An Internet protocol camera, or IP camera, is a type of digital video camera commonly employed for surveillance

Surveillance

Surveillance is the monitoring of the behavior, activities, or other changing information, usually of people. It is sometimes done in a surreptitious manner...

, 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 webcam

Webcam

A webcam is a video camera that feeds its images in real time to a computer or computer network, often via USB, ethernet, or Wi-Fi.Their most popular use is the establishment of video links, permitting computers to act as videophones or videoconference stations. This common use as a video camera...

s, the term "IP camera" is usually applied only to those used for surveillance.

There are two kinds of IP cameras:

• Centralized IP cameras, which require a central Network Video Recorder
  Network Video Recorder
  A network video recorder is a software program that records video in a digital format to a disk drive, USB flash drive, SD memory card or other mass storage device. NVRs are similar to DVRs but with several distinct differences. NVRs take video input over a network, as opposed to directly...
  
   (NVR) to handle the recording, video and alarm management.
• Decentralized IP cameras, do not require a central Network Video Recorder
  Network Video Recorder
  A network video recorder is a software program that records video in a digital format to a disk drive, USB flash drive, SD memory card or other mass storage device. NVRs are similar to DVRs but with several distinct differences. NVRs take video input over a network, as opposed to directly...
  
   (NVR), as the cameras have recording functionality built-in and can thus record directly to digital storage media, such as flash drive
  Solid-state drive
  A solid-state drive , sometimes called a solid-state disk or electronic disk, is a data storage device that uses solid-state memory to store persistent data with the intention of providing access in the same manner of a traditional block i/o hard disk drive...
  
  s, hard disk
  Hard disk
  A hard disk drive is a non-volatile, random access digital magnetic data storage device. It features rotating rigid platters on a motor-driven spindle within a protective enclosure. Data is magnetically read from and written to the platter by read/write heads that float on a film of air above the...
  
   drives or network attached storage.

The first centralized IP camera was released in 1996 by Axis Communications

Axis Communications

Axis Communications AB is a Swedish manufacturer of network cameras for the physical security and video surveillance industries. It focuses on the vertical market segments transport, infrastructure, retail, banking, education, government and industrial....

.