Video Surveillance

Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) is used for monitoring and recording activities in and around your home and  business.  You can choose to leave your cameras visible to the public so they know you're watching; or be more discreet by installing covert  (hidden) cameras to record activity.  Either way, a properly designed and installed system will provide the ultimate security you demand.

We offer a professional line of CCTV parts & accessories, and an experienced staff to make sure they are properly installed and maintained.

 

Components that make up a CCTV system

Digital Video Recorder (DVR)

Digital Video Recorder (DVR) - This device is capable of accepting one or more video (and sometimes audio) input signals for recording onto digital storage media. A DVR is specifically designed to gather and compress video into a digital video format for storage on a hard disk drive or other form of digital media. Advanced DVRs are capable of accepting multiple video and audio inputs without the need for bulky and expensive multiplexers or video quads. As well, most DVRs offer built-in motion detection recording (without costly and conspicuous PIR motion sensors), and many can be remotely viewed and played back over the internet. Some models may easily be backed up onto external media for long term archival. These backup methods may include CDs, DVDs, flash media cards, or via USB to a computer or other storage device.

Frames per Second (FPS)

Frames per Second (FPS) describes the number of full video frames displayed or recorded within one second. True real time video consists of 30 frames/sec. for NTSC format and 25 frames / sec. for PAL format. Be sure not to confuse frames per second with "fields per second" or "images per second". A complete frame of video is compiled of two separate images (or fields), so the number of fields in one second is always twice the number of frames per second.

FPS Display Rate (a.k.a. screen refresh rate)
FPS Display Rate (a.k.a. screen refresh rate) indicates the number of frames per second a VCR or DVR recorder will display on a monitor for simultaneous viewing. This shouldn’t be confused with FPS Record / Playback Rate. The rate at which each camera is displayed is often NOT the same as the number of frames per second the recorder captures for playback. Many DVR sellers flash "real time display rate" or "30 frames/sec. display rate" but do not in fact offer real time playback of recorded video.

 FPS Record Rate

FPS Record Rate describes exactly how many frames per second a video recorder can actually capture. Analog recorders like VCRs can easily record in real time (30 frames / sec. for standard NTSC) or time lapse (fewer than 30 frames/sec. for NTSC). Many digital DVR recorders, can record actual real time video. For most situations, recording rate is the spec to pay attention to. (Specifications for digital video equipment are not the only numbers to rely on. In fact, many DVR recorders outperform their specifications upon real world testing while other low quality units often record at a much slower rate than their specs claim). IR Infra Red Light IR Infra Red Light is a frequency of light which is lower than the human eye's visible spectrum (in the range of 850 ~ 950 nanometers). Color cameras can't use infrared light. However, this special band of light can be detected by most any monochrome CCD camera. Therefore, a black and white video camera in combination with infra red lighting can see in pitch dark conditions where the human eye is unable to distinguish anything. An infra red light source appears just the same as any visible light source on a black and white camera image. Infra red lighting for monochrome cameras should in no way be confused with new FLIR (forward-looking infra red) spotting scopes or cameras which produce a grainy, green-tinted picture and do not require additional infra red lighting sources.

IR Illumination Range

IR Infra Red Light is a frequency of light which is lower than the human eye's visible spectrum (in the range of 850 ~ 950 nanometers). Color cameras can't use infrared light. However, this special band of light can be detected by most any monochrome CCD camera. Therefore, a black and white video camera in combination with infra red lighting can see in pitch dark conditions where the human eye is unable to distinguish anything. An infra red light source appears just the same as any visible light source on a black and white camera image. Infra red lighting for monochrome cameras should in no way be confused with new FLIR (forward-looking infra red) spotting scopes or cameras which produce a grainy, green-tinted picture and do not require additional infra red lighting sources.

Low Light (or low lux) Sensitivity

Low Light (or low lux) Sensitivity refers to a camera's performance under low lighting conditions. Although many camera distributors flash very low light "lux" numbers, these numbers often times have nothing to do with real world performance. Specifications offered by CCD manufacturers list the absolute lowest light level at which some pixels will be altered. However, a human being looking at that recorded video will never be able to distinguish anything under the lowest lighting conditions (near pitch black). (The latest Sony 1/3 " CCD chip sets have the best low light performance of any such other CCTV cameras on the market today).

 

Resolution (TV lines)

Resolution (TV lines) refers to the maximum number of vertical lines/pixel elements (horizontal resolution) a video camera is capable of displaying on a monitor or registering with a video recording device. Horizontal resolution indicates the number of pixel elements placed horizontally across each scanning line of resolution (vertical resolution). Horizontal resolution varies based on the abilities of each different camera and each different monitor. Although the number of TV lines of horizontal resolution is generally considered a measure of a camera's level of detail and sharpness, this specification does not always indicate true end video quality.

 

Resolution (Scanning lines)

Resolution (Scanning lines) refers to something quite a bit different from what is generally considered to be resolution. Scan lines (also referred to as "vertical resolution") of video are equivalent for each different video format, but every device must comply with these standards. Horizontal resolution, on the other hand, indicates the number of pixel elements contained placed horizontally across these scanning lines. Horizontal resolution varies based on the abilities of each different camera and each different monitor. Video display on a monitor requires the image to be constantly shifting (scanning) in order to display in real time. For instance, NTSC format video is based on a 525 scanning lines operating at a frequency of 60 Hz (PAL format is 625 lines, 50 Hz) for transmission and display of video images. This is an interlaced system in which each frame is scanned in two fields of 262 lines, which is then combined to display a complete frame of video with 525 scan lines.
 

Varifocal Lens

Varifocal Lens - This lens allows the user/installer to manually adjust the camera's field of view. Varifocal lenses can therefore be changed to provide wider viewing angles or narrower telephoto viewing angles. Because of their adjustability, varifocal lenses are great when a camera will serve more than one purpose or to ensure proper focus without first determining an exact fixed lens focal length. Varifocal lenses are also typically referred to as zoom lenses.

Video Motion Detection

Video Motion Detection is an advanced software feature of DVRs which can detect motion in a camera's field of view and begin recording based on this motion detection. This is an advanced software feature which can detect motion in a camera's field of view and begin recording based on this motion detection. This type of detection can in most cases be adjusted in sensitivity. As well, a user can select and deselect areas in each camera's view for motion detection function.