your problems and provide you with countermeasures, your business
can become more competitive while simultaneously developing and expanding your potential. Our
wealth of image processing and communication technologies, backed by manufacturing knowhow, a
versatile product range and IP expertise enable us to provide you with the system proposals that you
deserve.
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