Security Cameras System DesignSecurity cameras are an established method of increasing security and modifying behaviour. It is critical to design the system for the purpose required. With the wide choices or cameras types, recording devices (DVR/NVR), brands and installation companies available, how do you decide what to get or where to go? Cameras Systems - Key Considerations 1 - Application What is the use and purpose of the camera system? Live 'real time' surveillance? Post event viewing? Site overview or recognition? Fixed cameras, Pan-Tilt-Zoom cameras or a mixture of both? How long are the images need to be stored for? What resolution is required and at what frame rate? Smart object search? Analytics? Health & Safety compliance? 2 - Environment Will the cameras be inside and outside? Maybe the cameras need to be intrinsically safe. Will cameras need IP66 rated enclosures to keep the weather out? If outside then auto-iris lenses will be required. If inside but looking outside then wide dynamic range cameras required. Perhaps infra-red illumination will be required too. For the highest security consider thermal imaging too - very hard to escape detection. 3 - Topology of Site Is the site easy to cable? Large or condensed? Distributed sites? The topology will dictate what mixture of video transmission technologies are required such as... coaxial cable, fibre optic, wireless, TCP/IP, Laser IP. 4 - Response Will the camera system be viewed locally or remotely? What actions will be taken in response to images being viewed?
If you know don't know the answers to these questions then you need the free services of a professional company like VIP Security to help you solve them. Analogue camerasThese are Coax Cabled with an analogue signal from camera to the DVR or Video Recorder. High end analogue cameras use digital signal processing (DSP) to enhance the image for optimum contrast and brightness, however the signal is transmitted as an analogue signal (variable signal quickly changing from -0.3V to +0.7V). The analogue signal is expensive to boost, recreate, re-transmit and is susceptible to interference if not cabled correctly. This is an old standard and as such is limited to approximately 400,000 pixels of resolution. Digital Cameras - IP Network CamerasThese cameras transmit the images using the IT Network, and thus images can be transmitted wherever an local area network is present (LAN or WAN or www). The IP system suits a large site topology, especially if a Local Area Network (LAN) is already present. While TCP/IP is a standard transmission protocol, one of the main drawbacks of IP cameras is that the data is often transmitted in a propriety fashion, meaning only selected DVR/NVR's can view the IP cameras. IP Cameras typically offer a 1,000,000 pixels of resolution, however newer IP cameras offer up to 10,000,000 pixels (this leads to issues in storage and network bandwidth - all of which VIP Security can solve).
Hybrid Cameras - Analogue & IP Network CamerasThese cameras offer two transmission methods, Analogue (coaxial cable) and Digital (LAN cable). A hybrid camera could be used to control a local spot monitor, whilst digitally recorded at a higher resolution via the network LAN cable. Capturing the Right Image The light reflected off the object is focused via the camera's lens onto photo receptors. The image qulaity is a combination of the lens construction (plastic, glass or coated glass), lens size (1/2", 1/3", 1/4" or Mega Pixel), image receptor size (1/2", 1/3", 1/4" or Mega Pixel), image receptor construction (CCD, CMOS, Pixem). Other considerations include compression amount and amount of images stored each second (ips). These all affect the quality of the image stored. Matching the field of view with the correct lens, camera and recording system is vital to ensure you get the images required that are fit for your purpose (overview, convicitions etc). Remember - the playback image is the most important criteria - not the live view. Our goal is to supply only top quality products from reputable suppliers. Our experience over the last 12 years is that this delivers the best performance and best return on investment for our customers.
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