Applications of CCTV Video Analytics Leave a comment

In the previous post, we covered the basics of what video analytics are in CCTV cameras and the different types. But why would someone want to use CCTV video analytics and is there such a growing market for them? This technology is widely used because they can have many benefits for different industries.

Brief Overview of Video Analytics

If you need a quick refresher of what video analytics are, they are basically computer algorithms that are applied to CCTV footage. These algorithms are used to determine what is happening in the footage and the users can then use this information to make better decisions. Video analytics are used to provide many things such as:

Improved Security

When CCTV video analytics were first being developed, they were mainly used to provide surveillance system owners with better security and protection. One common algorithm that is used is line crossing. This means that an imaginary line is created on the security footage and an alert is sent whenever something is detected to have crossed over that line, which could possibly be an intruder. Some security cameras use motion sensors as a way of detecting intruders, but they trigger false alarms most of the time because any kind of motion triggers the alerts. With line crossing, parameters can be set and only motion within that will trigger the alarm. This means better monitoring and less false alarms.

Another common CCTV video analytic is object recognition and tracking. This algorithm allows security systems to recognize thousands of different objects. By doing this, dangerous weapons that might have been missed by security teams can be detected early on to prevent any incidents from arising. In addition, it can track the movement of suspicious objects for better threat detection. For example, the algorithm can recognize a piece of luggage and see if it’s being left in the middle of an airport or if it’s been picked up by someone else.

Business Insights

Although CCTV video analytics had its start in the security industry, it’s now being used by retailers to provide business insights. CCTV systems have been a common fixture in retail stores for security purposes, but retailers soon began to realize that they can extract customer information from the security footage. Shopper traffic, or the amount of visitors, is an important thing for businesses to measure because it helps them determine how well or how poorly their store is performing. The traditional method for measuring this is having a person to stand at the entrance and manually count the number of people coming in. This method is extremely time-consuming so an algorithm was developed for smart people-counting. Now, stores don’t have to hire a person to count; all the counting can be done automatically on CCTV footage.

In addition to analyzing shopper traffic, the people-counting algorithm can also be used to analyze shopper path, which refers to the movement the customer takes while in store. This CCTV video analytic not only counts how many people entered a store, but also how many people were in a certain area at specific times. By doing this, stores can determine which areas or products are receiving the most attention. They can also see which areas people are more likely to purchase things and change their store layout based on these findings.

Traffic Monitoring

The counting CCTV video analytic is not limited to just people; many systems allow you to count vehicles as well. This video analytic is important for city planners because it allows them to determine things like how many lanes a road should have or how long a stoplight should be. If an area doesn’t have a lot of cars passing through, then it wouldn’t make sense to waste resources on building a 4-lane road. It also wouldn’t be wise to time a traffic light to stay on red for a long time and make people wait for crossing cars that are not even likely to be there.

CCTV video analytics can even be used to detect traffic incidents and vehicular accidents. A commonly used algorithm is one that detects the direction of movement and motion. With this algorithm, authorities can be alerted with a vehicle is detected to be moving in the opposite direction of traffic. In addition, this video analytic can detect if there’s a vehicle that has been stopped in the middle of the road and may require assistance.

Wrap Up

CCTV video analytics can be applied to many things and the ones that we mentioned are just a few things that they can be used for. The market for CCTV video analytics is growing everyday because industries are continuously finding more uses for them.

As always, don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any more questions. You can call us at 877-926-2288 or connect with us on social media
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