This is one finding from a recently published IMS Research report entitled “The World Market for Video Content Analysis in Security & Business Intelligence Applications”. It forecasts that the market for video surveillance devices with chargeable VCA will be worth almost $600 million in 2015.

For some time, video surveillance device manufacturers have been embedding low-end applications in their devices like video motion detection and camera tamper, and offering them as “free” features. The report predicts that they will be increasingly joined by other applications. A clear divide will emerge between free lower-end applications and chargeable higher-end applications.

Intrusion detection is a good example. Detecting an intruder inside a building from a short distance of a few metres away requires a much less advanced solution than detecting an intruder in an outdoor environment from a greater distance and in conditions where there can be significant movement from peripheral features like water or branches moving in the wind.

According to report author, Jon Cropley, “A charge needs to be applied to recover the high cost of developing many of the higher-end VCA applications. It is unlikely that suppliers will amortise this cost in an increased price of every device they sell. This is because only a small proportion of cameras are actually monitored. Most record the video and only view an event after it has occurred. Furthermore, many VCA applications are quite niche. The majority of customers would therefore be paying for a feature that they would not use”.

The market for video surveillance devices with chargeable VCA is forecast to grow particularly quickly in such end-user industries as retail, energy & utilities, and transportation.