Security Camera Types in English

I am a recently retired Police Officer who work 20 years in Manhattan. There are very few other cities in the world with as many security cameras. While many people feel it is “big brother” let me assure you that the interest of local and federal governments, is not to spy on regular citizens. One of the first rules I learned as an NYPD Officer was that the person complaining about something is usually the person that is being prevented from doing whatever it is they want to do.

Another sign of a problem or security risk at your home would be, a stranger ringing your bell an offering a service you either never heard of or did not ask for. Many elderly fall victim to this scam. The benefit of having a security camera outside of your home would be that the stranger would think they are being videoed and most likely just go to another home to try the scam. Fake or dummy cameras work fine as long as they are real looking. Remember buying a dummy camera is to save money but buying the cheapest model might not help deter anyone if it looks fake.

Obviously a real camera has much more benefits. With a real camera you can see who is at the door without even opening it. There are a few different types of security cameras, wired cameras, wireless cameras, ip cameras, ptz cameras, motion detecting cameras, and night vision cameras. I will try to explain each type in plain English.

First is a wired camera. Simply a wired camera means you will have to run a wire to either a recording device, such as a dvr or run a wire to a monitor. These wired cameras are usually less expensive but make sure you can easily run and conceal the wire. After all if I can see the wire I can cut the wire.

Second is a wireless camera. Wireless means wireless, mount the camera and you’re done. Well sort of, you will have to purchase a wireless camera and a wireless receiver. The camera will speak to the wireless receiver. The wireless receiver is what gets plugged into your DVR *Digital Video Recorder) or monitor.

Third is the IP camera. This is my favorite type of security camera. The reason is that with an IP camera you can set it up anywhere and monitor it from any computer (with internet access) in the world. This is an ideal camera if you have a routine work schedule or you travel often. The newer IP cameras are also compatible with many cell phones such as the Apple iPhone and the Motorola Droid.

Several new model phones are coming with this compatibility feature. So to sum up you can view your home from your office, the library or on your mobile phone. This is the safest way to discover a burglar in your house, you won’t even be there. The rest of the types of cameras I listed are PTZ, Motion Detecting, and Night Vision cameras. These are actually features you can get on any of the three camera types listed above. PTZ is short for pan,   tilt , zoom. Simply with a remote controller you can pan, move camera side to side. You can  tilt ; move the camera up and down. And you can zoom. Motion detection is a nice feature to have on a home security camera; this allows the recording to be activated only when there is motion in the home. This feature is great for nanny cameras, or to save space on your hard drive. If you do not want to invest in a DVR you can record to your home computer and motion activation will save you allot of hard drive space.