Common Questions About IP Video

There are a lot of myths and misconceptions about IP video. The question and answer section below should help clear up any confusion.

If you still have questions, contact our sales team. They'll be happy to put you in touch with a dealer who can provide the answers you need.

"Won't IP video consume all of the bandwidth for my corporate network and bog down the entire system?"

Not true with Intellex IP. Depending on the frame rate, compression method, and the size of the image, a single camera generates 200Kbits to 2.0 Mbits of data per second. Any 100Base-T Ethernet corporate network can support this; enterprise organizations with Gigabit Ethernet LANs have even more available bandwidth capacity.

But if you’re operating more than a few cameras, you’ll probably want to consider establishing a separate network. With integrated dual NICs (Network Interface Cards), Intellex IP makes separating your corporate network from your IP video network simple.

Bridged Network Diagram

"I’m afraid unauthorized people will be able to gain access to surveillance video if I put it on the corporate network."

Firewalls, VPNs, and password protection exist to safeguard sensitive data. You can also encrypt digital video to prevent tampering or intrusion, something that you cannot do with analog video. These measures enable you to secure video transmission within your corporate network and even over the Internet. While widely used to share information publicly, the Internet provides adequate security for financial organizations and banks to conduct business on a daily basis. What’s more, it is emerging as a dependable choice for security monitoring and surveillance.

"I’ve heard that IP video has inferior image quality compared to analog video."

IP video cameras feature high quality image sensors and optics identical to those found in analog cameras (although don’t mistake these for the low-end web cams that do, indeed, yield poor results). But you don’t have to choose between IP and analog cameras when migrating to IP video. You can still use your existing analog cameras. Just add a video encoder to digitize the analog video signal.

"Will I be able to use the analog cameras I have installed with an IP video system?"

You can install a video encoder to digitize the video signals from your analog cameras and make them compatible with an IP video system. Hybrid systems that combine IP cameras and analog cameras with video encoders are increasingly common as organizations choose to adopt the benefits of newer technology while continuing to get mileage out of their existing equipment.

And because Intellex IP is part of the Intellex family of digital video management solutions, you can use Network Client to seamlessly integrate new IP equipment into an existing Intellex network.

Video Encoder Diagram

"Won’t it cost too much to buy IP cameras?"

You may spend more on the IP cameras — they have built-in digitalization, image compression, and intelligence capabilities that analog cameras do not — but this cost may be outweighed by what you save on installation.

Why? A single Cat5 cable can potentially support video from hundreds of cameras. You may also be able to use existing network infrastructure and avoid running cable altogether. Analog systems require coaxial cable, which can support only one camera per wire.

Also, with PoE (Power over Ethernet) – which sends the electricity needed to power IP video devices over the same Cat5 cable that connects them to the network – you can further reduce the need for wiring and its associated costs.

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