Security Camera Terminology Part 2

Last week, we took a look at some Security Camera Terminology. Knowing what some of these terms mean can help anyone who is looking to buy a surveillance system for their home or business find exactly what they're looking for. Unfortunately, the language of security cameras goes beyond those twenty words. Since so many people found our first list of security camera terms very helpful, we've decided to follow up with a second list of even more words and definitions.

1. AC Adaptor - The power supply to your camera. The AC adaptor converts AC power to DC power and should come along with your camera.

2. Alarm Input - Some security cameras will begin recording when activated by a sensor or alarm.

3. Angle of View - The angle of view is the range in degrees that you can focus a security camera without causing the image to become distorted.

4. Aperture - The opening of the lens that controls the amount of of light that goes into the camera is called the aperture.

5. Armor Dome Camera - An armor dome camera has a high-impact dome casing around it, in an effort to prevent vandalism. The dome is made of reinforced polycarbonate.

6. Backlight Compensation - BLC is the ability of the camera to compensate when the background light of the subject being filmed is obscured by blooming or silhouetting.

7. CCD - CCD stands for Charge-Coupled Device. Every camera either has a CCD or CMOS chip. CCD chips produce a higher quality image.

8. Compression - This is when you take an incoming signal or image and restructure the data so that it uses less resources for transmission and storage.

9. Duplex - A duplex allows you to transfer data in and out of the recorder at the same time. For example, a duplex DVR can capture and record images while displaying another image.

10. Focal Length - If you want to know the strength of your lens, check the focal length. A longer focal length provides a narrower angle of view, a shorter focal length means a wider angle of view.

11. Iris - The iris is located on the camera lens and it controls how much light is let into the camera.

12. Low Light - This refers to normal darkness or dim lighting.

13. Lux - Lux is the amount of light a camera needs to capture a good image. For example, if you're using an infrared camera, you have a very low lux.

14. Micro Camera - This is a very small camera that is often used as a hidden camera when you don't want people to know they are being filmed.

15. Motion Detection - Some cameras only begin recording when an image moves or changes and sets them off. This can save hard drive space and is great in areas where there is not a lot of traffic and you are only looking for suspicious movement.

16. Mounting Bracket - There are many different types of mounting brackets. They are used to install cameras on the wall or ceiling.

17. Pin-Hole Camera - As you can imagine, a pin-hole camera has a very small lens with a very small hole. They require more lighting than a normal camera but are great for covert operations.

18. POE - POE stands for power over ethernet. This is an adaptor that allows you to transmit power to a security camera through an ethernet cable.

19. Real-Time Recording - 30 frames per second is the standard for real-time recording. This means the image looks just like real-time with no hesitation or jerkiness in the video.

20. Video Gain - This is also called amplification and basically means an increase in video signal power by an amplifier.

Security Camera Terminology

When you're purchasing a security camera, it's hard to know exactly what you're looking for. There are so many different terms association with surveillance systems that the average person probably doesn't know what they mean. That can making purchasing a camera or surveillance system a lot harder than it should be. In the event that you are purchasing a camera and need a little help with the language, here is a quick guide to 20 security camera terminology and definitions.

1. AES - AES stands for Auto Electronic Shutter. This is the ability of the camera to compensate for changes in light without using auto iris lenses.

2. Analog - In electronics, there are two different ways to represent data: Analog and Digital. Analog represents data by measuring a continuous physical variable as a voltage of pressure.

3. Bullet Camera - A bullet camera is a camera that is essentially shaped like a bullet, and often a less expensive choice when choosing a security camera.

4. CAT5 - Cat5 stands for Category 5 cable, which is often used in networking applications.

5. CCTV - You may see CCTV often when looking for cameras; this stands for closed-circuit television.

6. Dome Camera - Like its name says, a dome camera has a dome-like shape and is often used indoors. Features often include infrared lighting and they are often tamper-proof.

7. Field of View - This is basically what is visible to the lens of your camera and that will vary based on the distance of the camera from its subject or what type of lens is being used.

8. Housing - A camera's housing is the container or cover surrounding it to protect it from elements such as weather.


9. Infrared Camera - These types of cameras have special infrared lights around the outside of the lens and can capture pictures even in complete darkness.

10. JPEG - JPEG stands for "Joint Photographic Experts Group." This is the standard way of compressing photographic images.

11. Pan-Tilt-Zoom Camera - Pant-Tilt-Zoom or PTZ cameras allow you to use adjust the position and focus of the camera with a remote control. They can be fairly expensive.

12. Plug and Play Cable - These types of cameras have three wires built into one with attached connectors.

13. Remote Surveillance - The ability to view your cameras from a remote location. For example, if you own a store and have place cameras in that store, you can view the images from your home computer.

14. Resolution - Resolution basically tells you how much detail your camera can see. The higher the resolution, the more detail that can be viewed.

15. Smart Search - This feature of digital video records allows you to search for changes in an image over time. If something is stolen, you can fast forward to and search for the point in time when the item disappears from the camera's view.

16. Switch - A switch takes multiple camera inputs and shows them on a monitor, one at a time, or allows you to view a particular input at a time.

17. Transformer - Transfer energy from one circuit to another, inductively coupled wire coils that effect such a transfer with a change in voltage, current, phase, or other electric characteristic.

18. Video Input - This is a connection that allows you to plug a camera into a video controller or recording device. You can connect as many cameras to a device as there are input devices.

19. Weatherproof - Any camera described as "weatherproof" means that it can be placed outside and not, for the most part, be affected by harsh weather or extreme temperature changes.

20. Wireless Camera - Wireless cameras transmit video and audio via waves instead of wires.