CCTV Video Security Systems
Camera Options - Business/Enterprise

When designing a commercial video security system there are a host of camera options to choose from to meet virtually every challenge a video system might face. Below are some of the more common camera features available. Talk with a KIT designer to build a system that will work for you.

 

• High Resolution Cameras
Cameras available with resolutions up to 570 TVL
(compare to 420 TVL on a standard CCTV camera, or 330 TVL found on low end models at many retail stores)

• Pan/Tilt/Zoom Cameras (PTZ Cameras)
High speed PTZ cameras give the operator the ability to remotly direct each camera to any position. With optical zooms available up to 32X, a user can zoom in to identify an individual or read a license plate from a good distance away. When a PTZ camera is not being controlled by a user, it can be programmed to enter a tour pattern and follow a predetermined pattern throughout its field of view. Cameras can be controled via the use of advanced joysticks for maximum user control, or over the network or internet from a remote PC.

• Low Light Performance - Day/Night, IR, and DSS
Cameras employ a variety of methods to deal with low light situations. Some change from color to black & white when the light is low (B/W cameras see better in low light than color). Some use infrared emitters to shine an invisible light on a scene tha tonly the camera can see. IR cameras can see in black and white when it is pitch black. Some cameras use Dynamic Sutter Speed (DSS) technology which slows the shutter speed down dramatically as the light gets dimmer. DSS cameras have the advantage of offering color images in low light, but can not see in pitch black conditions as IR cameras can.

• Wide Dynamic Range (WDR) technology
WDR cameras are designed to perform well in situations where the light intensity changes drastically in the same scene. For example, a camera looking at a window where it is bright outside, and much darker inside. Cameras without WDR most choose one light intensity to focus for, leaving the image in such situations to be either too dark for the indoor portion of the scene, or too bright for the outdoor portion beyond the window. WDR takes two scans of a scene and combines them to give a light balanced image of the dark and light areas in a scene.

• Vandal-proof Housings
Cameras can be mounted in a variety of housings designed to withstand tampering and vandalism, protecting the expensive camera equipment inside from being destroyed by maliscious individuals or accidental impact.

• Weatherproof and Waterproof Housings
Camera enclosures can be water tight to resist rain or placement in marine areas. They can also be equipped with heaters and blowers to maintain a safe internal operating temperature in extreme weather conditions.

• IP Cameras
IP cameras digitize their video data and put it on your network. Each camera has its own IP address and can be accessed indvidually across the network, or as a group with the right cameras and the appropriate software. An added benefit to IP cameras is that they can utilize the existing ethernet infrastructure which can sometimes save a great deal of money in installation time. A drawback to IP cameras is that they introduce a significant amount of additional data onto the network. A poorly planned IP camera system can bring your network to its knees.

• Wireless Video Communication
For situations where cabling back to the recording/viewing equipment is cost prohibitive, video can be transmitted over wireless to its destination. This technology can be applied to IP or traditional analog cameras.

• Wide array of lens options
A standard fixed lens camera might offer a 50 to 66 degree field of view. A great many lenses are available however, from wide angle lenses for covering an entire small room with one camera, to long range lenses for viewing scens at greater distance, to varifocal lenses which can be manually adjusted to allow for adjusting the field of view.

• Standard Professional CCTV Camera Features
Most every commercial camera provided and installed by KIT has a number of technical features that help to offer superior image quality. Most of these features can be manually turned on and off to meet the needs of a particular environment.

- Auto Gain Control AGC: boosts video output when the light is low to help low-light performance
- Auto White Balance AWB: Balances colors for a more realistic and truer video image
- Back Light Compensation BLC: dims intense back light automatically to avoid washed out images
- Electronic Shutter: automatically changes shutter speed to adjust for available light
- Auto Iris: automatically controls iris to adjust for lighting conditions

• Motion detection
Motion detection is not a feature of a camera, but rather a feature of the head-end recording equipment.