Archive for the ‘CCTV Articles’ Category

« Older Entries

Choose an Article:

Remote Video Monitoring

Sunday, January 10th, 2010

A new emerging service has been coming up lately. I believe it will become more prevalent in a shot period of time. That service is Remote Video Monitoring. While installing security cameras and alarm systems are great deterrents, they usually cannot stop criminals. Alarm systems can notify a central station of an event occurring, and security cameras have the ability to record and catalog that event. Having a recording of a break in is a good thing to have. In some and maybe even maybe cases, the video recordings will help you to identify the intruder. Now, you can take the security cameras to the next level. Have them monitored live. When an event occurs, the video monitoring company can interact in real time with the intruders, they can contact the authorities and they can provide intel to the authorities when they arrive on the scene. No you have gone from reacting to crime after the fact to preventing crime before it even occurs.

Think about the benefits of having your security cameras monitored remotely versus having a security guard on location. The first benefit is cost savings. You will save money because a single guard can monitor several locations via remote connection to security cameras rather than be in a single location at one time. The next benefit is that a remote security guard can be more effective than a security guard on location. Imagine the first thing that a would be intruder would do when breaking into or robbing a business that is protected by an armed security guard. They will first take out the guard. They will incapacitate him and disarm him. they cannot do that to a remote video security guard. also, a security guard on site cannot cover an entire property at once. they will usually have to go on patrol, moving from location to location, leaving the previous location unguarded. A virtual security guard can have eyes everywhere at once, making him more effective.

Remote video monitoring is still fairly new, but you will find them popping up more and more.

Tags: ,
Posted in CCTV Articles | No Comments »

What Type Of Internet Is Best For Remotely Viewing Your DVR?

Saturday, December 5th, 2009

One of the biggest benefits of having security cameras is the ability to remotely view your security cameras from anywhere in the world. In order to do this, you will need a networkable DVR. The DVR (digital video recorder), is at the center of your surveillance system. A security DVR can have a web server built in which will allow you to connect to it from any PC that is also connected to the internet.

One of the keys to having good fluid video for remote viewing of your security cameras is to have a DVR that can compress the video as much as possible. there are many forms of compression, but the most efficient compression to date is H.264 compression. If you are simply going to remotely connect to your DVR from inside the network, then your ISP (internet service provider) is not a factor. Inside the network you will have a lot of available bandwidth for viewing video. Viewing your security cameras from outside the network is another story. Your choice in internet providers is very important. Remember that the DVR will use the “up bandwidth” of your internet service and the PC you are using to remotely connect to the DVR and view your cameras will use the down bandwidth of your internet service.

Dial Up service:

The most basic internet service available is dial up. This typically only provides 56kb of bandwidth and is not suitable for streaming video.

T1:

A typical single T1 will provide 1.5mb both up and down. This is a great choice for streaming video because it is a steady bandwidth and 1.5kb up bandwidth is enough to stream most surveillance systems.

DSL:

DSL service often advertises great bandwidth. Usually from 3mb to 6mb which sounds very impressive. However DSL does not provide equal up bandwidth which is what will be used to push the video stream. Most DSL services will only provide 250kb to 750kb of up bandwidth. This is adequate for streaming video, but it will normally require a DVR that can highly compress the video and may also require a reduction of quality or frame rate of the video.

Cable Company:

Cable is an outstanding choice since it provides very high up and down bandwidth and it is usually fairly inexpensive. Many cable provides can provide bandwidths of 3-8mb up and 3-5mb down. If you are lucky enough to have cable internet service in your area, I highly recommend you consider it.

Tags: , ,
Posted in CCTV Articles | 3 Comments »

What is a Varifocal Lens?

Sunday, November 29th, 2009

For the novice, security cameras choices may seem confusing. One question often asked by customers is what is a Vari-Focal Lens? There are two basic types of CCTV lenses. You can either get a fixed lens, or a vari-focal lens. A fixed lens has a set aperture that cannot be changed. They can be used for overviews or for close up detail, but they cannot be used for both or be adjusted. When you purchase a fixed lens, you will want to use a lens caluculator to make sure you are getting a lens with the correct aperture since you cannot adjust it once you install it.

A Vari-Focal lens is usually more expensive, but it allows you to adjust the aperture on the fly. This leaves less room for error and would also allow you to make changes to the view at a later date. Varifocal lenses come in various apertures. These are the general lense sizes. 2.8-12mm lens, 3.5-8mm lens, 6-60mm lens, and 5-100mm lens. The larger the aperture number, the more zoomed in the image will appear and the greater detail that can be captured. The smaller the aperture number, the wider the view and less detail will be captured. Keep in mind that all lenses have a give or take. The larger the aperture, the greater the detail, but you will get less of a field of view, so the image will be narrower. The smaller the aperture, the wider the field of view, but the less detail you will get.

Tags: , ,
Posted in CCTV Articles | No Comments »

Which Security Cameras Are For The Outdoors?

Saturday, November 28th, 2009

Selecting the right security camera for your environment may seem to be a difficult task. There are many options in outdoor security cameras. Typically, indoor security cameras are made of plastic and outdoor surveillance cameras are made of metal. Additionally, outdoor security cameras will be weatherproof as well. Normally they will be at least IP65. this means it is safe from water spray at any direction and dust free. Your choices for outdoor security cameras are:

Bullets:

Bullets get their name from the shape of the camera. It is the shape of a bullet. Make sure they are rated at least IP65. These surveillance cameras are often used for long range infra red views. It is best to mount them above the reach of people since they can be vandalized easily.

Vandal Domes:

Vandal Dome security cameras are domes that have a metal housing. These cameras are ideal for areas that are within easy reach of people because they are difficult to vandalize.

Box Cameras in Outdoor Housings:

Standard CCTV box cameras are fine for the outdoors as long as they are placed inside an outdoor rated housing. These housings will protect the cameras from the weather and usually have locks on them to prevent tampering.

Any of the above cameras would make fine choices for outdoor security cameras.

Tags:
Posted in CCTV Articles | No Comments »

What is a DVR?

Sunday, November 22nd, 2009

A DVR is short for Digital Video Recorder. I won’t bore you with the technical definition, but rather here is a simple explanation of the definition of a DVR as it applies to the security industry. A DVR is an electronic component that is used to record the video from a security camera. Each security camera is connected to the DVR using coax cable and BNC connectors. The video transmission is then compressed and stored on a hard drive. A DVR is different from the older time lapse VCR’s because it stores the data digitally on a hard drive rather than on a VHS tape. In most cases a DVR will be able to store day, weeks, months or even years of video before it begins to record over itself. This avoids the necessity of switching out tapes.

Another benefit of a DVR is the fact that you can often search for video by date and time, or by event. Searching by date and time is much easier than the old VCR systems because it means you don’t have to sit there and fast forward or rewind through hours of video to find an event. You can just simply search the specific date and time and you will find the video instantly. Many DVRs are also able to only record motion events that both conserves storage space and makes it easier to find the video you are looking for.

Lastly, most of the modern DVRs have a built in web server that allows you to connect to the DVR remotely over the internet. This means you can connect to the DVR from another PC and view your security cameras.

Tags: ,
Posted in CCTV Articles | No Comments »

« Older Entries