If you are in the market for a CCTV package for your home or SME, you are definitely making the right choice. CCTV cameras offer security and peace of mind. When burglars or miscreants target homes or businesses, CCTV video footage can help identify the crime and criminals instantly. Surveillance studies conducted in cities, especially crime prone regions, suggest that installing CCTV cameras act as a crime deterrent, and media reports suggest a marked decrease in the number of crime cases reported from areas where CCTV cameras are operational.
Once you have made the decision to purchase and install CCTV cameras, the next step is shopping for the best fit. With so many options available, how do you decide what works best for you? Price can be one deciding factor. Many websites offer new economical CCTV camera packages, starting as low as USD $599. With price points for every budget, buying a CCTV package does not need to be an expensive ordeal. A first time buyer will encounter countless options: What kind of camera resolution or viewing resolution is best? What are the best viewing frame rates? Do I need night vision? How much video recording capacity and video storage capacity will I require?
In this article, we break down these terms for you and help you decide the best CCTV package for your needs:
1. CCTV camera resolution
Most tech savvy users wield phone cameras and video camcorders and discuss megapixels and camera resolutions like a pro. However, when researching CCTV camera packages, you may come across the term TVL or TV lines. What are these? Well, most CCTV cameras operate on the analog camera or analog television system. Therefore, instead of pixels, we talk in terms of TV lines. We understand that higher the pixels, better the image quality we receive. Similarly, the more the TV lines (subject to size of lens, light, and so on), you will receive better picture quality on your CCTV camera. For most home and business security purposes, camera resolutions may range from 420 to 700 TV lines. In fact, 700 TV lines is the maximum you may find. Once you enter the digital CCTV field, you may find pricier options with much higher resolution cameras.
2. Internet viewing resolution
Internet viewing resolution uses CIF (Common Intermediate Format) as a measurement unit. It defines a video sequence with a resolution such as 352 X 288 that maybe converted for viewing in PAL or NTSC formats. Confused? Let us try that again UAE Outdoor CCTV Installation. Your camera captures an image at a certain rate called frames per second. The CIF resolution refers to how your DVR records this image or sequence of images. In a nascent hard drive or hard disk industry, storage was expensive. Naturally, people preferred to compromise and capture low-resolution images by sacrificing 4 CIF and maximum frame rate. With video storage turning cost efficient, you can now capture images on 4 CIF and get maximum detail. As the name suggests, 4CIF offers almost 4 times the size of the image and is especially beneficial in places such as front desks, doorways, bank operations, and so on, for facial recognition and clarity in images. In other areas, where you prefer fluid action and no lapse in capture of movements, you may resort to CIF while recording.
