Connecting a PTZ Camera to a DVR Using Cat-5 Cable.
A PTZ (Pan-Tilt-Zoom) camera refers to the ability of a camera to move up and down (tilt), left and right (pan), and to magnify (zoom). Typically, the pan-tilt function is accomplished with a built in motor. The zoom function is accomplished either digitally or optically. The magnification of the camera is determined by multiplying the digital and optical zoom. For example, a camera that can optically zoom in 22 times (22x) and digitally zoom in 10 times (10x) is usually referred to as a 220X PTZ camera. Optical zoom is always preferred since this is a true zoom accomplished by the lens itself. The digital zoom is simply a virtual zoom and it usually will result in pixilation.
It may seem challenging to attempt to properly cover your parking lot with security cameras. Just using overview cameras to monitor an entire parking lot will usually not be enough. Though the overview cameras will have a general overview of the area, unless you invest in megapixel IP cameras you will get very little detail. IP cameras are certainly an option , but megapixel IP cameras capable of capturing useful detail are fairly expensive. You can easily expect to spend several thousand dollars per camera and then have to deal with the bandwidth and storage issues.
Almost every DVR has the ability to control a multitude of devices using the RS485 protocol. RS485 uses 2 wires to send and receive data to and from these devices. All the devices in an RS485 “network” are connected in parallel with one another. This is a very simple form of communication and relies mainly on the address that is given to each device.
