CCTV real or fake? good idea?

Owain_Moneysaver

peachespeaches wrote: »

I discussed CCTV with the neighbourhood policeman and he said I might as well get a dummy one as the real thing, because even on expensive systems the pictures they get are so poor it could be anyone.

I've been told that our local council CCTV operators can read the tax discs on parked cars.

But that won't happen with cameras costing £20 or £200.

Little_Miss_Determined

What about sprinklers?

Mr_Oink

To get any decent facial recognition, you need good light and great zoom. This kind of thing:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/CCTV-Sony-CCD-27x-Zoom-weatherproof-PTZ-Dome-D-N-Camera-/120380578481?pt=UK_CCTV&hash=item1c073ddab1

Will do the job, but with the following caveats:
1. You have to track you targets
2. You need an extra PTZ controller
3. You need to run cables
4. You need something to record it to at full resolution
5. You may be watching something, whilst out of frame something else happens.
6. CCTV can become an obsession, takes over your life and can actually ruin your life

If you have kids sitting on, or leaning against a wall one of the most effective 'fixes' is fresh clear grease from an auto factors/Halfords. Smear all surfaces where teenagers sit or lean. It takes a few days of 'regreasing' but sooner or later they will foxtrot Oscar elsewhere - or at lease stop sitting on walls :-)

Mankysteve

If the two places I've worked for are anything to go by the problem with CCTV is not the cameras.

They give loads of details but the problem is always recording quality. The recording quality makes them next to useless for identifying people unless you can zoom in on them while there doing what ever there not meant to be.

Mr_Oink

Mankysteve wrote: »

If the two places I've worked for are anything to go by the problem with CCTV is not the cameras.

They give loads of details but the problem is always recording quality. The recording quality makes them next to useless for identifying people unless you can zoom in on them while there doing what ever there not meant to be.

Depends what you use to capture the input. The cheap Chinese origin DVR's are not much good. At the other end of the scale some of the Dedicated Micro's kit is just stunning - but it's like I say, it can become an obsession.

http://www.dedicatedmicros.com/europe/regional_home.php

lucylucky

You could try an IP camera

http://www.maplin.co.uk/logitech-outdoor-ip-homeplug-video-security-kit-227049

KillerWatt

Esoog wrote: »

Must be a lot of proper, we have all singing all dancing infra-red cameras at work...and they're rubbish. And I'm talking government (to be not so specific) here

If it is like anything else in government, then the project went over budget, over time, and the only part of the deal that was fully completed was the backhander.

Owain_Moneysaver

Mankysteve wrote: »

If the two places I've worked for are anything to go by the problem with CCTV is not the cameras.

They give loads of details but the problem is always recording quality. The recording quality makes them next to useless for identifying people unless you can zoom in on them while there doing what ever there not meant to be.

Or you record a wide angle image at megapixel quality, which gives you enough data you can use digital zoom on a part of the image after the event. Also digital motion sensing in the camera can auto-follow the action.

But not cheap.