The Key Points To Note When Designing A CCTV System

Key Points To Note When Designing A CCTV System

There are things to always put into consideration when designing a CCTV System. Some of which are Lighting, Power, Transmission, Cost, among others - are all important factors to think about when designing a system. The process of choosing the CCTV parts is iterative, happening in tandem with the design phase.

Now these are the keypoints:

• Lighting
• Distribution Of Power
• Transmission Of Video
• Scalability
• Cost
• Infrastructure
• Reliability
• Maintainability
• Annunciation
• Assessment 
• Response

1. Lighting

When designing a CCTV system, it is important to take into account lighting strategies, camera selection, and camera location together to ensure optimal performance and prevent operational environment conflicts. The needs of exterior systems change throughout the day in response to the varying levels of natural and artificial light (or illumination).

Lenses with automatic apertures are useful for outdoor cameras because they adapt to varying light conditions. Backlight, the difference between dim indoor lighting and bright outdoor daylight, may necessitate in-camera software designed to adjust for it.

A person moving in front of a brightly lit window, for instance, can be observed in all their detail thanks to backlight compensation. Both the image quality and the functionality of a CCTV system are susceptible to changes brought on by artificial lighting.

The various forms of artificial illumination in lighting include:

• Incandescent: Light up large outdoor spaces with halogen bulbs. The cost of operating an incandescent light fixture is higher than that of other lighting options because of its higher energy consumption.
• Fluorescent: These lights, commonly found inside American buildings, flicker at a rate of 60 hertz (Hz), which can negatively impact video quality.
• HID (high intensity discharge): Low- and high-pressure sodium lighting, as well as metal-halide bulbs, fall into this category. It's possible that the yellowish hue of low-pressure sodium lights will distort the colors in your videos. The color fidelity of metal-halide bulbs is superior. It takes these bulbs a few minutes to reach full brightness after being turned on;
• Infra-Red (IR): Produce a reddish or indiscernible radiance because their wavelengths are so much longer than those of standard white bulbs. The illumination range of an IR light source is significantly greater than that of a white light source, making it ideal for use in covert or unobtrusive CCTV systems. LEDs, lasers, and even incandescent light bulbs with special filters can all be used to produce infrared light; and
• LED: Do your best to make things very bright and intense. These bulbs are extremely energy-efficient, producing little in the way of radiated heat. That's why they're becoming standard in surveillance cameras.

Make sure the area of interest is well lit by the chosen lighting technology, as this is essential for meeting operational needs. The Illumination for Closed Circuit Television Surveillance Systems TechNote provides an overview of CCTV lighting. The Security Lighting Guide contains in-depth advice on using lighting in conjunction with security systems. You can get both of these files in the SAVER section of the DHS S&T website.

 

2. Distribution of Power 

When planning the layout of the electrical grid, there are a few factors to keep in mind. The design and installation of a CCTV power distribution system should be entrusted to professional engineers and electricians.

One of the most common issues with CCTV equipment is inadequate power, which can often cause erratic or sporadic equipment behavior. Having a reliable and sufficient power source is essential for a system to function properly. On hot days, when air conditioners are running at full capacity, power can fluctuate significantly. Therefore, organizations should make preparations in advance and identify the need for power conditioning or backups. By taking multiple readings of the voltage and current levels over a brief time period or by using a voltage recorder for long-term monitoring, you can ascertain the reliability of the input power to CCTV equipment.

If the power supply isn't sufficient, the video will suffer. There should be careful planning for where power components will be located. Induced currents in the low-voltage system pose a risk to people and machinery when low-voltage power components are located near high-voltage lines. Alternately, voltage fluctuations may occur if a power source is located too far away, and installation costs may rise as a result of the need for larger conductor sizes to compensate for voltage drop over long distances.

Accordingly, it is prudent to position power outlets close to CCTV devices. Furthermore, uninterruptible power supplies (UPSs) help in safeguarding equipment and conditioning the power. There are a wide variety of UPS products available, so selecting the right model is crucial.

Also crucial are determinations about what sort of emergency backup power supply will be needed in the event of a power outage. It's not uncommon for CCTV systems to divide their cameras into primary and secondary categories, with the former focusing on high-priority entry points and the latter on less-trafficked areas like interior hallways and requiring shorter-term backup power.

CCTV systems are vulnerable to voltage spikes and lightning, two naturally occurring but disruptive events. It is possible that lightning, a common source of voltage spikes, could knock out major building systems. All electronic components in a system should be adequately protected from lightning strikes to prevent malfunctions and damage. By eliminating potential voltage differences between two or more installations or pieces of equipment that are run by different power sources, ground loop correctors help keep everything running smoothly (i.e., the ground loop corrector puts the separate pieces of equipment at the same ground potential).

It is recommended that CCTV system components have their own internal regulated power supply, but this is often overlooked in favor of cheaper alternatives. It's more likely to happen with cheaper cameras. From a single location, power supplies can send separate fused and regulated feeds to each camera.

 

3. Transmission of Video

One of the most crucial aspects of designing a high-quality CCTV system is choosing the right video transmission media, such as coaxial cable or unshielded twisted pair (UTP). Even if all of the hardware in a system is of the highest quality, it may not perform optimally if the video signal is not transmitted via an appropriate medium. Selecting the right transmission medium and employing best practices during installation can prevent a lot of the most common issues with video image quality.

With the development of CCTV technology, analog to digital conversion of video has occurred. The IP in newer cameras allows for digital data transmission, compressed video being one of the most common formats. As a result of the bandwidth demands of video, image quality may suffer in IP transmissions. Decoupling the video connection from the rest of the network could be the answer to this problem.

 

4. Scalability 

The scalability of a CCTV system is its capacity to incorporate new parts, such as more cameras, more storage for recorded footage, and more screens to view it all on. Due to budgetary constraints or to test system performance, many large facilities deploy CCTV systems in phases. The design of a CCTV system should take into account the ease with which new components can be added or updated.

 

5. Cost

Planning, design, installation, operation, maintenance, and personnel costs should all be factored into an accurate CCTV system cost estimate. In addition, be sure to factor in expenses like new hire and re-certification training for your staff. Costs associated with upgrading hardware and software should also be thought about.

Using the already-in-place CCTV network, including cameras, mounting brackets, and cable runs, could help keep expenses down. However, as camera technology and other information-handling components of CCTV improve, it may be more efficient to replace aging equipment and infrastructure rather than upgrade it.

 

6. Infrastructure

Each camera used in a closed-circuit television system must be supplied with electricity and a means of transmitting video data to monitoring and storage systems. Because of these needs, it may be necessary to upgrade the building's infrastructure, such as by erecting new poles on which to mount cameras. There are four factors to think about when organizing a CCTV setup:

1. How much of the system can function with the already-in-place components?

2. How well will the new CCTV system work with the company's current IT infrastructure?

3. How well will the new CCTV system mesh with and supplement pre-existing and future intrusion detection and access control infrastructure?

4. How well will the new system coexist with the old ones, and which of the two systems will have the greater impact on the way operations are conducted and how quickly problems are resolved?

Equipment and installation costs can be kept to a minimum by making use of the already present infrastructure. Using a converter module, Ethernet can be run over coaxial cable, allowing older coaxial cable systems to be upgraded to IP networks. Ethernet and analog video can both be transmitted over regular phone lines.

A CCTV system's efficacy will be greatly influenced by how well it fits into the larger security plan. Until the new system is accepted and the old system is upgraded or phased out, it should run in parallel with the existing systems.

 

7. Reliability and Maintainability

Without a trial period, it's hard to know how reliable and easy to maintain a new CCTV system will be. The new system's ability to perform the required functions over time and the degree to which personnel can operate, maintain, and upgrade the system are the primary reliability and maintainability considerations. Several methods exist for boosting user trust in a brand-new setup, such as:

• Consulting with safety and administration experts at other facilities that have deployed analogous systems or worked with the same vendor;
• The use of pre-installation bench testing or on-site trial programs from competing vendors
• Conducting pilot installations of new machinery to ensure its adequate functioning on a smaller scale.

There may be a requirement for all technicians servicing equipment to have certification under the terms of the manufacturer's warranty. If you want to guarantee a quick response time, some suppliers may demand a maintenance contract. Before investing in new machinery, be sure you have a firm grasp on the level of maintenance it will require. 

 

8. Annunciation, Assessment, and Response 

In a well-rounded security plan, many CCTV systems serve to assist the security staff. For instance, the system can alert the operator by switching the display to the location of the security alarm if it occurs at a location that is not currently being shown on a monitor. After a visual inspection, the control room operator can decide what kind of help is needed in response to the security alarm.