Guide To CCTV Security Cameras
There are a few basics about CCTV security cameras when deciding to protect your home and family. CCTV cameras come in two forms. They are either CMOS or CCD cameras and are differentiated by the image sensor. CMOS based cameras are cheaper but produce a lower quality image than the CCD camera.
To determine the best security camera for your needs, you must first determine what your needs are. A camera that can single out faces in an outdoor crowd on a cloudy day is very different from a camera that is used to monitor general activity inside an office lobby.
Where you place the camera is an important consideration since cameras desgined for indoor use are a whole different animal from cameras designed for outdoor use. There is a standard of durability to protect outdoor security cameras from external factors such as weather and vandalism that an indoor camera is not designed to withstand.
Other things that will directly impact your buying decision include your budget, for the entire system as well as per individual security camera, as well as the size of your entire security system and the number of cameras you required. The number of cameras you require depends on the number of areas you wish to monitor.
One determinant in what kind of camera you need is the lighting conditions of the area you will be monitoring. A high quality camera that was not designed for low light environment is useless if the lighting is insufficient. If you do require low light recording, there are several options available.
For nigh scenes, black and white cameras are recommended since they can deliver sharper images in low light settings. There are also day/night outdoor cameras with lighting sensors that adjust the camera for optimal recording at different lighting levels.
There are also night vision cameras for true low light recording. Take a look at the Lux rating. The lower the Lux rating the less light the camera requires. Cameras with a Lux rating of 0 are designed for complete darkness.
The resolution of a camera is the measure of image sharpness that the security camera can capture. A higher resolution camera can produce higher quality images. Lower end cameras come in resolutions of 330 lines and up while higher quality cameras have up to 400 lines.
When it comes to recording the video feed from the camera, most people will do with the DVR, which stands for digital video recorder. In more advanced monitoring systems there are controls for panning and zooming the camera in real-time to get closeups or follow a particular object.
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