CCTV Cameras come in a variety of shapes, sizes, resolutions, capabilities and costs
- The 4 primary types are: dome, bullet, box and PTZ (pan–tilt–zoom). Domes and bullet tend to be lower cost while PTZ cameras can be very expensive.
- When it comes to CCTV cameras QUALITY or more specifically, resolution, counts. Inexpensive, low quality cameras give you false comfort.
- You look at what the camera sees and you realize you can't make out the faces of the people in question (except when they stare straight into the camera)
- HD quality recording makes identifying faces and license plates much, much easier than standard definition.
We have been supping cameras to restaurants and retail stores for many years
- The advantage with us is that we can interface the cameras with the cash register - compare the POS transaction with what actually happened
- The advantage with us is that you can go on vacation and see what is happening back at the restaurant or store
- By using a computer based DVR system, you also can get a back-up POS system in the event of a POS failure.
Why buy a good camera? And why buy a better DVR?
- In a restaurant: a client gets a little rambunctious, the camera records the event to protect the restaurant from being sued
- In a retail store: the camera (of suitable quality), records the shoplifter's face for the police. If you have ever seen those blurry pictures - that's because they used inexpensive cameras.
- You realize that an event that took place a month ago was actually a shoplifting event - many inexpensize DVR systems don't store enogh days to go back that far
Terms you need to know:
- DVR (digital video recorder) is a standalone electronic device or software running on a computer that records video (from CCTV cameras) in a digital format to a disk drive for real time and future viewing.
- CCTV (closed-circuit television) relies on strategic placement of cameras and private observation of the camera's input on monitors. The system is called "closed-circuit" because the cameras, monitors and/or video recorders communicate across a pprivate network.
