A brief analysis of the development trend of domestic surveillance video lenses

    In recent years, with the rapid development of video surveillance, domestic lenses have been widely favored by users and attracted the attention of foreign counterparts due to their high quality and good application effects. Before this, most of the high-end market in China was occupied by Japanese brands, and the competition among domestic lens manufacturers was fierce, with many manufacturers surviving in the gap. Small scale, weak production capacity, poor innovation ability, insufficient competitiveness and other problems generally plagued domestic lens manufacturers. After several years of rapid growth, under the courage to innovate and actively drive the domestic mainstream lens manufacturers, domestic lenses have instantly reversed the situation, and Chinese lenses have become a new force that cannot be ignored in the world lens industry.

    Domestic lens market status

    Looking at the global surveillance lens market, Japan currently accounts for more than 60% of the global market share, ranking first in the market. Before that, Germany's surveillance lens manufacturing technology was superior to Japan. After that, Japan gradually began to take the lead in optical lens technology and innovation, as well as market share, through "stealing skills" and continuous exploration, especially in the field of surveillance lenses, and gradually became a world leader. In addition, the speed of development of the Korean lens industry in recent years should not be underestimated. The product quality and price of Korean lenses are between those of Japan and China. Their production costs are lower than those of Japan and higher than those of China, but the quality is close to that of Japan. This is something that Chinese lens manufacturers need to strive to surpass. Although Korean lenses have their own advantages in the international arena, their competitive advantages in the Chinese market are not obvious. This may be due to the fact that Korean manufacturers have not made great efforts to develop and promote the Chinese market. As a veteran lens manufacturing power, Germany is also attracted by the surveillance lens market with great development prospects. Some German manufacturers have gradually begun to compete to enter the surveillance industry and want to get a share of the pie. They are mainly oriented to China, South Korea, the United States and other places, trying to cooperate with local companies to jointly develop, research and produce high-end optical lenses.

    When it comes to the development of the domestic lens industry, manufacturers are mainly concentrated in Shenzhen, Fuzhou, Xiamen, Quanzhou, Changchun, Lanzhou, Henan and other places, among which Fuzhou is the most concentrated. At present, Fujian's lens production accounts for about 70% of the domestic lens market, becoming an important production base for China's surveillance camera lenses. After several years of rapid growth, the export ratio of China's lenses has accounted for more than 45% of its production capacity.

    In addition, from the perspective of market level, Japanese lenses are mainly used in the high-end market, occupying most of the high-end market share. Chinese domestic lenses are mainly used in the mid-to-low-end market. Due to the low production cost (mainly raw materials and labor), Chinese lenses are cheap and applicable, and have been welcomed and favored by many domestic and foreign camera manufacturers. In recent years, many Chinese lens manufacturers have also begun to realize that in order to obtain greater profits and long-term development of enterprises, they must expand into the high-end market and strive to change the image that Chinese lenses are equal to low-end lenses. As the capital of security, Shenzhen has also developed rapidly in the lens industry in recent years. There are many powerful and innovative manufacturers that have performed well in lens manufacturing technology.

    The development of domestic integrated camera lens technology

    Overview

    In China, there are only a handful of companies that have mastered the core technology of high-definition integrated machine core. As we all know, the key technologies of the core are in three aspects: lens, autofocus, and imaging device. At present, there are not many companies that can independently complete everything from lens optical design and production, digital autofocus to camera board design and manufacturing. In terms of lenses, the world is mainly Tamron, Nagano and Canon of Japan. Apart from these, there are very few manufacturers in the industry that can design and produce lenses by themselves, especially in China. At present, domestic manufacturers that design and produce lenses by themselves can save 75% of the cost compared to purchasing lenses from Japanese companies; and in terms of imaging devices, the outsourcing cost is only about RMB 60, and the cost of all manufacturing companies is basically the same, which does not constitute a significant impact on the cost of the entire camera core. Compared with imported lenses, domestic independently developed and produced lens products have a better price-performance ratio: effect + quality + reasonable price = high cost-performance ratio. For example, the products of a lens and movement manufacturer in Shenzhen are sold at home and abroad, and have a high reputation in technology, performance, quality, service, etc., and the return rate is controlled within 0.3%.

    From lenses to movements, before domestic movement manufacturers achieved research and development results, most of the movement market was controlled by Japan's Sony, Hitachi, Sanyo and South Korea's LG, Samsung, CNB, etc.; the lens, which accounts for half of the movement cost, is monopolized by Japanese companies such as Nagano, Tamron, and Canon; key components such as CCD and CMOS are monopolized by SONY or multinational groups from other countries such as the United States, while core technologies such as high-end autofocus algorithms and high-end night vision fill light are still blank in China. As far as the movement is concerned, the key technologies are in three aspects: lens, autofocus, and imaging devices. Faced with such a situation, many powerful domestic excellent national security companies adhere to the concept of "technology creates value" and have achieved complete independent research and development and independent completion from the main control board, lens, optical design and production through continuous innovation.

    Automatic zoom lens

    In terms of automatic zoom focus lenses, Japan's Tamron, Nagano and Canon are still the main manufacturers in the world. In addition, a lens manufacturer in Shenzhen has gradually caught up and made major technological breakthroughs through its own design and production. The manufacturer's lens technology, such as automatic aperture, IR-CUT switching, multi-layer coating, aspherical surface, low dispersion, large aperture (aperture value F1.6-F3.2), etc., has shown obvious overall advantages, and has the ability to develop and produce full-featured, cost-effective, small-volume zoom lenses.

    Domestic optical technology has made great progress. Take a domestic lens manufacturer in Shenzhen as an example. Its optical technology has distinct characteristics. It uses high-refractive index, low-dispersion materials and multiple aspherical lenses to effectively suppress high-grade spherical aberration and chromatic aberration, and ensure high resolution and high contrast in the center and peripheral axial and normal directions. The field of view angle reaches 60 degrees to 2.7 degrees.

    All-in-one camera lens market trends

    Since 2008, domestic lens manufacturers have started to develop high-magnification small aspherical electric zoom lenses; in 2009, domestic manufacturers have developed high-end digital autofocus algorithms, ending the era of "balls without cores" in China's smart ball cameras in the past decade; and in 2011, domestic lens manufacturers have independently developed a 2 million pixel 22x high-definition zoom lens, making the manufacturer the world's second manufacturer with the ability to develop such high-end lenses. At the same time, synchronous zoom infrared LED fill light sources and ultra-strong homogenization ultra-wide range zoom infrared laser night vision light sources have gradually surfaced, so that domestic lens manufacturers also have a full set of core technologies such as high/medium/low-end zoom lenses, digital autofocus algorithms, spheres to high-end night vision fill light. At present, four core technologies have been independently developed in addition to imaging devices: optical lenses, autofocus, sphere drive, night vision light source (synchronous variable anxiety LED/super-strong homogenization zoom laser light source). At present, China has been able to manufacture a series of digital autofocus movement products such as 1/3"CCD650 lines, 720P, 1080P, etc. They all have functions such as ultra-wide white balance, digital noise reduction, ultra-wide dynamic, strong light suppression, automatic aperture control, continuous tracking autofocus, privacy masking, IR-CUT function, low illumination, enhanced infrared, digital high-speed focus, etc.

    In addition, domestic manufacturers are also actively working to popularize infrared high-speed balls. Manufacturers that have fully mastered aspherical zoom lenses, autofocus, camera boards, and high-speed balls have emerged. Such products have functions such as precision stepper motors, simple operating systems, multi-level lightning protection/anti-electromagnetic interference/unique waterproof treatment, quick-install structure, and easy maintenance. In other words, from the movement to the ball, it is 100% created in China, and has a strong competitive advantage both in the domestic and foreign markets.

    Photoelectric image processing main control board

    At present, domestic movement solutions have not yet reached a high level of independent research and development and production, and are still highly dependent on major foreign parts and components. However, domestic manufacturers can develop movement solutions that meet the needs of domestic security companies by selecting different solutions. For example, a domestic movement manufacturer mainly uses SONY and SHARP solutions; in order to meet the needs of different customers and industries, it has developed three control board solutions in different fields: EFFIO-E (economic), EFFIO-S (standard), and EFFIO-P (professional).

    Conclusion

    At present, the Chinese lens market still has a certain price advantage over Japanese lenses. With the fierce competition from Chinese companies, Japanese companies will continue to lower prices in order to stabilize their position, but the decline will not be too large. The price reduction of Japanese companies and the price increase of Chinese companies will make the lens price reach a balance, and this balance will not be too far from the current market price. As for Chinese companies, the first thing to realize is that only by constantly strengthening innovation and investment can it be possible to surpass the level of Japanese lenses in terms of product performance and effect; in addition, for Chinese lens manufacturers, they should jump out of the "quagmire" of price wars, work hard on internal skills, introduce advanced technology and equipment, improve quality and management, shape brands, increase product added value, gradually enter the high-end market, and actively participate in international competition to win the market share they deserve.

    Japan is still a leader in CCTV lens manufacturing technology. There is still a big gap between domestic lenses and Japanese lenses in terms of technology, which is mainly reflected in the development and research and development cycle of new products. With its technological advantages and the rare "harsh" requirements of the Japanese for products, Japanese lenses have become a symbol of high quality, advanced craftsmanship and advanced technology. For example, the aspherical lens technology of CCTV lenses and infrared day and night lenses (IRlens) were first developed by Japanese manufacturers.

    Nowadays, the continuous development of the monitoring industry will also put forward higher requirements for lenses. For example, infrared corresponding lenses are innovative products born with the demand for low-light monitoring at night in recent years in the monitoring industry; the requirement for wider monitoring angles has led to the advent of fisheye lenses; the requirement for longer monitoring distances has prompted lens manufacturers to launch high-zoom telephoto lenses. Miniaturization of lenses will be an important trend in the development of manual zoom lenses in the future. The use of small-sized lenses and the use of aspherical lenses to reduce the number of lenses can make the lens smaller, and "slimming" is also a trend in the development of lenses. In addition, there are requirements for pixels. Compared with digital cameras, the requirements for pixels for monitoring cameras were relatively low, generally 300,000 to 400,000 pixels. With the requirements of technology and the market, it may become higher and higher. Market competition forces companies to enhance their sense of innovation. Domestic lens manufacturers must also attach great importance to technological innovation and product innovation to achieve breakthrough improvements in product quality and stability.