TYPES OF CCTV SECURITY CAMERAS

UNDERSTANDING THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF CCTV CAMERAS FOR HOME, OFFICE OR BUSINESS APPLICATIONS: A GUIDE

When it comes to securing homes and businesses, CCTV security camera systems are among the first security measures to consider. However, CCTV camera systems can be complex and come in wide varieties that are suited for varied applications.

Most home and business owners are wrong to assume that any type of CCTV camera would work in any application, and a guide to the types of CCTV cameras and their ideal applications would come in handy when they’re considering deploying security cameras for their unique needs.

Bullet Cameras

Bullet cameras have a cylindrical ‘bullet’ shape, hence the name, and are the most commonly used type in both home and business applications. They’re ideal for covering long-distance sand outdoor spaces and are thus mostly deployed in places like parking lots, farms, driveways, roads, and most industrial or commercial environments.

They’re therefore built to be dust, dirt, heat, and water-resistant while also being highly conspicuous, thus acting as a deterrent to potential criminals.

C-Mount Cameras

C-Mount cameras are built with detachable lenses that can be switched whenever there’s a need to monitor varying distances. Like bullet cameras, they’re built with rugged material for outdoor deployment, are highly conspicuous, and thus act as a good deterrent.

They’re especially ideal for monitoring roads and driveways due to their ability to be configured for long-distance viewing.

ANPR/LPR Cameras

Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) or License Plate Recognition cameras are designed to detect, capture, and log vehicle license plates.

They’re ideal for applications like toll stations, vehicle parking booths, and highways, especially for traffic and law enforcement purposes. They can be programmed to flag vehicles that have been banned from premises or alert relevant authorities whenever flagged number plates have been captured.

Pan-Tilt-Zoom (PTZ) Cameras

PTZ cameras have the ability to turn left and right (pan), up and down (tilt), and zoom in and out on a field of view. They’re ideal for large spaces like parking lots, malls, and industrial yards, particularly in a control room situation where a controller or guard is actively monitoring and controlling the camera. The guard or controller can either use a joystick or software to control and operate the camera.

The optical zoom feature enables the viewer to get finer details of a view or object, and the pan and tilt functions enable a 360-degree view. They can also be programmed to do the pan, view, and tilt functions automatically via presets or cues such as motion detection.

They can be a cost-saving measure as they can be used to cover areas that would require more than one static camera.

Dome Cameras

Dome cameras are named after the dome-shaped casing they’re housed in. The glass dome casing, which hides the lens, makes it hard for someone to guess where exactly the camera is facing or the field of view.

Also, the hidden lens and vandal-resistant dome (for some models) make it harder for someone to interfere with the camera’s field of view or tamper with the lens.

They therefore appear subtle and unobtrusive, making them ideal for indoor use in places like homes, restaurants, hotels, banking halls, hospitals, supermarkets, and shopping malls, though they can still be deployed outdoors.

Fish eye cameras

Fish eye cameras are equipped with ultra-wide lenses that offer panoramic 360-degree views when mounted on the ceiling or 180-degree views when mounted on a wall, which helps eliminate blind spots with just a single camera when properly installed. Images from a fisheye camera appear warped, which creates the effect of a fish eye, hence their name.

They’re ideally deployed in supermarkets, manufacturing floors, airports, and libraries.

IP/ Network cameras

IP or network cameras can either be accessed or share footage over the internet or Ethernet network or be accessed via an NVR (Network Video Recorder). Wireless cameras fall under the category of network/IP cameras.

They can be deployed in home, business, or industrial applications and are especially useful in places where the clarity and integrity of images are of great importance.

They can be easy to implement as they can be connected directly to the internet or network without the need for a recording device and accessed remotely via software or an app.

Analog Cameras

The major difference between analog and IP cameras is in their connection method, though they both have the same working concept.

Analog cameras use coaxial cable to connect the camera to a DVR (Digital Video Recorder), while IP/network cameras use category 5 or 6 cables to connect either to a network or NVR.

Wireless Cameras

Wireless cameras can be classified under the category of IP cameras as they can connect directly to the internet or network via Wi-Fi and thus require an IP address.

They’re ideal for small homes and businesses, and since they don’t require any cabling (apart from power) to install, they can be a convenient and cost-effective security solution. Some come with an on-board battery, thus eliminating the need for cables completely.

The fact that they don’t require cabling to work makes them ideal for temporary deployments and in places where cabling is not an option or would present a physical or aesthetic inconvenience. They can be programmed to store footage on-board or at a remote storage site, such as a cloud server.

They’re available in both indoor and outdoor models and can be done in a DIY fashion. Wireless cameras are also known as stand-alone cameras as they can function independently and don’t need to be connected to a recording device (NVR or XVR), though they still can be.

Spy cameras

Also referred to as covert or hidden cameras, these cameras can come in many unconventional shapes and are meant to be discreet and record activities covertly.

They’re useful in places where potential criminals or individuals would rather not know that they exist, for instance, in interrogation rooms. The fact that they’re hidden or covert makes them hard to spot and thus less likely to be intentionally destroyed by a potential criminal.

Varifocal lens cameras

Varifocal lens cameras can be either bullet or dome cameras, but they have a motorized lens that can be adjusted for view angles, focal lengths, and zoom levels. They’re ideal for expansive surveillance environments like airports, malls, warehouses, or farms.

They offer the user the option to view objects at varying distances without having to switch cameras.

Cellular Cameras

Sometimes referred to as 3G or 4G cameras, cellular cameras are wireless cameras that use a cellular network rather than Wi-Fi for data transmission and remote access.

They’re ideal for temporary deployments or in remote environments where there is no internet connection, like farms or rural homes.

Deep Learning Cameras

Deep learning cameras employ artificial intelligence (AI) to comb through, recognize, and learn patterns by combing through massive amounts of data. They can be programmed to recognize specific objects or changes in scenes, categorize the information, send alerts, and raise alarms whenever needed.