CCTV CAMERA LINE

[Guest eddiefast]

THERE IS THAT MANY NAMES AND BRANDS OUT THERE I KNOW YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR . WHAT I DO NEED TO KNOW IS TVL FOR JOBS . I KNOW FOR A BANK THE HIGHER SPEC THE BETTER . WHAT ABOUT A LITTLE CORNER SHOP OR A SMALL PUB OR A SMALL OFFICE . I DO NOT WANT TO OVER SPEC JOB THAT MEANS COSTING CUSTOMER MORE (MAY NOT GET JOB BECAUSE PRICE IS TO HIGH) AND THEY MAY NOT NEED THE HIGH QUALITY RECORDING ANY HELP WOULD BE GOOD

THANKYOU

EDDIE

[Brian c]

My opinion is the higher the spec the better for any premises. What if the shopkeeper was to be asssualted or fataly assaulted? The cameras installed there, then become much more important than the bank's next door. Just make sure you can get a good quality image from the recording that will clearly identify a persons face.

460 TVL and above is condsidered high resolution and I would spec this for any non domestic (and most domestics).

[Guest eddiefast]

thanks for you help brian

a very good point .no good having cctv cameras if you cannot id the person involved

[Guest PaulR]

It also depends where you put them. You might get away with 380/400 tvl in a small corner shop because nobody will be very far from the cameras, but putting them outside and expecting them to read number plates from the corner of a forecourt would be unrealistic.

Although there is more to it than that, such as the recording media. No good having a high definition camera and recording on something that only records at low resolution, or putting the image through a TV.

Lower res CCTV does have it's place (although I am sure many on this forum would disagree), but you need to be more careful with how you design your systems and what to expect from them.

[Doktor Jon]

PaulR

If you want to read a number plate 50 metres away with a 400 line camera, you've just got to make sure you have the correct telephoto lens fitted.

As you rightly suggest, it's choosing and setting up the correct combination of equipment which will produce the results.

The biggest problem is not so much the equipment, but more often than not .... the client.

Most don't understand (or indeed have any interest at all) in what they are buying, and if you are competing against cut price crackpots who promise the earth, the customer will end up getting a rubbish system, which sadly may be viewed by them as 'state of the art'.

I agree with Brian c about aiming to use high res. cameras wherever possible. We should always try and persuade the client to use the best performance equipment they can afford, in all situations.

[Guest PaulR]

Your dead right. But if you are buying a 380tvl camera (usually for cost reasons) your not going to stick a lens that costs more than the camera on it, but a reasonable 3.5-8mm 380 tvl camera will be OK in a small shop.

I agree though, always upsell - you get much less complaints about the cameras not doing what they want, which is usually my first question anyway "what are you hoping your CCTV system will achieve?"

Even though I am considered a 'Box Mover' here, I do take it more seriously than most of the other 'box movers' (hence I am on here, not them) and will always advise on a system that will achieve the results required.

[Doktor Jon]

Nothing much wrong with being a 'box mover' provided you offer a professional, considerate and appropriate level of service to your clients.

Without wishing to offend anyone, maximising profits by minimising specifications is not the way to go; unfortunately, too many are inclined to take this route, and the 'best of the results' usually end up on crimewatch! (and we all know what those results are like!!).

The lens issue is almost timeless - why spend extra money on a piece of glass with a name on it?

Well, I tend to take a rather simplistic view. The difference in cost between a rubbish lens and a quality branded optic may be £ 15 - 35 (on average). If you look at this in relation to the overall cost of the system, it may be relatively insignificant, or at the very least a cost which can be justified to the client.

The main recurring problem seems to be when a camera is fitted with a wide angle lens, because it's pretty much the cheapest, whereas the application ideally required a 1.5x telephoto which would have cost maybe £ 25 more. This scenario often happens when large organisations (I'm naming no names) bulk purchase for a number of sites, and they have neither the wit or the wisdom to ask someone in the know, whether this is the right thing to do.

I have to say that of all the various disciplines involved in day to day CCTV work, I've always found that lenses were perhaps the most misunderstood

[Guest aeading]

THERE IS THAT MANY NAMES AND BRANDS OUT THERE I KNOW YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR . WHAT I DO NEED TO KNOW IS TVL FOR JOBS . I KNOW FOR A BANK THE HIGHER SPEC THE BETTER . WHAT ABOUT A LITTLE CORNER SHOP OR A SMALL PUB OR A SMALL OFFICE . I DO NOT WANT TO OVER SPEC JOB THAT MEANS COSTING CUSTOMER MORE (MAY NOT GET JOB BECAUSE PRICE IS TO HIGH) AND THEY MAY NOT NEED THE HIGH QUALITY RECORDING ANY HELP WOULD BE GOOD

THANKYOU

EDDIE

34915[/snapback]

Ok I think I have the answer forget tvl for now if you use an operational

Requirement you will set out what the CCTV system minim requirement

Should be, example (to view a section of the counter where till 1 is placed.

The camera should be able to id currency values on transaction)

Couple the O/R with home office guide lines example to id a person

The subject should occupy 120% of the screen you can see that a camera

Will automatically have to reach a minim spec & observe a preset image

As for tvl this is a trial & error with different suppliers some spec

[Guest Taff]

Nothing much wrong with being a 'box mover' provided you offer a professional, considerate and appropriate level of service to your clients.

Without wishing to offend anyone, maximising profits by minimising specifications is not the way to go; unfortunately, too many are inclined to take this route, and the 'best of the results' usually end up on crimewatch! (and we all know what those results are like!!).

The lens issue is almost timeless - why spend extra money on a piece of glass with a name on it?

Well, I tend to take a rather simplistic view. The difference in cost between a rubbish lens and a quality branded optic may be £ 15 - 35 (on average). If you look at this in relation to the overall cost of the system, it may be relatively insignificant, or at the very least a cost which can be justified to the client.

The main recurring problem seems to be when a camera is fitted with a wide angle lens, because it's pretty much the cheapest, whereas the application ideally required a 1.5x telephoto which would have cost maybe £ 25 more. This scenario often happens when large organisations (I'm naming no names) bulk purchase for a number of sites, and they have neither the wit or the wisdom to ask someone in the know, whether this is the right thing to do.

I have to say that of all the various disciplines involved in day to day CCTV work, I've always found that lenses were perhaps the most misunderstood 

35123[/snapback]

[Guest]

I don's see ANY POINT in using anything else than HIGH RESOLUTION cameras and at least DC - autoiris (thou in stable indoor environments autoiris is not necessary) optics.

We sell at the moment Day/Night 480TVL camera + Aspherical 2,7-12mm varifocal DC - autoiris optics + bracket + PSU + Installation @ 251