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.
DISCLAIMER: The information contained in this article is the opinion of the Author and should not be taken as advice.