STYLES OF CAMERA
The majority of the home installations we carry out are completed using a turret style camera. They are more aesthetically pleasing on the outside of a house, rather than a large bullet camera.
The style of camera and range of view and zoom depends on the area to be covered. We tend to install a Pan, Tilt, Zoom (PTZ) camera in external car parks of buildings of multiple entry and exit points.
There are times when covert cameras are required to detect theft from retail premises. These are hidden in everyday devices such as mirrors, down-lights, smoke detectors and clocks.
Which Is Best For Me
We are often asked to explain the difference between IP cameras and HD cameras.
The DIGITAL IP cameras that we install in most households are connected to a NVR (Network Video Recorder). The cameras require one cable back to the NVR which transmits power to the camera and takes data back. The recorder can then be connected to the internet in your house, whether Wi-Fi or Ethernet cable - and images can then be viewed over the internet on any smart phone or tablet. If you prefer, the images can be viewed on any PC with an internet connection. The NVR has an option for 1TB to 8TB hard drive allowing for recordings of several weeks for a 4 camera system. The oldest image files are then overwritten daily so that the hard drive maintains the most recent recordings.
IP Cameras are used in residential,office and commercial applications. IP is Internet Protocol and most of these cameras are PoE, which stands for Power over Ethernet. This means that each camera is linked by an Ethernet cable which transmits power to it and receives the video data from it. The Ethernet cables from each one of the cameras is then connected to a switch with PoE capability and into the internet. This allows for the cameras to be viewed over the internet, with the capacity to link an DVR or NVR to store the recordings. The size of the hard drive in the recorder will depend on the number of cameras. A system with 16 cameras for instance, would require a DVR or NVR with a 6TB hard drive or larger.
TURRET CAMERAS
We tend to use Turret CCTV cameras (often referred to as 'Pig Nose') in most of the home installations we carry out. They are more aesthetically attractive on the outside of a house that a large bullet camera, but still have the same desired effect of deterring burglars.
Turret CCTV cameras are available in grey or white - and one of their significant benefits is that the base is large enough to conceal the cables, meaning there is no need for a separate junction box. Obviously, this is not always a requirement because we install many of the household cameras alongside the eaves of a house, and feed the cabling into the loft space.
If there is no power in your loft for us to connect into it, then we can install it for you. Another benefit our CCTV systems is that most of them run from a 12v DC supply.
The only time that you will have to gain access to the NVR/DVR in the loft space is if you have been broken into and you want to download the video images directly from it.
In most cases the images can be downloaded remotely from a PC or tablet and saved to a file, or emailed elsewhere. The current range of IP cameras that we install give a clear, crisp image in live view or playback. The major advantage of this type of CCTV camera is the ability to zoom in on live view up to 8 times without losing focus. In playback the images are clear and precise if required for police evidence.
Turret cameras supplied by Stockport CCTV are wide angle allowing for the best images at setup.
COVERT CAMERAS
Hidden cameras are often necessary when you suspect theft from your premises, things are being taken while you are away from your desk, your home or from store rooms, and proof is required to find out exactly who is responsible. We also supply them for use as nanny cameras or to see what 'Home Helpers or Carers' are up to while looking after your loved ones.
We can build and install a covert hidden camera into virtually any household device to fit in with the room in which it's going to be used. We have previously built cameras into objects such as books, mirrors, clocks and sports equipment. The standard items that are most commonly used are key fobs, smoke alarms, PIR detectors, clocks, radios and power adaptors.
Camera units are installed with their own SD card to record quality images directly into the unit and make it easy to remove and play back on your PC. Most cameras are fitted with motion detection so if the unit is powered from the mains it will not be necessary to change the SD card daily.
PTZ CAMERAS
Pan–Tilt–Zoom cameras (PTZ cameras) are CCTV cameras that can be operated remotely, both with a linked keypad and joy stick and over the internet, changing direction and zoom control.
They are often used where a professional CCTV installation is required to protect large premises externally. The cameras can be programmed to scan areas by presetting the desired locations. These can be different access doors or entry or exit points, car park entrances and loading bays.
The zoom control depends on the camera lens but can be from 10 times zoom up to 32 times zoom. The number of preset areas can be as high as 128 or it is possible to set 6 tours with the camera moving remotely across preset locations and permanently filming. This can be stopped by an operator at any time and one set location can then be zoomed into.
Auto Tracking
An innovation to the PTZ camera is a built-in firmware program that monitors the change of pixels generated by the video clip in the camera. When the pixels change due to movement within the camera’s field of view, the camera can actually focus on the pixel variation and move the camera in an attempt to centre the pixel fluctuation on the video chip. This process results in the camera following movement, whether that is a vehicle or a person walking. The program allows the camera to estimate the size of the object which is moving and distance of the movement from the camera. Using this estimate, the camera can adjust its optical lens to zoom in and out in an attempt to stabilise the size of pixel fluctuation as a percentage of total viewing area. Once the movement exits the camera’s field of view, the camera automatically returns to a pre-programmed or "parked" position until it senses pixel variation and the process starts over again.