Selecting a Security, Surveillance Camera : CCTV or IP Camera
If theft and burglary
sound like news headlines to you, please take a reality
check. Without trying to cause a panic attack, a
word of warning: both are much more prevalent than you
can imagine. You can’t
afford to take a risk when the safety of your dear ones,
and your valuable assets are concerned. Being
paranoid doesn’t
solve the problem either.
You need to engage in
electronic warfare to counter threats to your security.
Catching an intruder on camera can provide evidence in
court. A video record also provides intelligent
data mining and information retrieval if you want to
know exactly what happened in any place or situation you
want to monitor.
Once you decide to set up
a video surveillance system, take some time to plan and
design it. You need to decide whether to go for
the classic CCTV (Closed Circuit TV) based surveillance,
web cameras attached to your PC, or the more recent IP
(Internet Protocol) camera technology.
CCTV
Originally, video surveillance was
done using closed circuit television. This
technology uses analog video cameras, coaxial cable and
video tape recorders. The cameras transmit a
signal to a specific, limited set of monitors.
CCTV systems typically involve a fixed communications
link between cameras and monitors, using wires and
cables. This method records what is happening, but
does not send you alerts. CCTV works like a VCR,
you have to change cassettes, image quality is average,
storage tapes wear out over time, and storage is bulky.
Also, the cameras, monitors, and recorders must be
physically close enough together to be connected by
cables.
Web Cameras
A web camera is connected to the
PC, most often via a USB port, and uses the PC to make
video available to other viewers. Images from a
web camera can be accessed over the Internet with the
help of monitoring software. Web camera images can
be uploaded to a web server, either continuously or at
regular intervals.
Webcams are being used effectively for security
purposes. Webcams can be used to monitor and
record activity in small offices, shops and homes.
Monitoring software, such as
WebCam
Monitor, is needed to complete a video security
system. A web camera works only if it is
directly attached to a PC. You will need a long
cable if you want to monitor something that is not near
the PC the web cam is attached to. Web cameras can
only be directly read and controlled by one host
computer and cannot be shared across a network.
IP Cameras
With the Internet revolution, there have been great
strides in video surveillance. IP cameras are
stand-alone devices that connect to your Ethernet or
wireless network. An IP camera acts like a
computer on a network, allowing you to view its video
feed from anywhere in your network or over the Internet.
You can monitor multiple cameras at multiple locations
from one remote site. The digital picture quality
is superior to analog. Recordings are highly
compressed for easier storage
Let’s look at the benefits of an IP camera over CCTV.
- Live Remote Monitoring: For a company
with operations in geographically dispersed
locations, monitoring multiple locations becomes
easy and economical with IP cameras. The
camera doesn’t need to be connected to a PC.
You can view the camera images from any place that
has an Internet connection. All you need is a
PC with access to the Internet to view all the
activity live.
- Motion Detection and Alarms: When IP
cameras are used with motion detection software such
as Webcam
Monitor or Security
Monitor Pro, you will be informed and alerted
instantly when motion is detected. They
trigger sound alarms, sends SMS and e-mail alerts
when motion is detected, allow you to view cameras
remotely, and much more.
- Better View and Control: Some IP
cameras have features like Pan, Tilt and Zoom (PTZ).
You can control the camera remotely, adjusting the
focus, angle, and field of view without being
actually present at the camera site. You can
track and zoom to reveal more about the exact
person, place or thing you are concerned about.
Video security can be both a defense and a deterrent.
As they say: Better safe than sorry! If you are
considering installing or upgrading video surveillance
for your company or your home, understanding how
different video surveillance systems work is critical to
your making the correct decision.
IP camera-based systems are the future of video
surveillance. In the short term they may be a bit
more expensive, but it is obviously an investment in
superior quality and flexibility. As the
surveillance technology of the future, you won’t be
outgrowing an IP camera-based video surveillance system
any time soon because new developments in surveillance
systems are based on improving this technology.
Therefore, you will be able to upgrade and improve this
system for years to come while older systems will become
obsolete.
When setting up a video security system with
WebCam Monitor you can choose from the following
list of supported IP cameras:
More cameras are added to this list regularly.
Even IP cameras that may not be listed here may work with
WebCam Monitor. The program will work with most cameras that stream MJPEG over HTTP. If you know the URL of the camera's video stream, select the Generic IP Camera and type that address in the URL blank of the Camera Settings. If you would like our developers to test your camera and add support for it to our software, please
Contact Us.
You can download the free trial version of
WebCam Monitor and test it with no risk.