Video Surveillance – Explained by points!

Video Surveillance systems from the Technician Standpoint can be put into four components.

1. Video Camera – A device that converts visible light to an electrical impulse and sends down a cable like CAT-6 or Coax.
2. Electrical Cable – This can be any cable as long as the camera and record will support it, or converters can be used to change the signal to some that they can use. Typically this is a CAT-5/5e/6 or more significant for IP-based cameras and Coax like RG-59/6.
3. DVR (Digital Video Recorder) / NVR (Network Video Recorder) – This device converts the camera’s electrical signal into a format that can be recorded on a hard drive. In most cases, the design is something like h.264 or h.265 to save space, but each recorder manufacturer uses its version of the standard.
4. Viewing Software or Station – This could be part of the DVR/NVR, but on larger systems, it is a separate PC that connects to the recorders to do either or both live viewing of the cameras and viewing of the recorded video.