What is analogue CCTV?
Cameras on an modern analogue CCTV system send their video in the traditional base band format over coax or UTP cabling back to a digital video recorder (DVR). Here, video is digitized and stored on hard drives.
Most modern DVRs are a network device, and as such can be accessed remotely from the LAN, or with the proper configuration, from across a WAN or the internet. There are no tapes to change.
Video is kept on hard drives, typically on a FIFO basis so there is always a rolling video archive of the past X days. So, despite the fact that video is being transmitted from the cameras in an analogue format, live and recorded video is still available over the network.
What is IP CCTV?
IP cameras are cameras that record from 1MP up to 10MP and beyond. To give you an idea of the level of detail they can capture a full HD tv displays 2MP. Whereas a high end analogue camera displays resolutions of around 0.4MP. IP video cameras broadcast their video as a digital stream over an IP network.
Like an analogue system, video is recorded on hard drives, but since the video is an IP stream straight from the camera, there is more flexibility as to how and where that video is recorded.
The DVR is replaced with an NVR (network video recorder), which in some cases is just software since it doesn’t need to convert analogue to digital. Video footage can then be stored on new or existing network RAID drives as directed by the NVR software.
What is a hybrid system?
Hybrid CCTV systems combine IP and analogue video, and can be a great way to transition an analogue system to IP without needing to replace all of the existing cameras. Many NVR boxes on the market today are actually Hybrids in that they accept analogue cameras, and IP cameras and combine them onto a single platform for the user.
What is a Turbo/AHD camera?
A Turbo/AHD camera is a camera which is capable of HD quality transmission over traditional coax cable. This new technology fills a void for customers who want to upgrade their systems from analogue without changing their cabling which is one of the biggest costs.
How does HD-Over-Coax integrate with my existing analogue equipment?
HD-over-Coax runs on the same coax cable that your existing analogue systems run on. So upgrading to HD-over-Coax is as easy as replacing your analogue cameras with HD-over-Coax cameras and replacing the analogue DVR with an HD-over-Coax DVR. No special configuration is required.
In many cases you may decide to leave parts of your analogue system in place and only upgrade some of your analogue cameras to HD-over-Coax, or just add some new HD-over-Coax cameras. In that case you would replace / add new HD-over-Coax cameras, and add an HD-over-Coax DVR next to your analogue DVR.
What is HD-Over-Coax exactly?
HD-over-Coax (High Definition Composite Video Interface) is an over-coaxial-cable analogue HD video transmission standard developed specifically for the CCTV industry. HD-over-Coax composites video, audio, and data control signals together and then transmits them over one coaxial cable, simplifying installation. Using RG-59 cable, HD-over-Coax transmits HD video over distances in excess of 500m (1640 ft.) with no expensive repeaters or signal boosters.
The HD-over-Coax solution incorporates both cameras and DVRs. The technology currently offers two specifications: 1080p (1920 x 1080) and 720p (1280 x 720). In addition, the technology features Auto Signal Compensation (ASC) which provides extremely low signal distortion for long-distance transmission.