Digital Transmission—Video, Communications, Control

This chapter describes digital video security and Internet transmission media with its unique modulation and demodulation requirements. The specific compression algorithms required to compress the video frame image file sizes to make them compatible with the existing wired and wireless transmission channels available are described. A powerful technology used to transmit the digital signal called spread spectrum modulation (SSM) has made wireless video transmission a reality. The 802.11 spread spectrum protocols are described as relating to video, voice, and command and control transmission. Security monitoring is no longer limited to local security rooms and security officers, but rather extends out to remote sites and personnel located anywhere around the world. Monitoring equipment includes flat panel displays, personal computers (PCs), laptops, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and cell phones. The requirement for individual personnel to monitor multiple display monitors has changed to a technology of incorporating smart cameras with video motion detectors (VMDs) to establish an automated video surveillance (AVS) system from local and remote sites.