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Buyers Guide: Video Security Cameras

Posted by Amy Hite on Sep 12, 2016

Video surveillance cameras can be found everywhere. Shopping centers, multifamily apartments, industrial properties, car dealerships, and other commercial properties have taken advantage of the added security these cameras provide. Learn how they work and what you should know before purchasing security cameras.

Contents

Live Video Monitoring. Learn about live video monitoring and how proactive surveillance can benefit your commercial real estate business.

  • Police priority response

Video Security Cameras

  • IP technology
  • Video quality
  • Lens quality
  • Imaging sensors
  • Lighting

Video Surveillance Systems

  • Video Storage

Police priority response

Police Security Video: Wireless Surveillance System Credibility

  • Four police chiefs and commanders spoke on the importance of wireless surveillance system use at the 2015 International Security Conference. They agreed that remote surveillance led to both greater security and faster police response time.
  • A Los Angeles Police Chief said that two of the biggest issues with alarms were the amount of false alarms and bad contact information. Wireless surveillance solutions, such as surveillance camera video, brought credibility to alarms because it was more vetted, verified, and helped prioritize crimes.

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IP technology

Analog vs Digital Cameras and Live Monitoring

  • Analog cameras carry their signal over coaxial cable. Remember coaxial cable? Coax is that cord that you used to plug into the back of your tube TV. The maximum resolution that an analog signal can carry is 640×480, which means you have a viewing angle of about 70 degrees. Your phone probably has a higher resolution than analog cameras!
  • IP stands for Internet Protocol and basically refers to a digital video camera that can send and receive data via a computer network, as opposed to sending a feed to a DVR. Digital cameras carry their signal over Cat5 cables…the same thing you plug into your computer. With a digital signal, your resolution is equal to that of your new HD flat screen TV at home, and the viewing angle of each camera reaches out 100+ degrees. And for you, this means fewer cameras and an increase in coverage.


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Video quality

Business Security Cameras for Video Monitoring Quality

  • For business security cameras, high quality video is critical to improving business security and protecting commercial real estate assets at shopping centers, office buildings, apartment communities, warehouses, self storage businesses, and other locations. A common misconception is that resolution is the only factor that’s important for video monitoring quality. But there are several other factors that impact security video quality that you should know before purchasing your security cameras.
  • When buying surveillance cameras commercial real estate executives should pay attention to overall camera system solution protection, performance, and price for their unique property and business security needs and applications. Business security cameras with amazing features may sound ideal. But typically they are very expensive. Most commercial-quality surveillance cameras are capable of surpassing buyer’s expectations at far more reasonable prices.

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Lens Quality

Security Camera Video for Surveillance Impacted by Lens Quality

  • IP cameras provide superior technology to analog CCTV cameras. Analog security cameras carry their signal over coaxial cable. The maximum resolution that an analog signal can carry is 640×480, which means you have a viewing angle of about 70 degrees. Your phone probably has a higher resolution than analog surveillance video.
  • IP surveillance cameras receive data via a computer network, as opposed to sending a feed to a DVR. The resolution is equal to that of HD flat screen televisions. The viewing angle is at about 100+ degrees. This means you can increase coverage with less cameras.

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Imaging sensors

Video Surveillance Cameras Impacted by Imaging Sensors

  • The imaging sensor regulates light sensitivity and color reproduction, which impact how surveillance video is recorded and displayed. Imaging sensor quality can vary greatly. Today, more manufactures design their video surveillance cameras around high quality commercial CCD sensors.

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Video Storage

Network Video Recorder Requirements for Live Surveillance

  • NVR storage is costly and may represent up to 50% of the total surveillance system cost. IP cameras generate terabytes of video. This enormous amount of data must be compressed for manageable storage and distribution. If the security video is overly compressed, surveillance video details may become distorted or lost.

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Lighting

Remote Security Camera Lighting & Video Surveillance

  • The biggest difference between remote security camera specifications and real world results typically is lighting performance. When surveillance camera resolution increases, light sensitivity decreases. As a result, high resolution cameras require more light to create high quality video. For best results camera shutter speed, built-in infrared, contrast, and color display settings should be tuned for video surveillance use.

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