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Global AI demand has risen at unprecedented rates in the last year, causing higher storage requirements and therefore increasing prices on high-performance SSDs and HDDs.
Due to the rising costs in storage, users may have to adopt lower bit rates in order to achieve consistent recording. This not only reduces the overall quality of the image, but also may introduce issues such as screen tearing, blurring, visual distortion and motion trailing. It has been predicted by some sources that the current SSD pricing issues may last until 2030, due to production delays.
So what is the solution? While the pricing situation seems that it could be an issue in the security industry for at least 2 years, if not the whole decade, there are companies such as Dahua Technology who are finding innovative ways to help installers and end users save money by reducing the amount of storage required. Super AI Coding, available on selected Dahua cameras, achieves this by combining 3 technologies that allow for variable bit rates, meaning high performance when targets are spotted, and capacity saving when no events are being captured.
As shown in the infographic above, Super AI Coding combines three technologies which will be explained in more detail later in the article. While general H.265 technology tends to maintain the same bit rate 24/7, Super AI Coding reduces the bit rate significantly until targets appear in the monitoring area of the camera. By only using high bit rates when needed, storage capacity usage is cut, allowing for efficient performance using half the storage.
What Are The Benefits?
Let's take a scenario where a security system has had its HDDs from 20TB to 10TB due to increasing costs. As discussed previously, this may reduce outgoing costs for an installer or end user, but video quality, bandwidth, bit rates and performance may take a big hit, which would not be ideal for a security setup where reliability and efficiency is key.
By installing a camera that can use Super AI Coding in place of standard H.265, the system is able to run more efficiently on the same lower-capacity HDDs, provide better video quality without sacrificing bandwidth or bit rates and potentially achieve sharper details than a H.265 camera.
1) Bit Rate Savings
By replacing standard H.265 coding, the bit rate of footage capturing starts off low when no target events are present, with the ability to peak higher than H.265 when targets are present in the monitoring zone. The bit rate also drops at night time while still remaining high enough to provide reliable footage.
By not running at one near-constant bit rate, storage capacity usage is largely reduced while not compromising performance of the NVR and camera when the security system needs to operate at its best.
2) Bandwidth Savings
Super AI Coding can save around 50% of bandwidth transmission, increasing speeds and requiring a lower network load. This helps to ensure more reliable streaming over network operation.
3) Storage Savings
Dahua's AI Coding already allowed for a significant saving on storage capacity requirements when compared to H.265 coding, which in itself originally provided a large improvement compared to the previously common H.264 format. Super AI Coding builds on this by allowing for a storage reduction of up to 50% when compared to H.265.
4) Sharper Image Details
In comparison to H.265 coding, Super AI Coding uses its intelligent and efficient models to provide sharper human and vehicle details in footage.
How Does It Work?
Dahua Super AI Coding uses a combination of three technologies to offer a more efficient and economical alternative to H.265. It utilises ABR, ROI and BAE, which are explained in more detail below.
ABR (Adaptive Bit Rate)
ABR helps to dynamically adjust bit rate and ensure the highest bit rate is reserved only for essential or complex scenes which are triggered by recognition of sudden targets.
There is essentially a minimum bit rate for static scenes, where no notable activity is taking place. The bit rate may fluctuate slightly to accommodate non-essential scenes where movement may be recorded, but it is not recognised as a critical target or an event that needs high bit rate. Finally, when a critical event is picked up by the security system, the bit rate will be higher, improving the quality of the captured video, while taking advantage of the larger amount of storage space from bit rate savings.
ABR technology allows for a compression rate increase of up to 60%.
ROI (Region of Interest)
ROI encoding manages video compression by importance of layers in the footage. Instead of applying the same compression to the whole frame, this allows important targets such as people and vehicles to show in optimised quality with low compression, while static or non-essential background elements are displayed with higher compression, again saving on storage capacity.
ROI technology allows for a compression rate increase of up to 30%.
BAE (Light Adaptation)
Super AI Coding uses BAE light adaptation technology to prioritise the highest bit rate for daytime recording where visibility is the highest. When the camera picks up less light, the bit rate will drop, allowing for efficient night time savings without compromising on footage quality.
BAE technology allows for a compression rate increase of up to 30%.
Which Cameras Support Super AI Coding?
Super AI Coding is a firmware that can be downloaded easily. It currently works with any of the below cameras. A selection of these cameras are available to purchase today from PureTech from stock for next business day pre-12 delivery, or on lead time. Any cameras available to purchase from PureTech are hyperlinked in the list below.
| IPC-PDW31259-A180-AS-PV-ATC | IPC-PDW3859-A180-AS-PV-ATC |
| IPC-PFW31259S-A180-AS-PV-ATC | IPC-PFW3859S-A180-AS-PV-ATC |
| IPC-HDBW3849R1-ZAS-PV-PRO-ATC | IPC-HDBW3649R1-ZAS-PV-PRO-ATC |
| IPC-HDBW3449R1-ZAS-PV-PRO-ATC | IPC-HDBW3849R1-ZAS-PV-PRO |
| IPC-HDBW3649R1-ZAS-PV-PRO | IPC-HDBW3449R1-ZAS-PV-PRO |
| IPC-HFW3849T1-ZAS-PV-PRO | IPC-PDW31259-A180-AS-PV |
| IPC-PFW31259S-A180-AS-PV | IPC-PDW3859-A180-AS-PV |
| IPC-PFW3859S-A180-AS-PV | IPC-HDW3449H-AS-PV-PRO-ATC |
| IPC-HDW3649H-AS-PV-PRO-ATC | IPC-HDW3849H-AS-PV-PRO-ATC |
| IPC-HFW3449T1-AS-PV-PRO-ATC | IPC-HFW3649T1-AS-PV-PRO-ATC |
| IPC-HFW3849T1-AS-PV-PRO-ATC | IPC-HDW3449H-ZAS-PV-PRO-ATC |
| IPC-HDW3649H-ZAS-PV-PRO-ATC | IPC-HDW3849H-ZAS-PV-PRO-ATC |
| IPC-HFW3449T1-ZAS-PV-PRO-ATC | IPC-HFW3649T1-ZAS-PV-PRO-ATC |
| IPC-HFW3849T1-ZAS-PV-PRO-ATC | IPC-HDBW3849F-AS-IL |
| IPC-HDBW3649F-AS-IL | IPC-HDBW3449F-AS-IL |
| IPC-HDBW3249F-AS-IL | IPC-HDW3849T-ZS-IL |
| IPC-HDW3649T-ZS-IL | IPC-HDW3449T-ZS-IL |
| IPC-HDW3249T-ZS-IL | IPC-HDBW3849R-ZS-IL |
| IPC-HDBW3649R-ZS-IL | IPC-HDBW3449R-ZS-IL |
| IPC-HDBW3249R-ZS-IL | IPC-HDBW3849R-ZAS-IL |
| IPC-HDBW3649R-ZAS-IL | IPC-HDBW3449R-ZAS-IL |
| IPC-HDBW3249R-ZAS-IL | IPC-HDW3849H-ZAS-PV-PRO |
| IPC-HDW3649H-ZAS-PV-PRO | IPC-HDW3449H-ZAS-PV-PRO |
| IPC-HFW3849T1-ZAS-PV-PRO | IPC-HFW3649T1-ZAS-PV-PRO |
| IPC-HFW3449T1-ZAS-PV-PRO | IPC-HFW3249T-ZAS-IL |
| IPC-HFW3449T-ZAS-IL | IPC-HFW3649T-ZAS-IL |
| IPC-HFW3849T-ZAS-IL | IPC-HFW3249T-ZS-IL |
| IPC-HFW3449T-ZS-IL | IPC-HFW3649T-ZS-IL |
| IPC-HFW3849T-ZS-IL | IPC-HDW3849QM-S-IL |
| IPC-HDW3649QM-S-IL | IPC-HDW3449QM-S-IL |
| IPC-HDW3249QM-S-IL | IPC-HDBW3849E-S-IL |
| IPC-HDBW3849E-AS-IL | IPC-HDBW3649E-S-IL |
| IPC-HDBW3649E-AS-IL | IPC-HDBW3449E-S-IL |
| IPC-HDBW3449E-AS-IL | IPC-HDBW3249E-S-IL |
| IPC-HDBW3249E-AS-IL | IPC-HFW3849E-S-IL |
| IPC-HFW3849E-AS-IL | IPC-HFW3649E-S-IL |
| IPC-HFW3649E-AS-IL | IPC-HFW3449E-S-IL |
| IPC-HFW3449E-AS-IL | IPC-HFW3249E-S-IL |
| IPC-HFW3249E-AS-IL | IPC-HDW3849H-AS-PV-PRO |
| IPC-HDW3649H-AS-PV-PRO | IPC-HDW3449H-AS-PV-PRO |
| IPC-HFW3849T1-AS-PV-PRO | IPC-HFW3649T1-AS-PV-PRO |
| IPC-HFW3449T1-AS-PV-PRO |