If you ever have thought about a CCTV camera / installation you will have noticed that there is a big variety on the market and it is not easy to choose the right system for your needs.

To save you time and money we have made a short description of the most important things to know!

TVL (TV Lines)

The TVL is one of the most important resolution measures in a video system.

Analog surveillance video resolution is measured in terms of broadcast TV lines as viewed on a monitor screen. Video quality is charted with converging lines of higher and higher density. The TVL resolution number is the line density where the camera is no longer able to reproduce individual lines. The higher this number is, the better the picture.

Example:

   

The digital recording resolution can be expressed in effective pixel dimensions.

Typical pixel dimensions:

480 TVL510 x 492

600 TVL768 x 494

700 TVL976 x 582

960H

960 is a new standard for security cameras and security DVR’s that provides high resolution images using advanced image sensors. Security cameras capable of 960H produce an image that is 976 horizontal and 582 vertical pixels large (976×582).

WDR – Wide dynamic range

This is a feature used for problematic light conditions where the contrast from light to dark areas is very high. A normal camera can usually respond either to the dark area or the light area but not at the same time in the same image. WDR cameras are suitable for reception areas and receiving / dispatch areas in a store with light shining or reflecting from behind the object.  Do not forget, all our cameras have DWR.

Privacy Masking

Often when using video surveillance, there are certain areas that need to be either concealed (Privacy Masking) or areas that must prevent the motion detection from going off.

Privacy Masking is a feature on some security cameras that allows you to blur or completely block certain areas seen on the monitor within the field of view of the camera.  You may need to do this in order to protect sensitive material from being shown but not at the expense of losing valuable surveillance footage.

Video Motion Detection

In video surveillance, motion detection refers to the capability of the surveillance system to detect motion and capture the events. Motion detection is usually a software-based monitoring algorithm which, when it detects motions will signal the surveillance camera to begin capturing the event. Also called activity detection. An advanced motion detection surveillance system can analyze the type of motion to see if it warrants an alarm. The two main benefits are that searching for events is much easier since there is no need to watch scenes with no action. And you can store more days because nothing is recorded at night time or on weekends when there is no motion.

Backlight Compensation (BLC)

A feature that compensates for bright backgrounds so foreground objects aren’t silhouetted.

Automatic gain control (AGC)

Amplifies existing video to help camera create an enhanced video signal at low light levels.

Lux

A unit measuring the intensity of light. The light of a full moon is about 0.1 lux, while bright sunlight is about 100,00 lux.

Focal length

The distance from the centre of a lens to a point where it focuses light. The combination of the focal length and the CCD format determines a camera’s field of view. The shorter the focal length, the wider the field of view.

RG59 cable

The advantages of using RG59 cable is that its more durable and can be run in long distances without interference. RG59  cable is a heavily shielded to minimize interference. We cut each security camera cable to exact length that you need. Then we attach BNC connectors to each end of the RG59 coax part of the cable for the CCTV video transmission.  The RG 59 cable is available in Black or White.