You may have heard about CCTV and how it’s used to protect homes and businesses, but how exactly does it work?
Let’s take a closer look at the surveillance device and its mechanisms.
Table of Contents
CCTV System
CCTV is an abbreviation for closed circuit television and covers a range of devices. The video captured is only available within a closed circuit and only to the owner of the system.
CCTVs before didn’t have storage or recording capabilities. They also mostly captured black-and-white videos and were grainy. Today, they’re full color, in HD and can record for hours.
CCTV Technology
CCTVs generally fall into 2 types- IP and analog.
CCTVs with IP configuration have recording capabilities via the internet. This device can stream its footage directly to your computer or mobile phone whenever you need it.
An analog surveillance system requires a connection to a DVR via cables. Here, you must tie in a cable to transfer the files for later viewing. Remote viewing is also possible with a home Wi-Fi. The DVR takes care of the storing, converting and compressing of the video.
CCTV Systems
CCTV systems are further divided into three types- simple, mains powered and those with recording capabilities.
Simple. A camera (or a set) are directly hard-wired into a display via a coax cable. The cameras themselves do not have independent power supply and must rely on the monitor.
Mains Powered. This type works similarly to a simple CCTV but the difference is that both display and camera are powered independently to each other.
Recorders. Has a built-in DVR in the form of storage drive or network. Homeowners can replay footage as needed depending on the storage size or battery. Most recorder-types have expandable storage so you can slot in an SD card and get a bigger capacity for longer recording hours.
