Discussion on the Status Quo of Development of Digital Matrix in Security Industry

The matrix is ​​the core component of the video surveillance system. Its basic function is to switch the video image from any input channel to any output channel output. The appearance of the matrix is ​​because the scale of the video surveillance system is gradually expanding, the video source is gradually increasing, and the one-to-one display is impossible. The matrix must be used to solve the display, switching, viewing, and sharing of a large number of video images. The application of the matrix in China's video surveillance system has been used for more than ten years. With the continuous updating of science and technology and the continuous development of market demand, the matrix is ​​constantly changing and improving.

The development of the matrix has gone through several stages. In the early 1990s, the matrix was gradually applied in domestic video surveillance systems. At this time, the matrixes were analog matrixes, and basically all were imported. At that time, the matrix systems were all introduced, but domestic manufacturers could develop client-side software for the entire monitoring system, enabling workstations/servers and ordinary PCs to monitor and control video images. At this time, the application of the matrix is ​​relatively simple, but it is used as a core management and control device of an independent system, but its scalable building block modular structure, networking mode supporting any topology structure, and friendly interface providing value-added development all give video surveillance. The rapid development of the system provides protection.

In the late 1990s, with the improvement of the monitoring system requirements and the further popularization of video surveillance in many fields, the simulation matrix has developed rapidly and has been substantially improved. The matrix has entered the age of analog networking and has expanded in capacity, networking, and functionality. Has greatly improved.

The simulation matrix has a long development time, and the system stability and maturity are all relatively good. However, as the system develops toward the complex long-distance transmission, the quality of the video is reduced after multiple matrix switching, and the transmission path itself has a chain loss. Loss of transmission quality, involving unclear images at multiple levels of recall, etc. The analog matrix is ​​no longer suitable for future system requirements. The development of the digital matrix has begun to enter the manufacturer's plan.

Different from the analog matrix, the digital matrix is ​​mainly composed of a video encoding and decoding device and a management software platform. The network is a video switching platform, and the switching between the input video and the output video is performed in a packet exchange manner. Functionally, it also increases the capacity for capacity expansion, configuration flexibility, and distributed work. Obviously, the industry has solved many problems with the traditional analog matrix.

Compared to imitating matrices, digital matrices have obvious advantages and are given more useful functions. In the traditional imitating matrix DVR plan, the matrices and DVRs are each a battalion, and they need to be manipulated separately. The digital matrices can be selected through a manipulation channel. The manipulation of the switching matrix and DVR, the interface can be freely developed by the secondary developer under Windows or Linux, the digital matrix is ​​more sensitive and convenient; in the digital matrix, according to the digital treatment of the picture: the video signal can be superimposed Switching together, many of the pictures are processed, such as superimposed characters, superimposed pictures, and area masking. From these aspects, it can be seen that the digital matrix is ​​powerful; finally, the system security, the plan of the digital matrix DVR, and the high degree of system integration Low power consumption and high stability.

The application of the Internet has made the world a "global village". In the field of security, the network makes remote monitoring possible. The analog matrix mainly depends on the coaxial cable for the transmission of baseband analog signals, and its transmission distance is short. It is more than sufficient for large-scale industries such as Pingan City and ports. The digital matrix cascades the monitoring centers over the network to implement multi-level privilege control management. The matrix network cascading system is composed of a central matrix and multiple node matrices. Each matrix has an independent IP address and data is exchanged through the Ethernet port. The node matrix uploads the local video to the center matrix, and the center matrix can switch and control the images of all the node matrix cameras. For large-scale projects such as the Safe City category, matrix networking enables remote monitoring and cross-regional calls.

With these application advantages, the digital matrix has failed to win the market for monitoring matrix applications. Digital technology has become the biggest obstacle. In the application, the digital matrix cannot guarantee the real-time performance of audio and video transmission, because it depends on the encoding and decoding speed of the front-end camera and the terminal processing equipment and the transmission efficiency of the IP switching network. The network signal has a serious effect on the degree of video restoration. It is common for many networked transmissions to lose packets due to lack of a dedicated network. In addition, because front-end cameras are still mainly based on earthquake prevention, and there are still many problems in the coexistence of compression coding, the cost is high, and the problem that it is difficult for digital systems to independently support large-area monitoring still exists. These problems are given to digital matrices. The application brings a lot of flaws.

With the trend of the digital tide, it has been difficult for the traditional simulation matrix to significantly expand its own playing space. Although there are still many deficiencies in the use of digital matrices, it is only a matter of time before the trend of digital technology is analyzed from the overall trend. These defects have not changed the mainstream application trend of digital matrix. Among them, the transmission stability and compatibility issues are the two major flaws that the digital matrix needs to solve urgently.

In the future, due to the continuous advancement of front-end cameras, and the continuous improvement of everyone’s pursuit of high-definition, and even the large-scale management of safe cities or safe communities, the high requirements in terms of clarity and transmission distance will be met. It is undoubtedly a great test for the adaptability of the digital matrix to flock to the digital matrix. If the packet loss or restrictions on the transmission media cannot be solved as quickly as possible, then there is no possibility that users will place their own high-quality pictures or long-distance transmission data on the digital matrix at the risk of being destroyed.

The second problem is compatibility. In the future applications, the concept of integration will fully penetrate all corners of the security system. From the spatial integration of different regions to the unified management of different devices, integration has already become an important trend in the development of security in the future. However, from the current practical applications, when faced with analog, network or digital surveillance cameras of different types in the system, the digital matrix is ​​still very difficult to control in many cases, and this also requires the hardware and software of the monitoring matrix. It can be compensated in the process of continuous improvement in the future.

The input and output signals of the analog matrix are single, only CVBS standard interfaces, so there is no compatibility issue. The high-definition digital matrix often contains a variety of signal interfaces such as VGA/DVI/SDI/YPbPr, which can easily cause compatibility issues with various signals. The mixing matrix performs pattern recognition, resolution conversion, etc. on the incoming signals and then decodes the information. If you do not do well, you can only recognize a limited number of high-definition formats. In addition, for network signals, the format of data encoding is more diverse and it is also more prone to compatibility issues.

Because each manufacturer's product is different, the switching protocols of multiple manufacturers' equipments are also different and cannot be controlled by a unified control protocol. At present, there are many matrix products, and the control protocols are not unified. In a real sense, relatively complete compatibility with each other's products is relatively small. The actual applications in the project will also find that it is completely compatible with well-known foreign brand products and the docking is relatively weak. Major matrix manufacturers agree that the industry must establish a consistent protocol format, which is mainly reflected in the standards of video codec technology, standardization between networked signaling and interfaces, and interface standardization between business applications and management. In the industry, it is reflected in the standardization of interfaces between different levels by different manufacturers. In particular, the network video signal coding format, if all manufacturers comply with a unified agreement, different manufacturers of products may be better compatible, to achieve interconnection and interoperability.

Since the development of the matrix, in addition to basic video switching, image inspection, and other functions, the current matrix may also have platform functions such as video processing, video retrieval, and intelligent analysis. With the development of safe cities, smart city concepts and Internet of Things technology, video surveillance systems are increasingly being developed into smart applications. The needs of users have also evolved from the early video signals that only required the switching of machines and devices to be clearly available. Machines and equipment are required to provide more upper-layer applications on the basis of original video signals; in the face of more and more massive devices and information, users increasingly need to use intelligent applications to replace human assistance with information processing by machines, artificial intelligence. Information can be identified, statistically, inductively, and excavated, assisting users in decision-making, and freeing themselves from all kinds of labor such as manual video inspections, surveillance, and equipment maintenance. As a result, the matrix has also shifted from providing only raw video signals and switching functions to providing more upper-layer applications in the early days, loading more application requirements on the basis of providing video signal exchange and transmission, thereby prompting the development of matrix platforms.

In today's hot and peaceful city construction, the trend of network, digital, and high-definition has become increasingly obvious, and the digital matrix market has ushered in a new round of “sales”. Relevant data show that in the past two years, the demand for high-definition digital matrix has maintained growth, the overall demand has reached 15% of the entire matrix market, and more relevant agencies predict that this year's video matrix market will reach more than one billion yuan. In the sub-markets of various security projects, not only the demand for high-definition digitization of the matrix has been raised, but also its customized products for related functions in various sub-fields. The digital matrix must overcome the drawbacks in the application of digital technology in order to realize the rapid popularization of digital surveillance and win the matrix monitoring application market.

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