A small UK company claims to have a world lead after building up a multi-million dollar turnover with a card that gives closed- circuit television (CCTV) cameras digital technology. Edinburgh- based Indigo Active Vision says this enables images to be sent over networks without losing quality. It opens the way for software to analyze images. And it would enable a viewer at a company’s head office to see what is happening at one of their distant depots. Oliver Vellacott, the man behind the company, used to work for Vision Group, the Scottish camera on a chip pioneer, which has failed to turn its world-beating technology into a commercial success. It is a failure that Vellacott is determined not to repeat. The advantage that Indigo believes it holds over competitors is the use of its own Risc processor and a patented operating system. This enables it to put all the functions on one card that can be fitted to each camera. With bulk orders, this can bring the cost per card down to around $100. Direct competition comes from Telexis Corp, from Canada and Cambridge, UK-based Telemedia Systems Ltd, though this company specializes more in multimedia applications. However, the bulk of competitors offer systems that require a PC to be attached to each camera, an arrangement that is considerably more expensive than that offered by Indigo. In the secretive world of security, most of Indigo’s contracts are covered by non-disclosure agreements, so Indigo does not produce the usual list of major customers. But Vellacott says turnover has tripled during each of the past three years and an IPO will be considered in a year’s time. A partner makes a box that connects a security network to the company’s WAN, thus opening the way for new level of monitoring applications. Even for the humble basic security functions, digital technology offers big advantages. The poor quality of images on analog systems is often worsened by the deterioration in video tapes but Indigo’s system can be stored on disk. At the rate of 1MB a minutes, 24 hours of surveillance will produce storage needs of around 1.5GB, which currently costs around $100. Within a year, security camera makers are likely start switching their new products over to digital technology and the market will take off in a big way. With just 25 employees – 18 engaged in R&D – Indigo may have found the ideal market to build a secure future from the digital revolution.
