Whether installed on a home or a business, very few security measures work as well as surveillance cameras. Cameras give you “eyes” on your property at all times. When connected to your network, you can view live footage at any time. Additionally, you also have access to footage stored on your recorder for later viewing. Moreover, the presence of cameras alone encourages thieves to choose another target. A visible surveillance presence does quite a bit to turn away crime before it happens! As with any technology, we recommend occasional upgrades as products evolve and improve. In fact, over the last 10-15 years, cameras in particular have seen huge improvements that make them more effective than ever. Today, we’ll show you how we can help with upgrading your surveillance system.
First, we’ll show you equipment that we install when working with existing cameras. This will include a look at the cameras we can install as replacements for older models, as well as the recorders we use to take in existing cameras and add new ones as well. From there, we’ll explain how to understand camera resolution differences and how to use this knowledge to help design an upgrade. Finally, we’ll also look at modern cameras’ artificial intelligence capabilities, which have increased cameras’ security capacity tremendously! Now, let’s dive in with a look at how we update existing systems with older cameras.
Upgrading Older Cameras
Since “upgrading” your surveillance requires the prior installation of cameras at your property, part of this work generally includes bringing older cameras up to modern standards. Camera technology has come a long way just in the last decade alone. This makes it quite easy to find equipment that replaces your old cameras with higher-security models at a reasonable cost. In this section, we’ll review the equipment we use to replace existing cameras. Additionally, we’ll also look at a unique type of recorder that can facilitate an upgrade by accepting both older and newer types of camera wiring!
Hybrid video recorders can utilize both analog and IP camera wiring to make upgrades as efficient as possible.
Utilizing Existing Wiring During an Upgrade
Most any surveillance system we install involves running wiring from each camera location back to a centrally-located recorder. When upgrading camera systems, we often must work with existing analog camera technology. Analog cameras send video back to a recording device called a Digital Video Recorder, or “DVR.” The video footage is traditionally sent from the cameras to the recorder through a coaxial (or coax) video cable. Analog cameras also require a second wire for power. Often, a coaxial cable and a power cable are connected together into one thick “Siamese” wire for ease of use. You can generally identify this wire due to its thickness, since it’s actually two cables in one large casing.
Modern IP (or Internet Protocol) cameras transmit video over a computer network. These cameras can sometimes store video at the camera itself, but are usually wired back to a Network Video Recorder (or “NVR”) for longer-term video storage. IP cameras are connected by Category (or “CAT”) wire to an Ethernet-based power source. Power Over Ethernet, or “POE,” technology allows the transmission of power over the same data cables that transmit the video to the recorder.
Previous generations of camera technology could only transmit poor video quality over analog wiring. This meant that upgrading these cameras required running new CAT wiring in place of existing Siamese wiring. This obviously proved an expensive undertaking. However, recent technology allows us to install high-quality analog cameras on existing wiring. This allows you to get a better picture at a reasonable cost. When we complete this type of work, we often install a unique recorder to facilitate it. Let’s take a look at that piece of equipment now!
The Power of “Hybrid” Recorders
As you can imagine, older analog recorders cannot take in CAT wiring for new IP cameras. Similarly, IP-based NVR’s cannot utilize older Siamese wiring. However, camera manufacturers do create recorders that take in both analog and IP surveillance wiring! These recorders, known as “hybrid” recorders, provide the perfect way to upgrade your security. Whether you upgrade your analog cameras or keep them in place, we can install a hybrid recorder that works with them while also creating a place for newer IP wiring. As any older analog cameras fail, you can install the high-quality analog models discussed above in their place. This allows you to create a complete system of high-quality cameras over time, without ever having to deal with two separate recorders! Now, let’s see how we help customers select cameras that give them the video quality they need at each camera location.
Finding the Right Resolution for You
When designing a surveillance upgrade, you’ll want to create an expectation for exactly what type of picture you’ll want going forward. These days, just about any camera that we install comes equipped with high-definition picture. Therefore, if you have cameras that do not adhere to these standards, you should consider an upgrade. Additionally, many customers find themselves surprised to learn that cameras often record in even higher quality than “high definition!” As we pointed out in our post on Choosing IP vs Analog Cameras, every image captured by a camera is made up of hundreds of thousands — if not millions — of smaller images. Each of these images is called a pixel, and one million of these pixels is called a megapixel. The higher a camera’s megapixel count, the higher the quality of an image.
Full high-definition television screens project an image containing 2.1 megapixels. Therefore, you may think a 2.1-megapixel camera would project about the best picture possible. However, cameras with higher resolutions allow you to zoom in closer on an image before the image begins to “break up,” known as “pixelating.” For those looking to have the ability to zoom in closer on an image, we recommend cameras in the 4- to 8-megapixel range. We often show our customers examples of different camera resolutions to help them see the difference. This can help them make informed decisions when we design a surveillance camera upgrade. In fact, many customers utilize cameras of differing qualities in the same surveillance system depending on each camera’s location. Now, let’s look at how artificial intelligence features can add security when upgrading your surveillance system.
Artificial Intelligence search features represent one of the biggest leaps in surveillance technology in recent years.
Taking Advantage of Artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence (or “A.I.”) technology has made its way into every number of technological products over the last several years. In this case, surveillance cameras prove no exception! A.I. technology presents many exciting features, allowing you to track access to your property with more options than ever.
Cameras equipped with A.I. technology allow you to search for video based on specific features. For example, may want to search for every instance of a red car driving into your lot. Or, you might want to see if you can find video of an individual wearing a blue hat. Now you can search for these specific instances to streamline your security experience. Furthermore, advanced A.I.-enabled cameras can even recognize a face and show you each time a specific person has entered your home or business! This technology represents a great reason to consider upgrading your surveillance system.
Putting it All Together and Upgrading Your Surveillance System
We hope that this post helps you understand how we can help with upgrading your surveillance system. Moreover, we also encourage you to contact us with any questions you may have about the material in this post. Furthermore, we also invite you to take advantage of our site survey program. We offer free quotes to both new and existing customers alike.
Perhaps you have an outdated camera system in place and want to see what it would take to upgrade it. Or maybe you don’t have surveillance yet but you’ve decided now is the time to install this valuable security equipment. Either way, we will happily look at your application to address any security concerns you may have. Additionally, we can make our own suggestions based on what we see during our visit. Together, we can design an up-to-date surveillance system that helps keep your property — and anyone on it — as safe and secure as possible.