Everyone wants to know that their home or business and the people inside of it are safe. There are many ways to go about this, and one of them is CCTV, or Closed Circuit Television.
This means that there is a system of security cameras and they are all hooked up to one monitoring system. This information can be recorded on DVRs or NVRs (network video recorder) in order for you to view and store all the information. However, there are some things that you may want to consider before investing in CCTV.
- Take a moment to think about what you need out of CCTV. What are you monitoring for? Do you need to be able to see faces? Will this be for indoors or outdoors? How many cameras will you need?
- Next you want to consider the kind of camera you want. There are wired (which work both for indoors or outdoors) wireless, which can be more cost-effective, and IP or network cameras, which give you remote
access to your camera feed. - Imaging chip: You can choose between CMOS or CCD (Charge Couple Device) chips. Smaller ones use CMOS chips but tend to have poorer video quality. CCD gives better quality, but is higher in price. It is important to assess your quality needs.
- Black and white vs. color: How important is it that your video have color? Depending on whether you are using the cameras for indoors or outdoors the answer to this question may change.
- How much lighting will the area get? Lighting levels are measured in Lux. The higher the number, the more light it will require in order to have a clear picture.
- What about resolution? The higher the number, the clearer and sharper the image will be.
- Based off number six, you will need to find a monitor that will match the resolution of your CCTV system.
- Lastly, take a moment to consider your system recorder. Would you prefer to go with a DVR or NVR set up?
As you can see, there are a lot of variables that go into buying and setting up a CCTV system. You will want to consider all these options carefully in order to keep your home or business safe.
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I like how you mention that we should consider whether we want to use black and white or color. My husband and I have decided to install a new CCTV system, and we are wondering how we should which camera to get. Since color could help with identification if anyone breaks into our home, we will definitely have to find a CCTV system that is in color.