Terms dictionary

CCTV Glossary

In order to choose the best CCTV Security System and CCTV Cameras you
need to understand some of the basic terminology. Below is a glossary
of CCTV terms to help you choose your Surveillance system and CCTV Cameras
and CCTV Lenses.

Alphabetical list of call recording terms:

Aperture

Aperture is the area of the camera lens that gathers light. The Iris
of the cctv lens controls the size of aperture.

Auto Iris

Auto Iris Lenses adjust for changing light conditions in a camera view.
If the sun shines on a camera with an auto iris lens, the lens will adjust
the amount of light so the picture remains clear.

CCD

Charge Coupled Device - a light sensitive imaging device for almost all
cameras. Typical sizes for CCTV cameras - 1/2", 1/3", 1/4".

C Mount

Type of screw-on mounting for CCTV Camera Lenses. C Mount lenses need
an adapter ring when used with CS Mount camera (see CS Mount).

Compression

Compression Techniques are used in Digital CCTV to reduce the file sizes
of recorded video images. Typical compression formats used for video are:
MJPEG, MPEG-4 & H.264.

CS Mount

More recent type of mounting for CCTV Camera Lenses. Designed for 1/2",
1/3" 1/4" CCD cameras, CS-Mount is the more common lens mount
used today in CCTV cameras.

Day/Night Camera

A camera that is 'Day/Night' means it can capture video in both day and
nighttime.

In low light conditions, the Sony Day/Night chipset switches from colour
to black & white at night to enhance the picture quality

DSP

Digital Signal Processing - a technique by which video quality can be
improved by adjusting parameters of the video signal.

DVR

Digital Video Recorder - CCTV Footage is converted to a digital signal
and stored on a PC Hard Disk. This is now the standard CCTV recording
practice.

ExView

Sony Chipset type that offers very good images in both day and night
time. Typically, cameras with Ex-View chipset have good Low Light (LUX)
levels.

FStop

The Ratio of Focal Length to the diameter of the lens. The smaller the
F-Stop number, the more light is passed.

Field Of View

The view of the camera - in relation to the angle of view and distance
of the object from the lens.

Frame

A frame consists of 2 interlaces fields. 25 Frames are created every
second

Frame Rate

The quality of a Digital Surveillance Systems is often determined by
the Total Frame Rate it can record at. The higher the Frame Rate, the
higher the quality of recording and the more Real Time your CCTV recording
will be - Real Time recording for 1 camera is 25 Frames Per Second (PAL).

IP Camera

A CCTV Camera that can transmit video and audio over TCP/IP network. An IP Camera can connect to a local network and streams it's video over the network to a Network Video Recorder.

IP Cameras can come with additional features including Power over Ethernet, wireless lan connection and Mega Pixel Resolution.

IP Rating

Ingress Protection Scale - 2 numbers indicating the protection level
of an outside enclsure - e.g. IP68

IR Cut Filter

An IR Cut Filter is an extra filter inside the camera that moves behind
the camera lens when it gets dark. A camera with an IR Cut Filter will
produce very high quality images in low light conditions.

Iris

Device inside a lens which opens and closes as light conditions change
which adjusts the amount of light passed

JPEG

Joint Photographic Experts Group - an image compression technique used
for still images

Lens Mount

See CMount or CS Mount

Luminance

The brightness of a video signal

LUX

Used to specify how sensitive cameras are to light (measured in lumens/sq
metre).

e.g a camera with a LUX Level of 0 can see in pitch black. The lower the
LUX Level the better the camera will see in the dark.

Mega Pixel Resolution

Mega Pixel resolution refers to video resolutions now achievable using IP Cameras. Unlike Analogue cameras, whose resolution is usually limited to around 752 x 582 (0.4 Mega Pixels), a Mega Pixel IP Camera can achieve far greater resolutions such as 1280 x 1024 (1.3 Mega Pixels) or 1600 x 1280 (2 Mega Pixels).
This increase in resolution produces far better image quality than a traditional analogue camera could ever achieve.

Motion Detection

Recording method for digital surveillance systems. When someone walks
in front of a camera, the pixels change and the DVR defines this as motion.
The surveillance system will then record these images to the hard disk.
This is a popular recording setup as every event recorded is actually
motion driven as opposed to a static image if the system was set to record
'round-the-clock'.

MPEG

Motion Picture Experts Group - a video compression technique for video
images

MPEG-4 has fast become the Digital CCTV standard recording compression
format.

MPEG-2 is used for DVD Recording quality.

Multiplexer

A Multi Screen CCTV device that allows input of 4, 9, 16 etc cameras
and provides a 'Mutli-Plexed' (or split screen) display of those cameras

Noise

Video Signal interference that usually appears as graininess or snow
on the picture.

PAL

Phase Alternate Line - Video encoding standard for Europe.

Power Over Ethernet (PoE)

Power Over Ethernet is a method by which power is tramitted over a CAT-5/6 cable. This is often used with the installation of IP Cameras saving time/money by reducing cabling. An IP Device would need to be fitted with a PoE RJ45 port to use this functionality.

Peak to peak

Video Signal measurement from the base of the Sync pulse to the top of
the white level. A full video signal should be one volt.

PTZ

Pan Tilt Zoom - a camera which can be controlled via Joystick or DVR
and moved up/down, left/right and zoomed in/out.

Quad Splitter

A CCTV device used to display 4 cameras on one monitor.

Resolution

The number of horizontal lines a system can display.
Digital Resolution (e.g. 720 x 576)
720 = number of points in each row that make up the picture
576 = number of rows

RG59

A type of CCTV Coaxial cable used to transmit cctv camera video signals
to a CCTV System.

Sensitivity

The sensitivity of a camera is often configured on your digital surveillance
system.

Motion Detection based recording uses relies on the sensitivity of the
cameras to trigger recording

Telemetry

Control of PTZ cameras is provided using Telemetry Control. This signal
is sent down 'twisted pair' cable or along the same coaxial cable the
video signal is being sent down. Typical Telemetry signals are RS-485
or RS-422.

Varifocal Lens

A cctv camera lens whose focal length / viewing angle can be manually
adjusted to suit the camera view required.
Typical Vari Focal lens lengths are: 2.5mm-10mm, 3.5mm-8mm, 5mm-50mm

Video Splitter

CCTV device that splits the video signal from a camera (or cameras) so
it can be used more than once.

Zoom Lens

A lens which has variable focal lengths. The image can be 'zoomed' in
or out whilst the view of the camera remains in focus.