Setting Up An Outdoor Security Camera

The first step to finding the right outdoor security camera for your surveillance needs is determining what your needs are. There are a few basic considerations that need to be decided on before we even start looking at the available cameras to choose from. Security cameras come in two flavors and are differentiated by the type of image sensor the camera uses to capture images. In general CCD based cameras will produce higher quality images but will also cost more than cameras that use CMOS image sensors.


Outdoor Environment and Lighting Conditions

Quality of a camera is not limited to the image that it is able to produce. Substandard durability of a camera could jeopardize your surveillance efforts if it is installed in an area that is prone to vandalism or harsh external environmental conditions. A cameras with a strong built in casing or an external camera housing may be required especially if it is for outdoor monitoring.

In most cases, outdoor security cameras have more requirements to be effective because the environment is less controllable and less predictable. The lighting conditions of indoor environments can usually be adjusted but it can be a little more of a challenge outdoor. This is something to keep in mind or else you would end up spending a lot of money on a high quality camera that is useless because it was not designed of use in low light environments. Aside from additional lighting which may not always be an available option there are several ways to capture images at night.

The cheapest and most effective way to go is with a black and white camera. These cameras require much lower light levels to produce an image than a colored camera. For 24 hour outdoor security surveillance, there are day and night cameras with sensors to detect the external lighting conditions. When the lighting levels drop to a point, the camera switches into a black and white night camera and then back when light levels change again.

For true night time recording, night vision cameras are commercially available in a wide range of quality. The minimum lighting requirement is measured by the LUX level. However, this number will only be accurate when comparing within the same brand as the standards tends to fluctuate across manufacturers. A LUX rating of 0 means that the camera was designed to operate in complete darkness.


Security Camera Image Sensor and Image Quality

CCD image sensors make it harder to build to camera around which is the primary reason it tends to be on the pricier side relative to the other type of camera. It also consumes almost one hundred times more energy than a CMOS image sensor with equal specifications. Also, CMOS sensors have been improved immensely and are very quickly closing the gap in terms of image quality, an area where CCD sensors have always held the advantage.

Some people need security cameras to identify an individual’s face while others are used to monitor general activity in a particular area. Obviously, the more detailed the image has to be, the higher image quality will be required of the camera and we can safely expect to spend a little more for a quality camera to capture the details.

The sharpness of the image that a camera can produce is measured by the resolution. A higher resolution means higher quality and in most cameras can are typically around 400 lines. Lower resolution cameras offer resolutions of around 330 lines.


Security Camera System

One determinate of what camera you will eventually need is the intended size of your surveillance system. This will influence multiple factors such as how much you will spend on a camera and the type of camera. For single camera it okay to spend an extra couple dollars for enhanced features but across a twenty camera system those extra dollars add up fast. Larger systems also require more hardware to bridge the system together which means less available money to spend on the cameras as cables, extensions and video management software all cost money.

More advanced monitoring systems allow the operator to control the camera view from a central location, in older systems, or anywhere around the world, in fully digital network systems. Most video feed today is recorded onto a digital video recorder, or DVR. This makes it easier to manage large quantities of video instead of keeping shelves full of security tapes.


The Future of Security Monitoring

With new technologies popping up everywhere and changing everything, so has the field of security surveillance. Once dominated by CCTV analog cameras, full digital system are increasing taking over in popularity for its flexibility and cost effectiveness in large security systems. Even in systems that use analog technology they are usually hybrids because some parts will use digital hardware. Clearly digital is the way all outdoor security camera systems are headed in the very near future.