# ONVIF

ONVIF (the Open Network Video Interface Forum) is a global and open industry forum with the goal of facilitating the development and use of a global open standard for the interface of physical IP-based security products. ONVIF creates a standard for how IP products within video surveillance and other physical security areas can communicate with each other. ONVIF is an organization started in 2008 by Axis Communications, Bosch Security Systems and Sony.
It was officially incorporated as a non-profit, 501(c)6 Delaware corporation on November 25, 2008. ONVIF membership is open to manufacturers, software developers, consultants, system integrators, end users and other interest groups that wish to participate in the activities of ONVIF. The ONVIF specification aims to achieve interoperability between network video products regardless of manufacturer.
ONVIF concerns itself with standardization of communication between IP-based physical security products to achieve open interoperability between equipment from different manufacturers. The ONVIF protocol offers API endpoints for configuring, controlling, and managing IP-based physical security products. While ONVIF can facilitate access to streaming URLs, the actual streaming is handled through protocols like RTSP. One of the most common use cases for ONVIF is in IP camera.

## Members

In December 2009, the ONVIF member base had grown to 103 members. This comprised 12 full members, 13 contributing members and 78 user members. In December 2010, the forum had more than 240 members and more than 440 conformant products on the market. By January 2015, this had grown to more than 3,700 ONVIF conformant products and 500 members. By August 2016, this had grown to more than 6,900 conformant products on the market but shrunk to 461 members. In February 2020, ONVIF reached more than 14,000 conformant products. As of June 2022, there are 496 members and more than 23000 conformant products.

## Name

ONVIF originally was an acronym for Open Network Video Interface Forum. The longer name was dropped as the scope of the standard expanded beyond video applications.

## Specification

The ONVIF Core Specification aims to standardize the network interface (on the network layer) of network video products. It defines a network video communication framework based on relevant IETF and Web services standards including security and IP configuration requirements. The following areas are covered by the Core Specification version 1.0:
* IP configuration
* Device discovery
* Device management
* Media configuration
* Real-time viewing
* Event handling
* PTZ camera control
* Video analytics
* Security
ONVIF utilizes IT industry technologies including SOAP, RTP, and Motion JPEG, MPEG-4, H.264 video codecs and H.265 video codecs. Later releases of the ONVIF specification (version 2.0) also cover storage and additional aspects of analytics.

## Milestones

* November 25, 2008: Incorporated as Open Network Video Interface Forum
* November 2008: Release of Core Specification version 1.0
* December 2008: Release of Test Specification version 1.0
* December 2008: First member meeting in Washington, DC
* March 2009: Set up of several working groups to work on the further development of the forum
* May 2009: Release of test tool and conformance process
* July 2009: Release of the world's first ONVIF conformant products by Merit Lilin
* September 2009: Show plug fest in Los Angeles, USA
* October 2009: ONVIF reaches 100 members
* April 2010: ONVIF extends the scope to cover access control in addition to video
* July 2010: ONVIF reaches 200 members
* November 2010: Release of Core specification version 2.0
* December 2010: Release of Test Specification version 1.02.2
* January 2011: 600 ONVIF-conformant products on the market
* December 2011: Test Specification version 11.12 released
* January 2012: Profile S specification released to clarify interoperability
* June 2012: Test Specification version 12.06 released
* December 2012: Test Specification version 12.12 released
* June 2013: Test Specification version 13.06 released
* August 2013: Release of Core specification version 2.4
* December 2013: Test Specification version 13.12 released
* December 2013: Profile C Specification released
* March 2014: Final release of Profile C
* June 2014: Test Specification version 14.06 released
* June 2014: Profile G Specification released
* December 2014: Profile Q Specification released
* December 2014: Release of Core specification version 2.5
* June 2015: Release of Core specification version 2.6
* December 2015: Release of Core specification version 2.61
* June 2016: Release of Core specification version 16.06
* December 2016: Release of Core specification version 16.12
* June 2017: Release of Core specification version 17.06
* December 2017: Release of Core specification version 17.12
* June 2018: Release of Core specification version 18.06
* December 2018: Release of Core specification version 18.12
* June 2019: Release of Core specification version 19.06
* December 2019: Release of Core specification version 19.12
* June 2020: Release of Core specification version 20.06
* December 2020: Release of Core specification version 20.12
* June 2021: Release of Core specification version 21.06
* July 2021: Ends support for Profile Q