Introduction:
As the name implies, Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) is a system in which the circuit is closed and all the elements are directly connected. This is unlike broadcast television where any receiver that is correctly tuned can pick up the signal from the airwaves. Directly connected in this context includes systems linked by microwave, infrared beams, etc. This article introduces the main components that can go to make up CCTV systems of varying complexity.
The Applications for CCTV:
Probably the most widely known use of CCTV is in security systems and such applications as retail shops, banks, government establishments, etc. The true scope for applications is almost unlimited. Some examples are listed below.
- Monitoring traffic on a bridge.
- Recording the inside of a baking oven to find the cause of problems.
- A temporary system to carry out a traffic survey in a town centre.
- Time lapse recording for the animation of plasticine puppets.
- Used by the stage manager of a show to see obscured parts of a set.
- The well-publicized use at football stadiums.
- Hidden in buses to control vandalism.
- Recording the birth of a gorilla at a zoo.
- Reproducing the infrared vision of a goldfish!
- Aerial photography from a hot air balloon.
- Production control in a factory.
The Camera:
The starting point for any CCTV system must be the camera. The camera creates the picture that will be transmitted to the control position. Apart from special designs CCTV cameras are not fitted with a lens. The lens must be provided separately and screwed onto the front of the camera. There is a standard screw thread for CCTV cameras, although there are different types of lens mounts.
Not all lenses have focus and iris adjustment. Most have iris adjustment. Some very wide angle lenses do not have a focus ring. The 'BNC' plug is for connecting the coaxial video cable. Line powered cameras do not have the mains cable. Power is provided via the coaxial cable.
Other Considerations:
This has been an introduction to some of the fundamentals of CCTV. Recent developments have made some very sophisticated systems possible. These include concepts such as multiple recording of many cameras, almost real time pictures over telephone lines, true real time colour pictures over the ISDN telephone lines, switching of hundreds, even thousands of cameras from many separate control positions to dozens of monitors, reliable detection of movement by electronic evaluation of the video signal, immediate full color prints in seconds from a camera or recording, the replacement of manual controls by simply touching a screen.
How CCTV surveillance systems work:
During the agreed monitoring periods, our remote monitoring stations monitor every activity on the client site. The video images of the activities taking place in the premises are available instantly to our remote monitoring station. Unlawful activities on the client site are visually verified at the remote monitoring station. This will reduce the headache of the police authorities a lot since only the actual incidents are reported to the police. The "speak to site" audio facility from our remote monitoring station enables us to keep away potential trespassers, thus preventing incurrence of such incidents.
The images and information received from CCTV cameras and detection devices are monitored by experienced professionals. On detection of any suspicious or fraudulent activity in the monitored sites, the professionals at remote monitoring stations initiate appropriate response which has previously been agreed upon with the client.
Hi-Tech CCTV Monitoring has several mission critical servers at the heart of its remote monitoring systems with multiple processors and multiple hard drives. They constantly take each other's back up for maximum security and permanently monitor the remote surveillance systems in the field. All these systems enable us to offer many advantages such as continuous recording, higher image quality, faster image search and retrieval, superior archiving capabilities, instant playback, simultaneous playback, record and archive capability to the end user.
In today's scenarios and environment security measures play a very important role in managing a setup or a gated community, which includes offices, schools, colleges, factories etc. Current methods of deploying these facilities are the conventional security guards. However,info reliability on such manpower cannot prove hundred percent accurate. In order to overcome the errors caused due to manual management of security surveillance, Coresonant provides highly accurate CCTV/IP Cameras for effective and constant monitoring. These cameras can monitor movements at varied distances depending on the type of Camera used. Coresonant also provides the uniqueness of integration of the camera software with any existing client applications.