Network security cameras – part II

(The first article is located here)

As the name implies, network security cameras require a network.  There are two network options, wired and wireless.  A wireless network camera may sound like the better solution, but it is not.  (Note, many wireless network cameras have a wired Ethernet port.)  Connecting to a wired network has many advantages.  First a wired network has a dedicated connection to your recording device; a wireless camera is more likely to experience interference and the wireless signal can be disrupted.  Also a wired network camera may support PoE (Power over Ethernet); with the one cable, you can get data and power.  Also wired network cameras generally have better recording quality because a wired connection is more reliable.  Where wireless network cameras excel are in remote, difficult to access areas such as construction sites.

The camera’s Lux rating will tell you how dim an area can be for the camera to still record video.  The lower the Lux rating the dimmer an area can be.  There is also an upper limit to the Lux rating, but generally camera specifications list the dimness Lux rating.

There are some cameras with night vision.  These cameras have infrared LEDs that turn on when it is too dim to record.  The infrared LEDs emit light that the human eye cannot pick up but the camera can.  There is a limited recording range because the infrared LEDs, like a regular flashlight, can only emit in a limited area, generally 40ft-60ft.

Sound and motion sensors are a nice feature to have.  Most areas that need monitoring do not require 24 hour recording.  For example a doorway, the majority of the time nothing happens, but when the door opens and closes, or people are walking through the hallway, one would like to record it.  Motion or sound will trigger the recording.  This is an excellent feature.  It will save an incredible amount of storage because the camera will only record when there is motion or sound.

The last features we will discuss are auto-focus, auto-zoom and pan/tilt.  We are grouping these features together because they are mechanical features.  All cameras have a focus and zoom that can be adjusted manually, and you can pan and tilt the camera when it is getting setup.  Auto-focus, auto-zoom and pan/tilt very are nice features to have because you will be able to adjust these automatically and remotely.  Auto-focus will adjust the focus of the camera automatically.  This is very useful in areas where the image can be very far one moment, and very close the next.  Auto-zoom and pan/tilt are very useful when you are monitoring the camera in real time.  It is also be very useful if the area you need to survey has moved and the camera is not easily accessible to adjust, such as in a parking lot where the camera is mounted on top of a light post.

There are other available features such as Two Way Audio, Temperature Sensor, additional memory slot, enclosures and housings.  We may discuss these in future articles.

If you have any questions about this article or the first article, fell free to contact us.