CCTV Monitoring
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CCTV Monitoring is a vital part viewing and reviewing surveillance videos. There are several ways the signal from the CCTV cameras are monitored and we will review them as follows.
In its simplest form, the video signal from the camera can be fed directly into a video monitor and viewed in real time. For many applications this is perfectly acceptable.
However in large part, most users of CCTV systems want to record the viewed event for archival purposes or to review and study at a later time. In these cases the signals can be recorded either directly to tape or DVD. It is also very common to compress the signal and record it to a DVR.
The video is normally compressed and stored as a media file like mp4 or other efficient codec. Tracking information such as date and time can be added to the video event for easier tracking and review.
The modern day DVR’s or monitoring devices makes it very easy for the operator to control which camera he wants to view and locate events by specific date and time. Scan, fast forward, and find functions are usually well laid out and easy to operate.
Therefore when it is necessary to search the video for specific events or actions (for example a robbery, etc.), the operator can do a quick scan to locate key events. Many of these monitoring devices allows the video to be slowed down, stopped, paused, fast forward or rewind, and other key functions.
It is also possible to attach a printer to the monitoring device and do a screen print of a particular frame in the video. For the more sophisticated monitoring devices, they contain special circuitry which can optimize the video picture so that small details can be scrutinized better.
Many of things you see on CSI shows can actually be done on these kinds of monitoring devices. This includes focusing in on small portions of the video frame in order to study minute details. The monitoring devices interface with a sophisticated computer in order to perform the types of analysis necessary.
And many monitoring devices can be easily controlled remotely through an Internet connection. This makes it possible for an authorized user to control how the video is recorded as well as camera control and video signal quality. The level of control afforded to the user through an Internet connection is very flexible and broad indeed.
It is even possible to control a monitoring device anywhere in the world that has a high sped Internet connection. So this is true power on a global scale.
