Axis takes aim at small-business applications at ASIS

PHILADELPHIA—Among a slew of new offerings that network video provider Axis Communications was showing at the September ASIS show were a new 60 frames-per-second encoder and an updated version of its free software client Axis Camera Companion.

Axis General Manager Fredrik Nilsson said the Axis Camera Companion—introduced in March and upgraded with several new features for the ASIS show—is ideal for applications with 16 cameras or less, such as a retail store or other small business. That's a market where Axis sees real business opportunity for integrators.

“We provide a solution that's scalable, has higher resolution and with the convenience of IP,” he said, adding that since the product's launch, “we've had 20,000 downloads.”

The product does not require a recording device or PC. All video is recorded to the internal SD card of the IP camera or encoder. New features announced at ASIS are support for audio, video identification, public view monitors and corridor format.

Nilsson believes retailers and small businesses will like the newly released Axis M1014 Network Surveillance Kits, which are designed to be an affordable option ($799) that includes four 720p HDTV cameras.

Axis also released its Axis Q7411 video encoder, which can process 60 frames per second and which Nilsson said is designed for system migration from analog to IP.

How do you get to 60 fps? “By combining the fields differently,” Nilsson explained. “It's an intelligent way of de-interlacing the fields.” And why do you need 60 fps? “For forensics, government, law enforcement, casino applications,” wherever there's a lot of movement in the scene, he said.