IP Camera Surveillance System
Once you have decided to opt for the IP camera based surveillance system , you can begin specifying the requirements for your video security system. Before you buy an IP camera, you need to answer some basic questions.
While Buying an IP Camera:
1. How large an area do you want to view with each camera?
The distance to and the width of the area you want to view will determine the type of lens you need. The higher the “mm” (focal length) the smaller the field of view and the more magnification you get.
2. How much light is available?
Do you want to monitor and record at night? The amount of light determines how sensitive the camera needs to be. You may wand to select a low-light camera. The "Lux" rating tells you how well a camera sees in dim light.
3. Do you want to use the camera outside?
If the camera needs to be used in a wide variety of lighting conditions, you need an auto-iris lens that adjusts to the light.
4. Do you have a large area that requires a Pan, Tilt, Zoom (PTZ) camera?
You can select a camera with either digital PTZ or mechanical PTZ.
5. What frame rate is required?
A high frame rate is required if you want to record a fast moving object. But if you are using the camera for general surveillance; you may only require 1 or 2 frames/sec. The higher the frame rate the more storage space you will require.
6. How much image clarity and detail do you require?
If you want to view a larger area then you need a higher resolution camera. Higher resolutions provide more clarity and better image quality. But if you want to monitor a smaller area and do not want to see a detailed view, a camera with lesser resolution might do. Higher-resolution images also mean larger recorded video and snap files, thus taking up more storage space.
7. Do you want to monitor manually or need automatic alerts?
if you simply want to view your IP camera from any location, you need either a PC or a mobile device like a PDA (Personal Digital Assistants) or cell phone with an Internet connection. Surveillance software can automatically start video recording when motion is detected. Special video software like EXPSView.exe is used to control the video from IP cameras. It stores the video, sounds alarms when motion is detected, controls PTZ movement, and much more. Once motion is detected you can be notified by email, sound alarm, or even receive a page.
Taking these factors into consideration, you can choose among the many IP cameras available in market.
It's important to consider the compression method used by an IP camera. Compression reduces the size of the video files generated while monitoring. Since video files contain a huge amount of data, compression is required to reduce the storage and bandwidth requirements. The commonly used compression techniques are MPEG-4 and MJPEG.
