First, you need to decide what areas you want to monitor and at what level of detail. If you want a camera to monitor the front entrance, do you want to see just a face or a wider angle? If monitoring a driveway, do you want a shot of the whole road or do you want something with license plate recognition? Deciding what you want to see will help you choose the right components.
Next, decide what picture quality you need. Quality refer to how detailed the image is and how fast the frame rate is.
Detail quality can range greatly depending what you are looking to achieve. A camera 50 feet away could be looking at an area as small as 4ft wide by 3ft high to get a crisp face image. However such a tight field of view would not be right for someone who needs to monitor all activities across a 100ft wide area. The wider the angle the more you will see, but you will have less detailed information. When looking at an area 50 feet wide, you can see detailed information like faces.
Frame rate is the number of pictures taken per second. Full motion video is 25 to 30 fps. What you see on television and at the movies are at 30 frames per second. Video surveillance systems usually record at a rate between 5 to 15 fps. This results in a less fluid or jerky looking image. However this does save recording space, allowing for longer periods of time to be recorded.
Next, you need to think about storage and monitoring. A Digital Video Recorder (DVR) can be either a stand-alone unit or a computer. Quite often people opt to put a DVR card into an existing or new computer. Depending upon the DVR used, it may be possible to network the DVR so it can be monitored from a 2nd location on site or even off site over the internet.
How will your system be monitored? Will you record at all times simply reviewing the video when a problem or event happens? Will you have a security guard or other employee watching for trouble? Video Monitoring companies can also be utilized depending on your needs.
You also need to decide if your goal is to deter crime or catch them in action. Both are important. To deter crime, you want people to see the cameras. Large noticeable cameras are great to help stop crime before it happens. Catching them on video without them being aware of it requires covert or hidden cameras. Most systems are comprised of both visible and hidden cameras.
Biometrics
Gift Certificates
