A huge range of cameras and CCTV products are offered, choosing the correct product can be a daunting task. What follows is some useful information you should consider when buying a cctv camera:
- CCTV Cameras placed outdoors must be weatherproof , all the external Cameras on our site are rated at least IP66 which can withstand British weather. Cable locations on sealed cameras come with trailing leads, that allows indoor or Junction box connections (must be IP56 and sealed with silicon where the box makes contact with the wall, the most common cause of failures is water in the box, the box usually does not leak, the rain runs down between the box and the wall then in through the screw holes). Ensure that the strength of the casing is solid and durable, all our chassis are extremely robust with cut proof brackets.
- Ensure that a ‘low light’ camera can produce images at night, without additional lighting these are usually classed as Sense Up, no I/R and are OK at very close range, these add more light to the CCD and boost the AGC resulting in very slow shutter speeds, big downfall is when a subject crosses the screen many shadowy images follow him, walking towards the camera is not too bad
- When choosing a camera ensure you survey the area you wish to survey, how far away is the target area and exactly what do you wish to capture, wide angle cameras offer a large area of coverage but small subjects, narrow angle cameras offer less area but bigger subject, resulting in better recognition.
- Wireless cameras are no longer made by ourselves, note they still require a power source
- If you are unsure how to fit a CCTV system, get it done by a professional CCTV installer – Big Brother Systems offer this service within a set radius of our factory and can help you choose the correct products and placements, for a wide range of uses.
- For recording CCTV images Big Brother Systems provides DVRs (or Digital Video Recorders) these could also be PC Based, note if you buy a 4 channel DVR it is not expandable, if you buy a 4 Channel PC based DVR it is expandable to 32 Channels.
- A DVR will convert images from a CCTV to a digital format which is H264 algorithm and store them on a Video hard drive. DVRs all come pre packaged with a facilty to view multiple images at once.
- There are two general types of CCTV cameras – CMOS and CCD. CMOS cameras are cheaper, but produce a different depth of image compared to CCD cameras, it is not so long ago CMOS technology was awful but n ow since the IP Camera concept they now can be true color (16.7 million) with superb Night Vision due to the fact that we can easily build in I/R Cut filters, not so easy with a CCD Camera, Check out our Megapix products which were originally designed as IP Cameras then factory converted. CCD cameras once produced the highest level of clarity nowadays an external CCD and CMOS with a 2.8mm wide lens on each are not easily distinguishable, fit narrow angle lens’s and the CCD based units come into their own.
- When choosing a camera consider sensitivity (the ability of the camera to respond to a range of light levels, or the size and quality of image that the camera produces – depending on your application, you will require a different lens and I/R power).
- Some cameras will specify a lux level - a figure that describes the type of light is can easily work in and how much light the camera and ‘see’ in, all our I/R Cameras see at Zero Lux how far depends on the I/R power.
- If you have multiple CCTV cameras the DVR will display all the cameras at the same time, they will also record at the same time, all our DVR’s can do this.
- Will the camera be installed in a place that is vulnerable to be vadalised? If so, you will require a vandal resistant CCTV camera our stock code: CAM12/2.8-12/700/EFFIO
- Camera Zoom – this is amount that the camera’s field of view from wide to narrow. we build 2 types of Zoom Camera: Manual Zoom…. this is where you change the zoom and focus manually when you set the camera up, note the night shot will automatically compensate on all our I/R Cameras and adjust the focus shift when the I/R comes on, note that most others available in the UK fail at this stage and a happy medium has to be selected to get a clear shot. Motorised Zoom: we produce 2 types both have 27 x optical zoom and focus automatically as they zoom and focus when the subject moves, one model has no I/R and relys on some degree of outside lighting CAM30-9/EZ/PLUS (needs a housing for external use)and the other model CAM100-27X-100 has Dual I/R ARRAY II’s 3rd Generation fitted with up to 100 Metres of night vision
