A Guide to Buying the CCTV Security Systems

A close circuit television is a great way of surveillance. Be it the home, office or your store, CCTV security systems have become an ideal choice for protection of loved ones and fighting against crimes. Close circuit televisions are basically cameras where video images of a particular place are recorded on to another device. A close circuit television video feedback can be watched at real-time, or it can be watched anytime later.

Types

While buying a CCTV security, one should first decide what type he/she wants! Unlike men, close circuit televisions were not created equal. There are many types of close circuit television available.

The first classification would be analog or digital. The former records the images on a television set or a VCR and the later records it on to some memory device such as a memory card, CD, DVD and any digital media and can be wired at distances and can be watched at computers.

There are also CMOS and CCD cameras according to the image sensor within the camera. While CMOS cameras are cheaper, CCD cameras offer a sharper and finer video quality. CCTV cameras can be found in black-n-white and in colors, where each has specific places of application. Other types include night-vision (IR) cameras, wired/wireless cameras, motion detection cameras, IP cameras (network camera systems).

Many cameras have face detection technology and many can see images for a larger area clearly or of a smaller area clearly.

Specifications & Tips

To buy a CCTV, one needs to know the specifications that determine the application and the quality of it. The picture quality improves with the increase in TVL (television lines) rating of a camera. While TVL of 300 is for general use, cameras with TVL 480 to 570 produce best pictures.

A lower LUX no. is important to produce quality images at relatively lower light. A manual iris lens is ideal for areas where light level is constant whereas an auto iris lens is capable of producing images at changing light levels. The FOV (field of view) rating is one which defines the height and width of the image captured.

So, it is important to consider whether you want to monitor simple traffic (i.e. what is happening) or faces of people and number plates of cars etc. At last it is so important to know how much area you need to cover and from what distance and where to install the CCTV in order to serve you best. It is also important to select a monitor that matches the resolution of your camera.

Today a CC camera can be found for a price as low as $40 only, although it is advisable to buy one with a warranty. Despite the cheap price, it needs some maintenance cost. Legal issues are to be kept in mind while buying one. Also while installing a CCTV it is important not to point it at the sun, to choose a position that suits you perfectly and other subtle issues.