17 Things To Know Before Buying A CCTV Camera

  CCTV cameras have evolved substantially in the last decade. But in all fairness, these are not a part and parcel in everyone’s life. So looking through the ...

CCTV cameras have evolved substantially in the last decade. But in all fairness, these are not a part and parcel in everyone’s life. So looking through the newest of CCTV technologies, features and types of CCTV security cameras can be intimidating. Also, asking for help from a marketing consultant could be just a waste of time. They usually throw in the most polished words to make buying CCTVs all the more difficult. So before you choose the best CCTV camera for your home or business, you need to have a brief idea on what to look for.

With the advancement of CCTV technology, today many of the CCTV cameras are CCTV systems by themselves. They come with a micro SD card slot in them. Users can insert memory cards of various capacities, 32GB, 64GB, or 128GB for recording. Many of modern CCTV cameras sold in India are upgradeable up to 128GB.

But there are also cheaper cameras that do not have the internal storage and depend on the surveillance hard disk in the DVR.

The modern CCTV cameras can rotate horizontally and vertically to cover a large space around them. The maximum angle that a CCTV camera can rotate horizontally is called as Pan and vertically is tilt. Some of the best CCTV cameras, for instance, Sricam SP005 SP Series can pan up to 355 degrees and tilt up to 90 degrees. Certain CCTV cameras could be remotely rotated by their apps. So if you want to monitor a large portion of three-dimensional space, a CCTV camera with higher pan/tilt is essential.

The best CCTV cameras of today produce videos in 720p (1MP) and 1080p resolution. Of course, greater the resolution, better will be the quality, however, it also means you need a higher amount of storage to record a day’s video. If you have a DVR with large internal storage in terabytes, buying a high-resolution camera may not be a bad idea. But cameras with in-built storage will easily get filled. To deal with this, some of the cameras have an overwrite feature which self-erase micro SD once it fills up and continues recording. Obviously, this can create recording loss problems. A 1MP camera approximately takes up to 38GB of data space on recording for a whole day. So relate the resolution of CCTV camera also with the storage space and backup time than just with the visual quality before choosing a particular CCTV camera.

Motion sensors are actually a part of smart security cameras. These are currently not very popular in India because of their high price but are definitely the future of CCTV cameras. For instance, Samsung Smartcam HD Pro costs Rs.18,499 per piece. With motion and audio sensors, CCTV cameras detect and alert owners about unusual sounds and movements by sending them a notification on their mobile app. If you are in need of a top notch security system and want to best protect your home or office, buying a CCTV camera with motion and audio sensors is worth the money.

If a CCTV camera has a good pan/tilt, it might not require accurate positioning. You might just place them over a heightened table or wardrobe.

For first time use, you might require to download an app from Google Play Store on your phone, install it, signup and authenticate by scanning the QR code on the camera. This should only take a few minutes. Overall, the setup process of a CCTV camera should be an easy process in this day and age.

There are CCTV cameras with an inbuilt microphone that allow 2-way communication. This is useful for people who want to keep in touch with their kids at home and ensure their safety and security.

For an outdoor CCTV camera, waterproofing is a must. If you want to monitor the space in-front of your shop, home or any other outdoor space, you should look for waterproof CCTV cameras.

Before you choose a CCTV camera, you have to check the details about the contents you will be getting on buying it. The key contents to look for are installation gear like mounting stand, power screws, cables and power adaptor. Sometimes, low-cost CCTV cameras do not come with power adapters, and it would be an additional expense. So make sure you get all these in your package.

Infra-Red LEDs are small bulbs located on the sides of the lens at the center. These provide Infra-Red light at night for night vision. Greater the number of LEDs, better will be the quality of recordings at night.

The maximum range or range of a CCTV camera is dependent on focal length of the lens and size of the image sensor. Greater the range, the clearer will be the objects captured from the far away distances. Higher range is essential for outdoor CCTV cameras. A CCTV camera should have an at least of 20 to 25mtrs of range.

Inbuilt Hotspot in a CCTV camera allows users to access the live stream on their smartphone without the need of an internet Wi-Fi. But this works within a limited distance from the camera. These cameras are easy to identify as they have an antenna on them. This is a good feature to have in CCTV cameras installed in small shops and malls. Managers can monitor various parts of the floor, without having to connect to the internet connection.

Some manufacturers make and sell CCTV cameras as a part of CCTV system. They are only compatible with their parent DVR. So if you are buying a CCTV camera for an existing DVR, make sure it is compatible with it.

Indoor cameras are suitable for offices and homes. These are compact in size and typically have a dome shape.

Outdoor cameras, on the other hand, are used for spaces including grounds, outside shops, markets, airport, roads etc. These have high pan/tilt and zoom which enables them to cover large spaces.

Wired:

Wired CCTV cameras are quite popular in India because of their lower price. These are connected to DVR through a Siamese Coax Cable. Wired CCTV cameras are more reliable than wireless CCTV cameras as they are hard connected through wires.

Wireless:

Wireless cameras offer benefits in terms of mobility and scalability. These are usually easy to install and move around. Good quality branded wireless cameras are expensive than wired cameras. The high-end offices and homes today prefer these cameras as they do not disturb the aesthetics with wires and cables. For using wireless cameras, one should have a high-quality router, reliable internet connection, and speed.

A decent quality CCTV camera comes with at least a one year warranty and the robust ones can have warranty up to 3 or more years.