The demands on modern video surveillance systems have changed, from simple recording video to more complex requirements. Today, these systems need to analyze scenes, send intelligent alerts, and integrate with analytics platforms. ONVIF Profile T is a key standard that enables those capabilities while maintaining interoperability across devices from different manufacturers.
Profile T builds on the capabilities of ONVIF Profile S, while adding enhancements for compression efficiency and metadata support, aligning with current performance and security requirements. ONVIF is ending support for Profile S and encourages the use of Profile T, which most devices already support.
What Makes Profile T Stand Out?
Profile T supports advanced video streaming using both H.264 and the more efficient H.265 codecs, allowing high-definition video to be transmitted with optimized bandwidth use. This is crucial in large-scale systems like airports or smart cities where managing network load without losing video quality is a priority.
ONVIF Profile T also helps improve image performance, especially in low‑light or challenging lighting conditions, by giving integrators standardized control over key imaging settings such as focus, exposure, and Wide Dynamic Range.
With Profile T’s built-in support for motion alarm and tampering events, use cases like perimeter intrusion detection or camera tampering can work across different manufacturer devices and clients that conform to Profile T.
Two-way communication capabilities are supported with bidirectional audio streaming through audio input and output from the camera. This feature has proven particularly valuable for city surveillance, transportation and parking security, and for other security applications that require two-way audio communication.
Real-World Installation Benefits
Vendor Flexibility: ONVIF profiles make it easy to recognize how ONVIF conformant devices and clients are compatible with one another. This means you can mix devices and clients from different manufacturers and ensure functionality across the system.
Future-proofing: Profile T ensures that conformant video management software can support the same functionalities on conformant devices from different brands. End users will be able to more easily scale their systems or switch VMS platforms.
Enhanced Security: Conditional support for HTTPS streaming adds another level of security to communications between Profile T conformant clients and devices, addressing growing cybersecurity concerns in IP surveillance deployments.
Whether you’re deploying a new system or upgrading existing infrastructure, Profile T provides modern streaming capabilities, vendor flexibility, and future-proofing that today’s security professionals require.
To learn more about Profile T and the other ONVIF profiles, click here.
