Talk to any business owner in the UK and they will have no doubt at some point asked, “is a CCTV system right for me?” The answer put simply is YES!!!

CCTV cameras are an excellent addition to any business or home security system, adding an important visual deterrent to any business premises. Not only that but a CCTV system can help to obtain evidence in the event of any crime being committed, evidence which may be vital in helping you to have your goods returned.

It was once a case that a high quality CCTV system was only available to those wishing to spend thousands of pounds investing in the best quality CCTV cameras, DVR recorders and monitors, this is however no longer the case. You can now have a professionally installed CCTV system with high resolution CCTV cameras and an internet capable DVR recorder for less than £600.

How do I select the right CCTV system for my business?

Selecting the right CCTV system for any location is something that will require you to consider several factors. You should first look at what you want the CCTV cameras to do. Do you want a camera that will give you a general surveillance of a certain area? Or do you want a camera that will provide a more defined image but of a smaller area? Alternatively you may wish to have a camera that is capable of covering multiple areas, if you  wanted to do this you would need to consider using a PTZ camera.

As a general rule you should always have a camera that has a resolution of at least 470 TVL. Cameras that have a resolution of 540 TVL are considered to be a very high resolution, however there have been recent models of CCTV cameras which have a resolution as high as 600 TVL.

You should also consider the type of DVR recorder you are going to use. This can be a hard choice for some as there are many DVR recorders available that have a huge amount of features. There are a few things that you should insist on when looking for any DVR. The first is that they are capable of recording in Real Time, this means that the DVR will record 25 frames per second (FPS), this should be available for every channel. A real time DVR will have a total recording capacity of 100FPS for a 4 channel recorder, 200FPS for an 8 channel recorder and 400FPS for a 16 channel DVR Recorder.

Almost all DVR recorders are able to be connected to the internet, this is ideal if you have many properties that you wish to protect, allowing you to view the CCTV cameras at each property, from one location through an internet connection.

A DVR can be set to record in a number of ways, the most popular being to record when motion is detected. This is a feature built in to some DVR recorders and means images will only be recorded onto the hard drive when there is movement. The benefit of this is that it reduces the amount of data stored on the hard drive and therefore increases the length of time that you can record for.

CCTV Cameras at night.

CCTV cameras are usually required to be used 24 hours a day. This means that they have to perform at night, in low light levels and still produce high quality images. It will be difficult for a colour CCTV camera to produce a high quality image in low light levels, this means that a monochrome CCTV camera would be used. However it is preferable to have a colour image when light levels permit. To accomplish this most high quality CCTV cameras have a feature that allows them to produce high quality colour images in optimum light levels and when the light falls to a certain level the CCTV camera will produce images in black and white. These are known as Day/Night CCTV cameras.

CCTV lighting.

CCTV cameras work best when there is a level of usable light. Each CCTV camera will have a different light level that they can work in and this is measured in lux. To help your CCTV camera produce the best possible images you should ensure that adequate lighting is provided in the areas your cameras will be covering. It is also important to use the correct type of lighting for the CCTV camera you are using.

With a colour CCTV camera you should only ever use “white light”, using an infra red light will have no effect upon the image in low light levels. If you have a black and white CCTV camera then you should install infrared lighting to help maximise the image. Many CCTV cameras that have a day/night feature will also have an inbuilt infra red light, allowing you to obtain high quality images without having to install seperate lighting.

Related Cctv Articles

When people think about safety, they think about ways to protect their homes and families. When it comes to the protection of homes and families, many people have begun using a CCTV DVR. This equipment allows users to record around their home or business. They can replay video and save it. It is a great tool to have for people who want to keep their homes safe.

One of the reasons to consider equipment such as this as because of the benefits it gives victims of a crime. Because the evidence is recorded, the victim can take it to the police and have the criminal apprehended. It is a very effective way to gather evidence against a criminal. Instead of basing a case on circumstantial evidence, real evidence will be present that will allow for justice to be done.

A lot goes into the purchase of security equipment. It is never a good idea to just jump into a purchase. First and foremost, consumers must find a quality product. A security system will not do any good if it does not work properly. Consumers need to find out what measures the company takes to produce quality products. If a company does not take any measures, then the consumer needs to move onto the next place. Quality is nonnegotiable when it comes to safety equipment.

Almost as much as consumers need good quality, they also need a good price. While it is difficult to put a price on safety, it is easy to understand that certain things just cannot be afforded. There are quality CCTV DVR systems on the market for an affordable price. Consumers just have to know where to look for them. With certain companies, the cheaper equipment is just as good as or better than the more expensive equipment that other companies offer.

Technical support is something else that needs to be considered by new buyers. There is nothing more frustrating than buying a new piece of equipment that cannot be set up. Most people will require a technical support staff to help them install their CCTV DVR. Consumers want to make sure that it is installed correctly, so they may have to pick up the phone and get assistance during the installation process.

While those are all of the most important considerations that must go into buying a CCTV DVR, the ease of use of the equipment is also important. Even if technical support is offered, the equipment still needs to be something that the user can understand.

CCS-Imports has all of the things mentioned and more. They offer free technical support to their customers. They are the cheapest online vendor in the industry and offer a seven day price match guarantee. Every product is inspected before it leaves the factory, so customers can rest assured that they are getting a quality product. The company also has a vast inventory that customers can go through before making a selection. All products are incredibly easy to use. To find out more, go to http://www.ccsimports.co.uk.

Over the past few years we have witnessed the appearance of day night CCTV cameras, all featuring a “miraculous” capability to amplify by many hundred folds the camera “minimum illumination” by removal of the IR cut filter and by turning off the color circuit. Usually, the day mode sensitivity ranges from 1 lux to 0.25 lux and leaps to 0.01 ~ 0.0001 lux for the camera’s night (B/W) mode. This “miraculous” increase is not real; it is a measurement trick by exposing the CCD (Charged Coupled Device) to high power infrared emission and specifying it inadequately in a very low lux value.

Lux and Infrared power are not the same. Lux is a photometric unit that measures point to point illumination (dependent on the quantity of irradiated light and the distance between the light source and the illuminated object) while Infrared power is a radiometric unit – measured in Watts . Illumination makes it possible for us to see while infrared irradiation is invisible to the human eye.

The distinction amongst illumination and infrared irradiation is in the frequencies, or the wavelength. The wavelength of the visible spectrum ranges from 400nm (violet) to 700nm (red) which is divided into a rainbow of colors from red to orange to yellow to green to blue and to violet.

CIE (Commission International de l’Eclairage) also known as International Commission of Illumination, has clearly stated the measurement of light, known as photometry, applies only to the visible portion of the optical spectrum and includes units such as nit, lumen, candela and lux. Measurements of human’s eye sensing ability have shown that the efficiency is highest to green color (100% at around 555 nm) and it declines to 50% near orange (around 610 nm) and blue (around 510 nm) and less than 10% near red ( around 650 nm) and violet ( around 470 nm). Humans do not sense radiated waves in the ultraviolet (below 400 nm) or the infrared (above 700 nm) regions.

CIE standards are quite complex but it will be sufficient to comprehend that the value for a green light source(555nm) with 1W of luminous flux, is equal to 683 lumen, which for a point to point measurement equals 683 Candela . In contrast, 1W of red (650 nm) luminous flux equals only 68 candela and 68 lumen and 1W of infrared (over 700 nm) radiant flux equals 0 lumen, 0 candela and 0 lux.

The problem is that few people know what lux and infrared radiation are, or how illumination and radiation are measured. One of the devices for measuring illumination in lux is the illumination meter, also known as a light meter. The light meter includes a filter and is calibrated to measure only light units within the visual optical spectrum as defined by CIE. This filter is similar to the IR cut filter preventing all infrared radiation from passing in order to keep the measuring accurate. That is why all the known exposure meters, light meters and other illumination measuring equipment will read 0 lux or some residual value when exposed to infrared radiation.

In CCTV light meters are used to measure the scene illumination observed by a security camera, but should never be used to measure infrared irradiation, because its reading will be 0 lux, or a residual reading like 0.001 lux, even though the scene may be exposed to considerable quantity of IR radiation.

In order to understand very well the significant impact that these measurements have in designing a CCTV system we must first understand how a CCD (Charged Coupled Device) works.

The CCD sensor is designed to resemble the human eye, with similar color sensing efficiency. That is why CCD sensors are most sensitive to the green (550nm) region of the spectrum and drop to 0 sensitivity in the ultraviolet (under 400nm) region. CCD sensors however do sense infrared radiation over 700nm and up to 1000nm (some are more sensitive and can sense up to 1200nm).

The CCD sensitivity is much lower in the IR region and drops to only 5-10% efficiency or less, as shown in a typical CCD efficiency graph.

Even though the sensor’s sensing efficiency in the IR region is very low, at day time infrared radiation which is heavily radiated by the sun, by hot objects, by human body and by incandescent or halogen light bulbs must be prevented from reaching the color CCD. If such IR is radiated into the optical path of a color CCD, it will cause heavy disturbances in the processing of color pictures. That is why every color CCD (or CMOS) sensor must be fitted with an IR cut filter that blocks the infrared radiation from reaching it. As explained above, sensors are far less sensitive to infrared radiation than to visual spectrum. Therefore the concept that the removal of the IR cut filter increases the camera sensitivity a hundred or even a thousand times is a simple case of distortion, induced by the improper use of a light meter for measuring infrared irradiation.

The common inaccurate test for the night mode of a day night camera is performed by introducing a powerful infrared radiator (incorrectly named IR illuminator) for irradiating infrared onto a dark scene. The test is carried out by connecting a CCTV camera (with its IR cut filter removed) to a waveform analyzer for measuring the output signal. The day/night camera is placed to observe an IR irradiated scene. After that the light meter is positioned into the scene to measure the infrared irradiation in lux.

This is a misleading test that generates false results. We will get an IR induced B/W signal into the waveform analyzer with a value like 20 IRE, while the light meters will read 0 lux or a residual value, such as 0.01~0.0001 lux, which is used in the camera’s technical chart to define sensitivity or its minimum illumination. You should be aware that IRE is a unit of signal level or strength and is not associated to infrared radiation in any way.

The correct but more “difficult” lab test of a CCTV camera’s sensitivity or minimum illumination is performed by placing a standard 2000 lux source with a test chart in front of the camera (connected to a waveform analyzer) with its IR cut filter removed. After the initial are inserted in front of the light source until the video signal measured drops to 20 IRE. The minimum illumination will than be calculated on a basis of the neutral density filter reduction factor. Neutral density filters are available in different transmittance factors and reduce the luminous intensity by ratios such as ½, 1/16, 1/50, 1/100 etc. The neutral density filters are very similar to those used in auto iris smart lenses.

This is why whenever you see a day/night camera with a minimum illumination values like 0.001 lux or even 0.001 lux, try to keep in mind one thing – marketing strategies sometimes weight more than common sense.