So what is the big deal? Well Moore’s law is the fundamental driver. Analogue cameras are replaced with IP cameras. These IP cameras have enough on-board resources to process images. Finally memory decreases in price and storage sizes leap. Original SD cards, called ‘SD Standard Capacity’ or SDSC, could provide only 2GB of storage only 10 years ago. High Capacity SD cards (SDHC) offering up to 32GB reached the market in number some five years ago. This is a game changer for edge-based recording because it makes the storing of high frame rate HD video images increasingly easy and inexpensive.

This development prompted an explosion of IP surveillance camera launches with in-built SD card slots designed for edge-based recording.

So what is an edge recording camera?

An edge recording camera is a camera that carries enough on-board storage such that it can function as a DVR. Edge recording is a method which removes the dependency on the centralized server. With the older approach, cameras were essentially dumb units where the server performed all of the processing and held all of the recorded video footage. The new approach moves the recording functionality away from the server and onto the camera itself.

Over the the next few blogs postings we will explain why edge recording cameras will fundamental change the way that CCTV is deployed.