A CCTV system will be based around a DVR or digital video recorder. CCTV cameras are connected to the DVR using cables and there will be some ancillary items such as a power supply for the cameras.

The length of the recorded footage on a DVR or NVR is impacted by many variables. Firstly the number of cameras and how they are setup to record can greatly increase or reduce the recording duration. If the cameras are setup to record just on motion detection without audio, you will get most efficiency out of your DVR. Frame Rate also plays a huge role in video storage, a frame rate of 6 frames per second will make recorded video look jumpy, whereas 15 frames per second will smooth out the movement but double the storage space required. Most cctv cameras can record at a maximum of 30 frames per second, you would use this to capture number plates of extremely fast moving vehicles, the storage for video at 30 fps will be considerably higher than 6 and 15 fps video streams

When it comes down to image quality, digital cameras will always surpass analog cameras. Similar to analog TV’s versus digital TV’s the image clarity and sharpness is much better. In addition, the recording resolution (the amount of information displayed on the screen) is much higher. On the news nearly every day we see terrible CCTV footage, you’re not able to make out the face of a suspect or their number plate or any distinguishable features for that matter. Digital CCTV cameras dramatically improve the ability to recognize detail which can lead to identification and if the suspect is guilty, conviction.

Knowing which CCTV Camera to use for which application can be tricky. The majority of our cameras (not including the NPR cameras) can be used in most common scenarios. We would recommend fixed lens cameras as standard as you do not need to adjust the zoom and focus of these. If you do want to adjust the zoom and focus of a camera we would recommend the auto focus cameras as these cameras will automatically focus if installed on an SPRO system, you can even adjust the zoom and focus from your mobile phone. All of the external cameras we sell have IR built-in as standard so they will work with no light with differing ranges in IR distance depending on the camera model.