Posts Tagged ‘security’

The Advantages of CS-Mount Cameras

Thursday, January 7th, 2010

CS-mount cameras are the original security camera. They were developed in the 1970’s and are defined to this day by their rectangular construction. This construction was necessary because most of the circuit boards were bigger than today. As chip technology has improved over the years, camera sizes have gotten smaller smaller and varied shapes and sizes have been created. these days, the security camera manufacturers make a variety of camera types, the now most prominent being the bullet camera.

Despite no longer defining the industry, c-mount security cameras still retain many reasons to use them in your security camera setup. The biggest of these reasons is their superior resolution, as c-mount cameras still give the best resolution of any security camera kind. Their advantage in resolution os due to their increased size when compared to other security camera styles. C-mount surveillance cameras can deal with a 1/2 inch chip set, in contrast most other cameras can only accommodate 1/4 or 1/3 inch chips sets. A larger chip size means that the sensor has more pixels than a smaller one, and the more pixels the better the video. Another advantage of these larger sensors is better sensitivity in low light.

Although making great inside cameras, c-mount surveillance cameras face implementation challenges outdoors, as c-mount cameras are very susceptible to the environment. They will need special mounting brackets to affix them to outside walls.

Every c-mount cameras has a varying ability to see in the dark. To know how well the camera works in low lighting conditions, you will need to consult it’s lux rating. A lower lux rating means that the camera will be able to operate better in lower light. Because c-mount surveillance cameras can deliver color video in poor lighting conditions, c-mount cameras are especially valued in crime-fighting and government operations. Lower lux ratings usually correlate with more expensive machines.

It needs to be said that c-mount surveillance cameras do not come equipped with a lens, so one will need to be purchased separately. This makes them initially more more costly and less expensive in the long run, as their lenses can be swapped out to fit another security application rather than requiring a security expert to have to buy a completely new security camera.

The largest drawback of a c-mount security camera is that they are hard to use outside. If you want to use a cs-mount surveillance camera outdoors, you will need a c-mount housing, which will protect it from rain, wind, and other environmental factors. Another piece of equipment you will need is a mounting bracket, so that it can be affixed wherever it is needed. Particular housings come equipped with heaters and blowers so that they can be used in the very high and low temperatures.

Beyond being able to support the newest technological advances first, the construction of c-mount cameras also have another advantage. They are blatantly obvious. Many banks and large businesses employ cs-mount cameras simply because they send the obvious message that would be assailants are being observed.

In summary, In conclusions, c-mount cameras should be your first choice if you want a low maintenance, crisp clean video capture, an indoor camera with a plethora of accessories, or a camera that can work even in low lighting. Conversely, If you are looking for an outdoor camera that doesn’t need to work at night or have the highest resolution, you may be better off with a bullet security camera. For an indoor environment and high quality video, you can’t go wrong.

We hope you appreciated our report on c-mount camerasand CCTV.

Home Security Systems - Know The Basics

Wednesday, January 6th, 2010

Home security is vital for our well being. Simply locking our doors at night is no longer sufficient when it comes to providing a comforting feel of safety as we sleep, or even go to the office. Yet, there are so many types of home security systems on the market that many home owners simply give up trying to decide what type to buy or how much to spend.

Nowadays, video is everything. We can’t just expect to have an alarm go off as the door or window is pried open, and then have the burglar run scared as he takes off. A loud noise is certainly going to scare someone into thinking twice about robbing your home or your office, but will it catch the bad guy? Probably not.

A professional burglar knows the business. He can disarm most systems and understands about loud alarms that aren’t hooked up to anything outside the house. He knows that if an alarm goes off, he still has enough time to find grandma’s pearls, your good silver, and the cash in the freezer - and be long gone before the first police car arrives on the scene.

Many alarm companies sell silent alarms and convince homeowners this is the way to go. Unfortunately, these are anything but helpful. Considering that burglars already know they have five or ten minutes with an alarm sounding, without the alarm they won’t have any way of knowing. If the cops are taking their time, these bad guys will have all that extra time to do even more damage.

The only way to go is video! CCTV is the best type of surveillance system you can invest in. Without video, the police have little to go on. If these guys don’t leave any evidence behind like finger prints or some sort of DNA, the cops have nothing to go on unless you have a video security system installed.

As long as you are adding video cameras, make sure you have cameras that include motion sensors - these cameras follow movements. There’s little sense in installing video cameras and then finding out that all the action was out of camera range! Make sure you have at least a camera at the front door, and then put alarms on each window. A super effective system will have cameras and alarms at each entrance, and cameras and audio that cover the entire property.

If nothing else, at least have a good motion camera, with audio, installed at your front door.

Check out our new Home security systems website today, or mayby you want to read more at our CCTV Security systems lense on Squidoo.

Does Your Business Have a Secure Communication System?

Thursday, June 18th, 2009

Sending an email seems to be a safe and direct activity - you send a message to a specific person at a specific address, and that person receives and opens the message. However, email is not private communication. It is susceptible to all kinds of hacking and snooping, sometimes by your own coworkers, but mostly by others outside of the company.

While email theft happens rarely, it is more common when there is important information being relayed. In other words, very few people want to eavesdrop about Aunt Matilda’s bunion removal - not of interest, like most of the email transactions that go back and forth every day.

However, there is a chance that a business that allows proprietary information to be sent through a regular, unsecure email system will have people spying on them and intercepting messages.

The most people most likely to have a problem are those who are relaying sensitive information about people, industries, politics, business practices or investigations. There is not only a chance, but a high chance that these people have information that is of interest to people outside of the small circle that is receiving the email2.

This information may even be of enough interest to motivate someone to make the significant effort required to break into a system.

It is particularly important to focus on the costs of email being intercepted. Even if someone were to intercept the email about Aunt Matilda’s bunions, the damage that could be done with such information is limited. However, if the information being sent through your emails is potential more inflammatory or damaging, you may want to consider other solutions.

Businesses in particular are concerned about the privacy of their internal communications, and many businesses are concerned about the privacy of their clients and patients.

One serious concern for those businesses in the health care industry is that the HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) requires that electronic exchanges regarding patient information is encrypted and safely sent.

This presents several difficulties, including the fact that encryptions that use ‘keys’ are particularly difficult to use when you are dealing with many thousands of patients on thousands of different PCs.

Health plans must also maintain and transmit data electronically and allow clients to use electronic signatures, etc., but must also protect their information.

For these companies who recognize that as soon as a ’send’ button is clicked, the security of the message is lost, a secure company email security solution is a must.

Experts in all industries recommend finding a value oreiented provider, one that will bring peace of mind. Find a provider that specializes in email security, not a third party provider which does not know how to preserve privacy.

Look for a secure email solution that will protect each message’s integrity. Find one that uses and open - architecture solution rather than a proprietary system, since the open architecture systems can stay around for longer periods of tiem, and you are likely to be able to find support for them for many years.

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How the Image Sensor Affects the Camera

Wednesday, June 17th, 2009

An outdoor security camera, like all cameras, uses an image sensor made up of many pixels which registers the amount of light and converts it to the corresponding number of electrons. The brighter the light, the more electrons are generated. There are two main technologies used for the camera’s image sensor.

The first is known as the CCD sensor which is an acronym for charge-coupled device, and the second is the CMOS sensor which is spelled out as the complementary metal-oxide semiconductor. Even though these two types are viewed a rivals, each has its own strengths and weaknesses so one would be better than the other in different applications.

CCD sensors were developed specifically to be used in cameras and for the purpose of capturing images. CMOS sensors were developed off standard technology already in use, such as memory chips in computers. However, CMOS sensors today are being developed further for the purpose of being in cameras and the image quality it provides is improving.

The main benefit of a CCD sensor over a CMOS sensor is the higher light sensitivity. Being more sensitive to light means it can produce a better image in conditions where lighting is low.

The two downsides to the CCD sensors are really the true advantages to CMOS sensors. The CCDs make the cameras more expensive since they are harder to put into a camera and an equivalent sensor uses almost one hundred times more power than a CMOS sensor.

In contrast, the CMOS sensors are quickly over taking the areas that CCD sensors once ruled in terms of image quality. CMOS based cameras always had the edge when it came to cost. It is much easier to build a camera around a CMOS sensor.

The CMOS sensor also allows for greater integration possibilities than the CCD sensor which in comparison is designed to be more stringent in terms of function and integration. CMOS sensors have faster readouts which make a big difference in megapixel technology and you will find megapixel cameras with CMOS sensors much more than with CCD sensors simply because of the costs.

In megapixel cameras, the sensors contain over one million pixels, hence the name. To reduce the cost, the sensors are around the same size as VGA sensors meaning the size of each pixel is reduced greatly. This smaller size allows the camera to produce high resolution images with more details but also makes the camera less light sensitive. Since each pixel is smaller in size, and the light reflected from the object is spread across more pixels, it requires better lighting conditions to produce an image.

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