Founded in 1980, Lilin has more than 600 employees worldwide and offices in more than 13 countries and partners in over 20 countries. With 30 years experience in CCTV the company recently has undertaken huge efforts to become a big player for digital video. At Ifsec in Birmingham, Heiko Baumgartner spoke with Jason Hill, Managing Director of Lilin UK about the company's position in the market, its future plans and their new products.
According to market studies, Lilin is not amongst the Top 10 players in the world for network cameras, but here at Ifsec your company shows a strong commitment to IP technology. What is the reason for Lilin's strategy to position the company so clearly as a serious player in the emerging IP Video market?

J. Hill: For us there is no doubt that the future of video surveillance is IP video. In 2009 analog video equipment sales decreased as the recession took hold, additionally the products themselves were devalued as a result of intense price competition, this market sector is unlikely to recover to its highest levels again. We believe that 2010 heralds a dramatic change in the market towards IP video technology; we have been planning for this transition for 3 years, as you can now see from our significantly improved IP video offering and our plans for future developments.

Do you believe that there will also be a change regarding the channels for video products to the market?

J. Hill: Yes, the change is already apparent. Unfortunately it is unlikely that the majority of existing security installers will have the resources and capabilities to become network experts. So we will also utilise IT distribution channels in the future and we will continue to invest heavily in education. We have just announced the launch of our Resource Zone, designed to help customers understand IP products and system solutions in greater detail. We have recognised a need for immediate information on this emerging technology and have invested in these web based tools for the benefit and education of installers, distributors, resellers and end users alike. A growing library of multimedia videos covers Lilin IP products, ranging from feature overviews to technical guidance. These informative tools are freely distributable and are great for use as part of a system design or quotation. With 3 technical videos also online, customers can immediately learn more about our Common Interface, IP Scan and the ActiveX Installation. We will expand the online Resource Zone as new technology and products emerge.

What products are you introducing to complete your offering?

J. Hill: We have introduced new hybrid NDRs (Network Digital Recorders), IP mini dome cameras, vandalproof cameras, IR cameras and H.264 video encoders here at Ifsec. The new cameras are available in D1 resolutions or HD, with a choice of CMOS or MOS megapixel sensors. The new GVD-Series is a range of high performance IP network video recorders for HD Cameras, capable of recording and displaying up to 32 Megapixel streams simultaneously. They support a wide range of IP cameras and are very simple to use and benefit from a number of intuitive, useful features. For example, a brilliantly easy time-line search with a drag and drop facility for exporting clips to the DVD burner or network location makes this one of the easiest NVR products to operate.
Our new H.264 day/night mini domes are bringing the total number of Lilin open standards compliant products to eleven. Utilising H.264 compression and delivering high frame rates even across 3G networks, the Mini Dome is compatible with many third party devices and software applications, including Milestone video management systems and the Apple iPhone. All of the products we are showing are ONVIF compliant.

You rely on the ONVIF standard and Lilin is one of the first companies to introduce ONVIF compliant products. What do you expect from the ONVIF initiative?

J. Hill: We are very excited that we are pioneers in introducing ONVIF compliant products and we are already working on an ONVIF compliant recording system. I think ONVIF in general is a good opportunity for all manufacturers to help to make IP technology more successful and working closely with companies that might be considered competitors has been very refreshing! ONVIF as a global standard will allow us to play on the same level as other key IP manufacturers and will enable us to integrate with all the key video management systems. In the past this integration was expensive and very complicated. As ONVIF appears to be coming more accepted as a global standard we are now seeing end-users specifying ONVIF compliance as a requirement for their projects. Interoperability should be expected from IP products in our industry, openness is what the end users want and deserve.