The Different Types of CCTV Cameras That Are Available

Some people may recall an old joke: "You’re not paranoid. Everyone really is looking at you". Perhaps in this day and age this is true as more and more businesses, organizations and government are reliant upon closed circuit television (CCTV).

Discussions will rage on for a long time about whether we live in a Big Brother society, but the bottom line is there can never be enough police or security personnel to protect our properties, possessions and most important of all ourselves. In an era of increasing terrorism perhaps this becomes even more important, not as a replacement for human policing, but as an aid to maintaining law and order.

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There are many benefits to be gained from having CCTV installed at your property or office block including:

- Monitoring areas 24 hours a day that can be watched all the time or at all
- Deterring thieves, vandals and violent criminals
- Identification of criminals
- Reduction of insurance premiums
- Providing personal assurance and peace of mind
- Improving staff productivity

The least expensive and most commonly used security cameras have been black and white ones, which have a better sensitivity to light. Whilst this is still the case, this trend is changing as improved technology means coloured cameras are becoming more light sensitive and also less expensive.

Surveillance cameras are also quite flexible and durable in that they can be used indoors, outdoors and even underwater, lasting up to five years. However, getting a good clear picture at night time isn’t always feasible with an ordinary camera so it is worth investing in a better quality product.

Infrared CTV cameras can provide the solution for night time surveillance as they use infrared light instead of the normal lighting spectrum, and therefore produce better images in the dark. Night time is probably the period when the CCTV is most needed so the infrared option often can be most cost effective, whilst giving the property owner or anyone using a public place more peace of mind.

There are generally two types of CCTV cameras to choose from:

- Fixed (non moveable)
- Pan, Tilt, Zoom (PTZ)

Fixed cameras come in two different styles. The first allows lenses of different focal lengths and/or fixed or variable irises to be attached to the camera body. It includes features such as Back Light Compensation (BLC), Auto Iris Drive and Auto Electronic Shutter(AES) on/off, as well as availability in several power inputs (e.g. 12V DC or 24V AC).

With technology improving all the time, new features are being added with many cameras now providing an on screen display (OSD) for selecting and changing functions. Body or box cameras are commonly used in most commercial video surveillance systems due to their configuration flexibility.

The other style of fixed camera has a fixed lens mounted on a camera circuit board and may often be straight forward to mount by the purchaser, which would obviously cut out installation costs. The lenses of these cameras are either of a normal industry aperture or pinhole lens sometimes known as spy cameras as they can easily be concealed.

The disadvantage of this type of camera is they may have a short focal length with a fixed iris and pre-mounted, meaning they lack the flexibility of other cameras. However, the upside is they are cheaper and might be fine for a home or retail security system.

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PTZ cameras provide more flexibility than the fixed cameras as they can rotate horizontally through 360 degrees, 90 degrees vertically and have electrically powered zoom lenses capable of giving better than 15 times optical zoom. The speed and direction of movement can be preset to how the purchaser wants it.

Most PTZ cameras are mounted in domes and are weatherproof, thermostatically cooled and heated and in many cases durable enough to resist the attentions of vandals. These cameras are becoming more reliable and affordable now to the extent that the client base is not exclusively large corporations, governments and casinos, as retailers and smaller businesses are also having them installed now.

Whether you are looking for a personal security system or one for the company, there are many benefits at a much lower cost than perhaps 10 years ago. CCTV is far more affordable now with technology making them more flexible, reliable and durable than before.