How to choose a CCTV kit

Video control is one of the key elements in the security system. A video camera, unlike an alarm sensor, allows you to see any event, and not just receive a signal about the incident. Thanks to visual control, it is much easier to cut off false alarms from real ones. Plus, video recording allows you to most accurately establish the causal relationship of events, determine the source of incidents and conflict situations.

Functions of the video surveillance kit

A typical video surveillance kit consists of a video recorder and cameras connected to it. Many mistakenly believe that such a kit is only capable of displaying "live" video on a connected TV / monitor and archiving video recordings on the hard drive of the DVR. Actually it is not. Almost any modern video surveillance kit already "out of the box" allows you to:

A modern out-of-the-box video surveillance kit can detect movement within the entire surveillance zone

• conduct automatic video recording of events in the controlled area constantly, according to a schedule or when motion is detected;
• start/stop video recording manually for any of the connected cameras;
• create private zones protected from viewing;
• detect movement within the entire surveillance zone or in a specific selected area;
• detect attempts of unauthorized redirection of the lens, closing or illumination of the camera;
• create a video archive of events for later viewing if necessary;
• carry out remote viewing of video surveillance cameras using P2P technology, including from computers and mobile devices - smartphones and tablets;
• use free cloud service and storage to back up important information.

When installing specialized software such as HUNTER, MILESTONE, NumberOK, TRASSIR, etc., the capabilities of the video surveillance kit can be significantly expanded by adding such functions as:

• recognition of license plates and fixation of the car itself;
• car counting;
• control of the time spent by the car on the territory;
• automatic control of the vehicle access control system to the territory through barriers and gates;
• work with the access control system based on face recognition;
• displaying information about cash transactions and searching the archive for video clips related to these transactions;
• counting items on a moving conveyor;
• video analysis for the appearance of objects in the frame similar to the sample image;
• detection of abandoned / carried away objects, etc.

We add that the kits usually work perfectly with the proprietary software of the central video surveillance management system (iVMS from Hikvision, PSS from Dahua, CMS from Tecsar, etc.), which allows integrating hundreds of different kits into one centralized structure, and if necessary, conveniently structuring them into subgroups .

Analogue or digital

At the moment, sets with analogue HD (1280x720) and Full HD (1920x1080) resolution cameras.

Analogue video surveillance kits are not produced today. Generally. To work with analogue cameras, including high-resolution ones, today only hybrid systems (with HVR recorders) are produced that support both analogue and digital cameras. Moreover, both types of cameras can even work simultaneously. However hybrid systems are usually equipped with analogue cameras (which are much cheaper), so we will conditionally call them analogue. All hybrid kits are compatible with older D1 and 960H analogue cameras that are still widely used today. When buying a new hybrid solution, you can safely continue to use all or part of these, along with new higher resolution cameras. Of course, if the number of free BNC video inputs on the recorder allows.

At the moment, kits with analogue cameras HD (1280x720) and Full HD (1920x1080) resolutions (such as Tecsar AHD 3OUT ), , Hikvision DS-J145I 2OUT+2IN etc.). In the near future, analogue cameras and corresponding sets with a resolution of 4MP will appear on the market, but so far there are no such solutions.

Yes, and it must be said that high-definition analogue video exists in three incompatible standards: CVI, TVI and AHD. There are recorders with the ability to connect TVI and AHD cameras, but these are the latest models and there are not many of them yet. So, by purchasing a ready-made set of analogue video surveillance, the user gets rid of problems with equipment incompatibility in the bud! This is an important advantage of buying a ready-made kit. Analogue systems also have other advantages, namely:

• zero delay signal transmission to the video surveillance device (we are not talking about remote viewing via the Internet);
• lack of loss and loss of frames;
• excellent compatibility with the old infrastructure of video surveillance systems based on coaxial cable;
• the ability to work with old analogue cameras that can continue to be used in non-critical video monitoring areas;
• long range of the camera from the recorder, up to 500 m for HD cameras and up to 300 m for Full HD;
• normal operation over an Ethernet cable when upgrading the cable infrastructure for IP solutions (however, the allowable cable length is reduced to 100 m, like with IP cameras).

Digital kits differ from analogue kits in that video digitization is carried out directly in the IP camera itself, while in the analogue / hybrid kit, the video recorder is responsible for this. In a digital suite, a video recorder (NVR) simply serves as a central communications hub and storage for video files.

Advantages of digital IP video surveillance kits:

• connection to a standard computer Ethernet or Wi-Fi network (this eliminates the need for a separate cable infrastructure for a video surveillance system);
• the digitized signal transmitted by IP cameras is less susceptible to distortion from electromagnetic interference than the signal of analogue cameras;
• digital IP kits will allow you to work with video of much higher resolution and better detail than analogue ones.

On the last point, however, it is necessary to clarify that a modern hybrid DVR can easily work with cameras with a resolution of 3M and 5M, but .... Only if only high-resolution digital IP cameras are connected to it, that is, in fact, such a solution will be purely digital. And much more expensive than analogue. Actually, due to the high cost of IP solutions, most of the video surveillance kits currently available in Ukraine are with analogue video cameras.

Wired or wireless

When there is strong interference or heavy load on the Wi-Fi network used by the camera errors in work are possible.

When choosing a digital video surveillance kit, the question often arises - which kit to take, wired or wireless? The answer here is unequivocal - you need to choose a wired kit. And only if there is absolutely no way to bring a video cable to the camera, you can stop at the wireless Wi-Fi option. Why? Let's figure it out.

If there is strong interference or a heavy load on the wireless Wi-Fi network used by the camera, flaws in operation are possible: image delay, frame drops, and even skipping of entire video clips lasting several seconds. The latter is quite enough to "imperceptibly" steal, for example, money or some valuable thing. As practice shows, with a not very busy home or office Wi-Fi network, more or less normal operation of a maximum of four cameras with HD (720p) resolution is ensured. Therefore, we emphasize once again that the most reliable and fastest operation of the video surveillance system is ensured with a wired connection. At least now, until the cameras have acquired powerful high-speed Wi-Fi modules of the 802.11ac standard.

Number and type of cameras included

The number and type of cameras in the kit must be selected based on the tasks in front of the video surveillance system.

The number and type of cameras in the kit must be selected based on the tasks facing the video surveillance system. So, if it is necessary to organize security video surveillance in a large country house, then you will have to monitor both the adjacent territory and the nearby road and cars passing along it. In the house itself, it is desirable to see what is happening in the rooms for proper control over the children, the nanny, the butler, the governess, and others like them. For such tasks, you need a set with 8-16 cameras (Tecsar AHD 8OUT Lux , Hikvision Turbo HD DS-J150i 4OUT and Hikvision Turbo HD DS-J150i 2OUT+2IN , Tecsar AHD 4OUT Lux and Tecsar AHD 4OUT Mix Lux , etc.). If there are many connected cameras, then to save disk space on the DVR, it is best to set the cameras to record only by motion - this will allow you to store a longer video archive.

If we are talking about an office, then the appearance of the cameras is not so important, but here it is better to prefer domed ones - after all, most of them will be installed indoors to monitor employees and visitors. In this case, street cameras can be used to control the entrance and parking near the office, if necessary. Naturally, cameras "looking at the street" must be guaranteed to be in a metal, vandal-resistant, moisture-, dust- and frost-resistant case, because internal dome models will not work here. Usually for an office, small shop or warehouse, a mixed set of 6-8 outdoor and indoor dome cameras (Tecsar AHD 8OUT Mix 3) is enough.

When it comes to video surveillance of an apartment, then you can get by with 1 – 4 cameras (Tecsar AHD 1OUT , Tecsar AHD 4OUT Mix , Hikvision DS-J145I 2OUT+2IN etc.). Zones that are critical for control are a corridor at the door or a stairwell, a house adjoining area if the apartment is on the first or second floor, a parking space for a car near the house. If desired, you can install an internal camera in the children's room to monitor a small child and a nanny. But a teenager or an adult family member is unlikely to enjoy being under the constant “cap” of video surveillance ... By the way, it is highly desirable to have a home DVR in a place hidden from prying eyes, and not in plain sight. Otherwise, the “guilty” members of the household may have an obsession with correcting or deleting the “compromising” video.

Well, that's all we wanted to tell you about video surveillance kits. Good luck choosing!