Network camera

IP Camera

A selection of IP cameras
Date invented	1996
Invented by	Axis Communications
First product	Axis Neteye 200
Introduced	1996
Type	Centralized or Decentralized
Slots	SD Card (optional)
Ports	Ethernet, Audio, I/O block

An Internet protocol camera, or IP camera, is a type of digital video camera commonly employed for surveillance, and which, unlike analog closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras, can send and receive data via a computer network and the Internet. Although most cameras that do this are webcams, the term "IP camera" or "netcam" is usually applied only to those used for surveillance.

An IP camera is typically either centralized (requiring a central network video recorder (NVR) to handle the recording, video and alarm management) or decentralized (no NVR needed, as camera can record to any local or remote storage media). The first centralized IP camera was Axis Neteye 200, released in 1996 by Axis Communications.

IP cameras are available at resolutions from 0.3 (VGA resolution) to 29 megapixels. As in the consumer TV business, in the early 21st century, there has been a shift towards high-definition video resolutions, e.g. 720p or 1080i and 16:9 widescreen format.

The first centralized IP camera, the Axis Neteye 200, was released in 1996 by Axis Communications and was developed by the team of Martin Gren and Carl-Axel Alm. The camera was not capable of streaming real-time motion video, instead being limited to showing a snapshot image each time the camera was accessed. At the time of launch, it was considered to be incapable of operating as a motion camera due to what would conceived as "enormous" bandwidth requirements, thus was aimed primarily at the tourism industry. The Axis Neteye 200 was not intended to replace traditional analogue CCTV systems however, given it's capability was limited to just a single frame every 17 seconds, yet was promoted on its ability to be directly accessible from anywhere with a connection to the internet. Axis used a custom proprietary web server named OSYS, yet by the summer of 1998, had started working on a software port towards Linux to operate its cameras. Axis also released documentation for its low-level API called "VAPIX", which builds on the open standards of HTTP and (RTSP). This open architecture was intended to encourage third-party software manufacturers to develop compatible management and recording software.