One maybe surprised by the fact that obtaining good CCTV footages is equally challenging as deciding where and when to install the system. At the end of the day, getting unwanted or useless footages are probably the last nightmare you will like to dream of. In order not to overwhelm yourself by any uncertainty along the way, here are some of the things you may want to note down.
First of all, never be satisfied with High Definition camera alone. Indeed, cameras with high pixel played an essential role within the surveillance system. This is no matter how much the camera is able to zoom in and focus on the target, a 200 pixel camera is never able to recreate the sharpness produced by a 500 pixel camera.
However, do not underestimate the importance of other factors too. For example, the speed of shutter may matter more when the target is walking. An individual in motion can blur or even destroy certain vital details such as facial expressions or structures. Thus, by ensuring a shortened shutter speed (i.e. such as 1/125 seconds), motion shall be freeze in time.
Another detail not to be missed will be lightings. Lightings and brightness go hand in hand, as they help to battle against possible noises or blur visions. Invest on lenses that will not go out of focus at night. Try to save cost on other areas such as camera which does not over consume energy and mount up to high electricity bills etc. Pay attention to the position of lights. Sometimes, if the lights are cast at the wrong direction, shadow may form on targeted areas, hindering the presentations of actual images that we want. Therefore, make friends with the lights within the surveillance area, if the lights are stationary, counter the problem by creating additional light source.
Second, always beware of what you will like to target on. It does not mean that the bigger the surveillance area, the safer the place. Sometimes, if the targeted area is too big (i.e. size of several basketball courts) or too long (i.e. 50 metres long corridor), setting up cameras that focus at the correct direction turned into a mission impossible. Therefore, at any similar circumstance, it will always be good to either reduce the size of surveillance area or to have a good understanding of hyperfocal distance.
In definition, hyperfocal distance refers to the distance in which the lens needs to be kept so that any object from half of this distance all the way to infinity, will be visually sharp. There are many calculators available for convenient calculations of hyperfocal distance. Therefore, if the camera is set out to be “looking” at this distance, one can be reassured of the sharpness of its targeted footages.
Lastly, do not attempt to erase the original footages. Qualities of footages may alter after repetitive export or import, especially if the footages had been changed into different formats via different software (i.e. from AVI to MP4) for easy storage or downloading. Moreover, footages may be amended for investigation purposes, thus, it is best to enquire surveillance system expert on the best way to store and convert your footages, and never failed to keep the initial records.
Do take note that if footages are not properly captured at first, there is just so much we can do about the existing images. Do not be fooled by television series that our advance technology now can restore anything under the sun. The best solution to the best CCTV images still goes back to the fundamental – that is to record them really well right from the start.