How to Choose a Closed-Circuit TV System for Your Home

Choosing the Components

• 1

  Confer with a home security advisor.

• 2

  Discuss your preliminary research findings with the consultant and select components.

Conduct Preliminary Research

• 3

  Survey your home. Determine which areas you might want to monitor via CCTV. Some areas outside the home might include the garage, backyard, an adjacent alley, or outside a gate or fence.

• 4

  Decide if you want to put more than one camera inside your home. You may, for example, want to monitor how a nanny watches your child during the day.

• 5

  Decide on the size of the scene you wish the CCTV system to observe. This will determine the size and type of camera and its lens.

• 6

  Decide on the camera format. There are five choices: 1-inch, 2/3-inch, 1/2-inch, 1/3-inch or 1/4-inch. It is most cost effective to select 1/2-inch, 1/3-inch or 1/4-inch, because those cameras can use the widest range of lenses.

• 7

  Determine what type of lens you wish to use. There are four types of lenses for CCTV use: fixed aperture, manual iris, auto iris and zoom. If the area you wish to observe experiences infrequent changes in light, use a manual iris lens, which can be adjusted for light only by hand. If the area the CCTV system will be observing experiences frequent changes in light, use an auto-iris lens. These lenses adjust to light changes automatically. Auto-iris lenses come in Video or DC, and cameras generally support one format or the other. Be sure your lens matches the camera. To perform closeups, get a zoom lens. Motorized zoom lenses are available.

• 8

  Based on the camera format you chose (1-inch, 1/2-inch, etc.), choose the lens format.

• 9

  Ascertain how many cameras you will need. This will determine whether you will need a switcher, a multiplexer or multiple monitors.

• 10

  Determine the monitor size. The larger the monitor, the bigger the object will appear. Available sizes include 9-inch, 12-inch and 17-inch.

• 11

  Decide if you will have to show more than one scene at a time on one monitor. If so, you will need to include a quad switch that allows up to four cameras to be viewed simultaneously on one screen.

• 12

  If you plan to record more than 4 to 6 hours, you will need a commercial grade recorder. Otherwise, you can use a standard VCR.

• 13

  Determine if you want to record all cameras at once in full screen mode if you intend to use a multicamera CCTV system. If you want full screen recording of all cameras, you will need to include a multiplexer.

• 14

  Use a measurement wheel or slide chart to determine the focal length, or the distance from the camera to the subject, and the height or width of the subject in the usable picture.

• 15

  Write down all of the information you gathered doing these steps.