Understanding Cameras for CCTV Systems

Choosing the right security camera for CCTV systems isn’t an easy process. You’ll have to take into account the technical specifications, the application and its requirements and any physical challenges the installation site may present. There are hundreds of surveillance camera options available today, and the ever-evolving technology adds new choices to the mix every day. Making an informed decision about the right CCTV camera for your system can be a challenge unless you understand the basics of CCTV systems and CCTV camera technology. This overview provides basic information to help you in the early planning stages of your CCTV system.

The center of CCTV camera technology is the Charge Coupled Device sensor, which converts light into an electrical signal. That signal is processed by the camera’s electronics and converted to a video signal output. The way that video signal is treated depends on the type of camera you choose – analog or digital. CCTV cameras can be further subdivided by resolution, color/monochrome and day/night cameras, and further still by levels of performance.

Analog or Digital Security Camera?

Digital Signal Processing (DSP) has increased the flexibility of security cameras and enhanced the quality of the images produced by CCTV systems. Until recently, analog was the camera type of choice because it produced a good quality image at affordable prices. DSP technology has brought digital security camera choices into the affordable range. A standard DSP CCTV camera is relatively inconsistent, and provides more consistent picture quality than most analog cameras, and is a good choice for most CCTV systems. If you want better quality and more flexibility, a premium DSP security camera provides lots of added functionality, including a feature that evens out awkward lighting and ensures crisp pictures throughout the course of  the day.

Monochrome or Color CCTV Camera?

Color security cameras are typically more expensive than monochrome (black and white) CCTV cameras, but they’re not always the best choice for a number of reasons. While it’s easier for humans to remember an image or recognize a person when they see it in color, a color security camera doesn’t do a very good job of recording in low-light situations. A color surveillance camera is thus a good choice for store surveillance, which will nearly always be in well-lighted situations, but a monochrome security camera is a better choice for night recording or low-light situations. In addition, you can buy monochrome cameras with infrared sensitivity, which can be used with IR illumination for night surveillance.

Choosing the right cameras for CCTV systems can be a challenge. The more you know about your intended use for the system, the easier it will be to choose the right CCTV camera.

Different Uses for CCTV Systems

While most people think of CCTV systems as security camera systems or surveillance systems, there are certainly other uses for a good security camera, monitor and DVR. These are some of the more unusual – and delightful – uses we’ve seen made of CCTV systems, often with wireless access.

Coffee’s Ready!

While not technically a CCTV system, the first recorded use of a remote camera over a network was the Trojan room coffee pot, in the old Computer Laboratory at the University of Cambridge. Students working in the lab got tired of making the trip down to the coffee room only to find that there was no coffee in the pot. In 1991, Quentin Stafford-Fraser and Paul Jardetzky wrote server and client software, connected a CCTV camera to the network and turned on the world’s first webcam, whose sole purpose was to help to help people working in remote parts of the building avoid pointless trips to the coffee room.

Wildlife Camera

Thousands of people around the world get an up close and personal look at deer, squirrels and other wildlife on their property – and more exotic creatures in remote locations – thanks to CCTV systems with high-quality security camera systems mounted in wilderness, woods and other natural areas.  A night vision surveillance camera is ideal for observing and recording the wildlife that visits your garden at night, and allows you to view the natural behavior of animals that would flee if they knew you were watching.

Oven Cam

You may not have a need to watch what’s cooking inside your oven, but a large bakery that produced Danish pastries had exactly that need on a temporary basis. The pastries were fed through the oven on a conveyor belt and discharged onto wire racks to cool down and go to packing. On occasion, the pastries would jam at the transfer point, and within minutes, the bakery would have a full-fledged Danish disaster on its hands. It wasn’t bad enough that they’d lose an entire night’s production of pastries – they’d also lose several days’ production to cleanup. A surveillance camera set up inside the oven soon found the problem – one that required the congruence of several different factors that had a thousands-to-one chance of occurring just right. The bakery repaired the problem, but left the CCTV camera in place just to keep an eye on things.

Got a situation where an extra pair of unseen eyes would  be useful? Consider the benefits and flexibility of CCTV systems to help you solve your problem.