CCTV stands for "closed-circuit television" and involves using video cameras that
send a signal to a monitor or series of monitors. Unlike broadcast TV, the signal
of the camera is not sent to be broadcast over the airways but is sent only to surveillance
monitors at places like military installations, airports, casinos, banks, businesses,
convenience stores and even in homes. There can be a central control room with monitors
that receive the broadcast from the CCTVs and a single person can monitor several
locations within the facility.
CCTVs most recently changed to sending the signal to DVRs or digital video recorders
rather than video tape recorders, although VCR-based recorders are still in wide
use. DVRs pack more information into one small space than do VCRs but are more expensive
to install, especially if a company already has fully functional VCR-based CCTV
system.
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CCTVs were first installed in 1942 by a company known as Siemens AG. They were installed
in order to observe rocket launching from a distance not safe for human’s to use.
The inventor of the system was Walter Bruch, who both designed and installed the
system for the German military. Not surprisingly, this is still a common use of
CCTVs in countries that have rocket launching or space ship launching capabilites.
Such CCTVs can detect any malfunctions that might be occurring at the launch site.
Even rocket stage separation can take place under camera observation with the radio
signal sent back to earth from the CCTV.
In 1968, the town of Olean, New York was the first city to put in video cameras
along the streets in the major business district. The images went directly to the
city’s police department so that crimes could be detected and solved more easily.
Later, CCTVs were installed in most banks and commercial convenience stores because
of high risk of robbery and the ability of CCTVs to tell who the criminal element
was. CCTV has been useful in determining suspects and getting a convictions for
many crimes.
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Historically speaking, CCTVs needed to be hardwired into the monitor because there
was no way to broadcast the television signal from the camera to the monitor. Over
time, wireless cameras were introduced which could send images to the monitor without
cabling. The resolution wasn’t good in the early days of closed circuit television.
The resolution has vastly increased over the years and, with the advent of the VCR
and videos, signals could be sent directly to the tape with no need for instantaneous
monitoring on a monitor screen. The tape could be watched at a later time and the
tapes could be saved for an indefinite period of time.
With the new DVR systems, the image is sent to a DVR machine and the images are
transcribed onto a DVD. The DVD can be stored indefinitely or it can be erased (if
you have an erasable DVD.) Because of the size and storability of DVDs, they are
becoming increasingly popular among new installations of CCTVs.
DISCLAIMER: The information contained in this article is the opinion of the Author
and should not be taken as advice.