Outdoor Security Camera Housing

An outdoor security camera differs from an indoor security camera by the standard of toughness it must be built to in order to survive the outdoor environment. Obviously the conditions are much tougher than in an indoor environment where there are fewer uncontrollable or unpredictable elements that could affect the usable life of the camera. The term indoor and outdoor security camera housing refers to the level of protection it offers the camera and may not necessarily correspond to where the camera is installed. For example, an outdoor camera designed for very cold conditions can be placed indoors inside a warehouse freezer.

Things like extreme temperatures, moisture, dust, and vandals are just a few things that can destroy an outdoor security camera. Animals and explosions are very real threats, although the latter is much less likely than the former.

The Outdoor Environment

There are two ways a camera can survive the outdoor conditions. The camera may be built with protective casing or the camera may be enclosed in a separate housing unit. Camera housing is very effective and is built for specialized protection against whatever threatens your camera. This is important because a camera housing that offers protection against snow, rain and cold weather would be important to someone in Chicago but not as useful in Phoenix, Arizona. But one of the biggest threats is vandalism that is going to be our primary perspective here when we talk about protection.

For weather conditions there are cameras that are especially designed for different conditions. A specially sealed housing is available for anyone who needs water-proofing or dust-proofing the camera. There are housings with fans or even air cooling mechanisms to withstand hot temperatures as well as heating available against cold climates. For some of these units an additional power source will be required to power the mini-climate controls. This depends on the amount of energy consumption because a small simple fan can sometimes hitch its power off the camera's power source while a full fledge air conditioner will require its own supply of power.

Security Camera Housing

Camera housing is classified into two categories and is applicable to the type of camera it is used to protect. There is fixed camera housing and there is dome camera housing and each type has its own things that must be taken into consideration. When it comes to fixed camera housing, the way it opens up must be taken into consideration to ensure that installation is even possible with your particular current set up. These units come with either side openings or slide openings. The dome camera housings offer clear or smoked bubble. Each has its advantages and it depends on individual needs. A smoked bubble is more discrete about the surveillance activity but the tint of the glass hinders the quality of the image. A high quality bubble lens should have minimal effect on the image quality.

Also, there is a higher standard placed on housing for PTZ cameras because of the zoom functions of the camera. A speck of imperfection in the window of the housing can be magnified and be obstacles in proper image capturing. If the glass is not even in thickness, a curved line may appear in the image when it really is a straight line. Also, too much thickness can cause the camera to capture unwanted reflections and refractions of light. A lot of the image quality has to do with the quality of the glass as well as the positioning of the camera lens inside the housing.

For specific protection such as acids, housings are required to be made of stainless steel. In general metal housing offer better protection than plastic housing. Some housing is built to be pressurized, submersible, bullet-proofed and even strong enough to withstand explosives. For other environmental elements such as wind and traffic that can cause vibrations to the camera, the housing are built small and designed to be securely mounted.

Aside from the fans, blowers, wipers, and heaters that help the camera cope with the climate conditions there are housing that having built in peripherals to enhance or support functionality of different applications. The most common peripheral is the built in antenna for wireless cameras. This is found in metal housing which, along with offering better protection overall than plastic housing, also blocks the wireless signal of the camera inside the unit. The antenna offers the option to enclose a wireless camera, connect it to the antenna, and continue using all the wireless functionality of the camera as it was meant to be.

In the end, what specific housing or protection method the owner chooses is because it best suits his situation. There are things that the outdoor security camera is in risk of, and there are risks that do not exist in the environment the camera are installed.