CCTV cameras have become part of our security systems. Nearly every home or business premise has CCTV cameras installed, and this is for a good reason: to identify burglars and see the aftermath of an eventuality. Without CCTV it could be difficult to identify thieves and criminals after they execute their heinous acts. This guide will help you buy and install effective CCTV cameras for your home or business premises, especially those of us who own pharmacies, shops, schools, exhibitions, and more. A few years ago, CCTV cameras were considered high-end, but today, it is cheap to buy and install real-time cameras.
With many varieties of CCTV cameras available in the market today, it can be a daunting task to select one that meets your requirements. If wishes were horses, every mother would like to know what is happening back at home with the nanny and their lovely kids. But CCTV cameras have made this a reality. Mothers can be able to check what is happening at home remotely and in real-time.
Factors to consider before buying CCTV cameras
When planning to buy and install a CCTV camera in your home or business premises, there are factors that you must consider, for example, night vision, weatherproof, mobile remote viewing, and so on. Let’s have a look at the factors below:
- The number of channels: this is the first aspect to look at when selecting the type of CCTV camera to install. Channels determine the number of cameras to install. You will find CCTV cameras sold in pairs of 4, 8, 16, or 32. It is advisable to buy CCTV cameras with a higher number of channels to take care of future expansion and to save on cost.
- Visual quality: Consider the quality of vision in terms of resolution. Some of the best cameras have 720p or 1080p resolution. The greater the camera resolution the better the quality of images and videos recorded.
- Night vision: This is the ability of a CCTV camera to capture images during the night or in poor lighting conditions. CCTV cameras with night vision are ideal for homes and businesses.
- Does it have an inbuilt SD card or depends on an external storage device?: With the advancement in technology, most cameras come with inbuilt memory cards so that they are CCTV complete on their own. Cameras with card slots allow memory cards of various sizes; for example, 16GB, 32GB, and higher. But most of these cameras do not have memory slots and depend on the DVR hard disk to record.
- Pan/tilt: Modern cameras can tilt and rotate to capture a wider perspective. Pan is the angle with which the camera can rotate horizontally, while tilt is the angle at which a camera can rotate vertically.
- Motion/audio sensor: These are smart surveillance cameras that can detect motion or audio to start recording, they are not yet popular but that is where the technology is headed to. They are useful since they send alerts to the owners whenever there is an unusual sound or motion within the premises so that the owner can confirm whether something unusual is happening and call the police before the damage or before the burglars escape.
- Easy to install: Some CCTV cameras are complicated to install and require experts while some can be a DIY project.