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Introduction

As the name implies, Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) is a system in which the circuit is closed and all the elements are
directly connected. This is unlike broadcast television where any receiver that is correctly tuned can pick up the signal
from the airwaves. Directly connected in this context includes systems linked by microwave, infrared beams, etc. This
article introduces the main components that can go to make up CCTV systems of varying complexity.

The Applications for CCTV
Probably the most widely known use of CCTV is in security systems and such applications as retail shops, banks,
government establishments, etc. The true scope for applications is almost unlimited. Some examples are listed below.
Monitoring traffic on a bridge.
Recording the inside of a baking oven to find the cause of problems.
A temporary system to carry out a traffic survey in a town centre.
Time lapse recording for the animation of plasticine puppets.
Used by the stage manager of a show to see obscured parts of a set.
The well-publicised use at football stadiums.
Hidden in buses to control vandalism.
Recording the birth of a gorilla at a zoo.
Making a wildlife program using a large model helicopter.
Reproducing the infrared vision of a goldfish!
Aerial photography from a hot air balloon.
Production control in a factory.
The list is almost endless and only limited by the imagination.

The Camera
The starting point for any CCTV system must be the camera. The camera creates the picture that will be transmitted to
the control position. Apart from special designs CCTV cameras are not fitted with a lens. The lens must be provided
separately and screwed onto the front of the camera. There is a standard screw thread for CCTV cameras, although there
are different types of lens mounts.

Diagram 1 Camera And Lens
Not all lenses have focus and iris adjustment. Most have iris adjustment. Some very wide angle lenses do not have a
focus ring. The 'BNC' plug is for connecting the coaxial video cable. Line powered cameras do not have the mains cable.
Power is provided via the coaxial cable.

The Monitor
The picture created by the camera needs to be reproduced at the control position. A CCTV monitor is virtually the same
as a television receiver except that it does not have the tuning circuits.

Diagram 2 CCTV Monitor

Simple CCTV Systems
The simplest system is a camera connected directly to a monitor by a coaxial cable with the power for the camera being
provided from the monitor. This is known as a line powered camera. Diagram 3 shows such a system. Probably the
earliest well-known version of this was the Pye Observation System that popularised the concept of CCTV, mainly in retail
establishments. It was an affordable, do-it-yourself, self-contained system.

Diagram 3 A Basic Line Powered CCTV System
The next development was to incorporate the outputs from four cameras into the monitor. These could be set to sequence
automatically through the cameras or any camera could be held selectively. Diagram 4 shows a typical arrangement of
such a system. There was even a microphone built into the camera to carry sound and a speaker in the monitor.
The speaker, of course, only put out the sound of the selected camera. There were however a few disadvantages with the
system, although this is not to disparage it. The microphone, being in the camera, tended to pick up sound close to it and
not at the area at which it was aimed. There was a noticeable, and sometimes annoying, pause between pictures when
switching. This was because the camera was powered down when not selected and it took time for the tube to heat up
again.
The system was, though, cheap to buy and simple to install. It came complete in a box with camera, 16mm lens, bracket,
switching monitor and 12 metres of coaxial cable with fitted plugs. An outlet socket for a video recorder was provided,
although reviewing could be a little tedious when the cameras had been set to sequence.
There are now many systems of line powered cameras on the market that are more sophisticated than this basic system.
Most of the drawbacks mentioned have been overcome.
Cameras had been around for a long time of course, before this development. The example is given to show the simplest,
practical application. The use of some line powered cameras can impose limitations on system design. They do though,
offer the advantage of ease of installation.

Diagram 4 A Four-Camera Line Powered CCTV System

Mains Powered CCTV Systems
The basic CCTV installation is shown in diagram 5 where the camera is mains powered as is the monitor. A coaxial cable
carries the video signal from the camera to the monitor. Although simple to install it should be born in mind that the
installation must comply with the relevant regulations such as the Institute of Electrical Engineers latest edition. (Now
incorporated into British Standard BS7671). Failure to do so could be dangerous and create problems with the validity of
insurance.
This arrangement allows for a great deal more flexibility in designing complex systems. When more than one camera is
required, then a video switcher must be included as shown in diagram 6. Using this switcher any camera may be selected
to be held on the screen or it can be set to sequence in turn through all the cameras. Usually the time that each camera is
shown may be adjusted by a control knob or by a screwdriver.

Diagram 5 A Basic Mains Powered CCTV System

Diagram.6 A Four-Camera System With Video Switcher

Systems with Video Recording
The next development of a basic system is to add a video recorder, the arrangement would be as shown in diagram 7.

Diagram 7A Multi Camera System With Video Recorder
With this arrangement the pictures shown during play back will be according to the way in which the switcher was set up
when recording. That is, if it was set to sequence then the same views will be displayed on the monitor. There is no
control over what can be displayed.
Movable Cameras
So far all the cameras shown have been fixed with fixed focal length lenses. In many applications the area to be covered
would need many fixed cameras. The solution to this is to use cameras fixed to a movable platform. This platform can
then be controlled from a remote location. The platform may simply rotate in a horizontal plane and is generally known as
a scanner. Alternatively the platform may be controllable in both horizontal and vertical planes and is generally known as
a pan, tilt unit. A basic system is illustrated in diagram 8.
This chapter does not deal with how cameras are controlled or wired; it is just showing the facilities that may be
incorporated into a CCTV system. Therefore the diagrams that follow are simply descriptive block diagrams and not
connection drawings.

Diagram 8 Basic Movable Camera System
Cameras may be used indoors or outdoors. When used outdoors they will always require a protective housing. For indoor
use the environment or aesthetic constraints will dictate whether a housing is needed. Systems may contain a
combination of both fixed and movable cameras.

Diagram 9 Multiple Camera System
Other Considerations
This has been an introduction to some of the fundamentals of CCTV. Recent developments have made some very
sophisticated systems possible. These include concepts such as multiple recording of many cameras; almost real time
pictures over telephone lines; true real time colour pictures over the ISDN telephone lines; switching of hundreds, even
thousands, of cameras from many separate control positions to dozens of monitors; reliable detection of movement by
electronic evaluation of the video signal; immediate full colour prints in seconds from a camera or recording; the
replacement of manual controls by simply touching a screen;

Closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras can produce images or recordings for surveillance
[1]
purposes, and can
be either video cameras, or digital stills cameras. Marie Van Brittan Brown was the inventor of the CCTV camera.
Contents
[hide]
1 Video cameras
o 1.1 Analog
o 1.2 Digital
o 1.3 Network
2 Digital still cameras
3 See also
4 References
Video cameras[edit]


A couple of CS-mount lenses for surveillance cameras. The left one is designed to be hidden behind a wall.
Video cameras are either analogue or digital, which means that they work on the basis of
sending analogue or digital signals to a storage device such as a video tape recorder or desktop computer or laptop
computer.
Analog[edit]
Can record straight to a video tape recorder which are able to record analogue signals as pictures. If the analogue
signals are recorded to tape, then the tape must run at a very slow speed in order to operate continuously. This is
because in order to allow a three hour tape to run for 24 hours, it must be set to run on a time lapse basis which is
usually about four frames a second. In one second, the camera scene can change dramatically. A person for
example can have walked a distance of 1 meter, and therefore if the distance is divided into four parts, i.e. four
frames or "snapshots" in time, then each frame invariably looks like a blur, unless the subject keeps relatively still.
Analogue signals can also be converted into a digital signal to enable the recordings to be stored on a PC as digital
recordings. In that case the analogue video camera must be plugged directly into a video capture card in the
computer, and the card then converts the analogue signal to digital. These cards are relatively cheap, but inevitably
the resulting digital signals are compressed 5:1 (MPEG compression) in order for the video recordings to be saved
on a continuous basis.
Another way to store recordings on a non-analogue media is through the use of a digital video recorder (DVR). Such
a device is similar in functionality to a PC with a capture card and appropriate video recording software. Unlike PCs,
most DVRs designed for CCTV purposes are embedded devices that require less maintenance and simpler setup
than a PC-based solution, for a medium to large number of analogue cameras.
Some DVRs also allow digital broadcasting of the video signal, thus acting like a network camera. If a device does
allow broadcasting of the video, but does not record it, then it's called a video server. These devices effectively turn
any analogue camera (or any analogue video signal) into a network TV.
Digital[edit]


A traffic surveillance camera inStockholm, Sweden
These cameras do not require a video capture card because they work using a digital signal which can be saved
directly to a computer. The signal is compressed 5:1, but DVD quality can be achieved with more compression
(MPEG-2 is standard for DVD-video, and has a higher compression ratio than 5:1, with a slightly lower video quality
than 5:1 at best, and is adjustable for the amount of space to be taken up versus the quality of picture needed or
desired). The highest picture quality of DVD is only slightly lower than the quality of basic 5:1-compression DV.
Saving uncompressed digital recordings takes up an enormous amount of hard drive space, and a few hours
of uncompressed video could quickly fill up a hard drive. Holiday uncompressed recordings may look fine but one
could not run uncompressed quality recordings on a continuous basis. Motion detection is therefore sometimes used
as a work around solution to record in uncompressed quality.
However, in any situation where standard-definition video cameras are used, the quality is going to be poor because
the maximum pixelresolution of the image chips in most of these devices is 320,000 pixels (analogue quality is
measured in TV lines but the results are the same); they generally capture horizontal and vertical fields of lines and
blend them together to make a single frame; the maximum frame rate is normally 30 frames per second.
That said, multi-megapixel IP-CCTV cameras are coming on the market. Still quite expensive, but they can capture
video images at resolutions of 1, 2, 3, 5 and even up to 11 Mpix. Unlike with analogue cameras, details such as
number plates are easily readable. At 11 Mpix, forensic quality images are made where each hand on a person can
be distinguished. Because of the much higher resolutions available with these types of cameras, they can be set up
to cover a wide area where normally several analogue cameras would have been needed.
Network[edit]


Looking at the inside of a network camera. From left to right: network adapter, power supply, CPU, image encoder, image sensor.
IP cameras or network cameras are analogue or digital video cameras, plus an embedded video server having an IP
address, capable of streaming the video (and sometimes, even audio).
Because network cameras are embedded devices, and do not need to output an analogue signal, resolutions higher
than CCTV analogue cameras are possible. A typical analogue CCTV camera has a PAL (768576 pixels)
or NTSC (720480 pixels), whereas network cameras may have VGA (640480 pixels), SVGA (800600 pixels) or
quad-VGA (1280960 pixels, also referred to as "megapixel") resolutions.
An analogue or digital camera connected to a video server acts as a network camera, but the image size is
restricted to that of the video standard of the camera. However, optics (lenses and image sensors), not video
resolution, are the components that determine the image quality.
Network cameras can be used for very cheap surveillance solutions (requiring one network camera,
some Ethernet cabling, and one PC), or to replace entire CCTV installations (cameras become network cameras,
tape recorders become DVRs, and CCTV monitors become computers with TFT screens and specialised software.
Digital video manufacturers claim that turning CCTV installations into digital video installations is inherently better).
There continues to be much debate over the merits and price-for-performance of Network cameras as compared to
analog cameras. Many in the CCTV industry claim that many analog cameras can outperform network cameras at a
lower price.


Looking at the inside of a CCTV camera


Hitachi CCTV color camera


Philips CCTV Varifocal Auto-Iris security camera lens
Digital still cameras[edit]
These cameras can be purchased in any high street shop and can take excellent pictures in most situations.
The pixel resolution of the current models have easily reached 7 million pixels (7-mega pixels). Some point and
shoot models like those produced by Canon or Nikon boast resolutions in excess of 10 million pixels.
At these resolutions, and with high shutter speeds like 1/125th of a second, it is possible to take jpg pictures on a
continuous or motion detection basis that will capture not only anyone running past the camera scene, but even the
faces of those driving past.
These cameras can be plugged into the USB port of any computer (most of them now have USB capability) and
pictures can be taken of any camera scene. All that is necessary is for the camera to be mounted on a wall bracket
and pointed in the desired direction.
Modern digital still cameras can take 500 kb snapshots in the space of 1 second, and these snapshots are then
automatically downloaded by the camera software straight to the computer for storage as timed and
dated JPEG files. The images themselves don't need to stay on the computer for long. If the computer is connected
to the Internet, then the images can automatically be uploaded to any other computer anywhere in the world, as and
when the pictures are taken.
The user does not need to lift a finger except to simply plug the camera in and point it in the desired direction. The
direction could just as easily be the street outside a house, or the entrance to a bank or underground station.
Digital still cameras are now being made with in-built wireless connectivity, so that no USB cable is required; images
are simply transmitted wirelessly through walls or ceilings to the computer.

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