The emergence and rapid growth of a networked platform for video surveillance has brought the industry to a point where a discussion about standards is essential to determine a course of action. Most recently two groups have emerged, each purporting to be the best forum to establish standards for the digital video surveillance and security industry: ONVIF, the Open Network Video Interface Forum, and PSIA, the Physical Security Interoperability Alliance. They join the already established SIA Standards Committee and its OSIPS (Open Systems Integration and Performance Standards) family of standards (including access control, identity and carrier management, digital video and access points) in proposing to develop product standards that enable interoperability.
Unfortunately, standards are often perceived as promoting a single company or group’s commercial agenda, when in fact they are vital to efficient manufacturing and market development. Standards can enhance and expand market access, help to create new markets and encourage innovation by creating a solid foundation upon which to develop new technologies.
Specifically, a standard is a framework of specifications that can fall into one of three categories: de jure standards, de facto standards and open/living standards.
De jure standards are those approved by a recognized standards organization, such as ISO (International Standards Organization), IEEE (Institution of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) or ANSI (American National Standards Institute). De jure standards are documented and vendor-neutral, and are often given an identification number for precise reference, such as H.264 compliant or 802.11b. The documentation will normally include what the standard is for, its specifications and the compliance criteria, as well as some kind of test suite for determining compliance.
A de facto standard is a technical or other standard that is so dominant in the market that the industry generally follows it as if it were an authorized (i.e. de jure) standard. De facto standards are also generally the property of one or a limited number of companies.
Open or living standards are sufficiently documented to be implemented or verified by a third party but are not as fully recognized as de jure standards. They are in common use and can be implemented freely without payment of any royalty. Open standards do not prohibit extensions, and implementations of open standards may be extended or offered in subset forms; however certification organizations may decline to certify them. Examples of successful open standard implementations include the Ethernet, TCP/IP, HTTP and XML.