Over the past year, ONVIF has celebrated quite a few milestones. Along with a steady increase in conformant products, we have seen the addition of open source development on GitHub, new profile Release Candidates and a new chairman after nearly 10 years. Let’s take a look back at some of the other milestones ONVIF has celebrated through the years.
The beginning
ONVIF began in 2008 as a group of manufacturers collaborating to accelerate the acceptance of systems based on network surveillance cameras. Founded by Axis Communications, Bosch Security Systems and Sony Corporation, the common mindset was to create a global standard for the interface of network cameras and video management systems. This would ultimately result in greater freedom of choice for integrators and end users, while allowing developers and manufacturers to divert more energy to innovation.
- 2009 – With the first conformant product launched, ONVIF begins its journey of interoperability.
- 2010 – ONVIF announced the expansion of its scope to include the integration of video and access control. Work began to broaden the specification framework for interoperability.
- 2011 – The concept of profiles was introduced, paving the way for the development of all future profiles and the basis for the ONVIF conformance process and marketing.
Off and running
- 2012 – Profile S for IP-based video systems was released as the first ONVIF profile. It remains one of the most widely used profiles in the market today. Also in this year, the relevance of ONVIF was becoming clear, with more than 300 members and 2,000 conformant products.
- 2014 – The official release of the first access control profile, Profile C for IP-based basic access control, enabled the industry’s first common interface for the integration of access control and video surveillance. This year also saw the introduction of Profile G, which extended the video continuum from streaming to encompass recording and storage.
- 2015 – By this time, ONVIF membership had surpassed 500 members and more than 5,000 conformant products – an exponential increase from the 13 original member companies in 2008.
- 2016 – Profile Q was introduced to meet the market’s need for quick installation.
- 2017 – The second access control, Profile A, provided deeper functionality for access control configuration, including support for credentials, schedules and access rules.
Ten years and counting
- 2018 marked the 10th anniversary of ONVIF and the milestone of nearly 10,000 conformant products, doubling the 5,000 mark from just three years ago. This year also saw the release of Profile T, which offers support for more advanced video streaming and updated video compression technologies, reflecting the response of ONVIF to the ongoing evolution of the video market.
- 2020 – ONVIF embraced open source development on the GitHub platform, streamlining specification development and inviting the industry at large to participate in ongoing improvements to ONVIF interoperability specifications. Release candidates for Profile M for smart applications and Profile D for access control peripherals were also introduced to the market.
This year – with the announcement of a new chairman, Leo Levit, and as we close in on reaching 20k conformant products – it’s already looking packed with developments. Stay tuned for what’s to come in 2021!
