Home Removal Services Blog

The purpose of an outdoor security camera is to monitor an area that is prone to criminal activity or otherwise undesired activity. For this reason the camera itself is put at risk of physical destruction from the very vandals we are protecting ourselves from. There are, however, a few things we can control to minimize the risks.

The first consideration the camera/housing design, this will determine how much physical abuse the camera can take, as well as how well it is hidden from being noticed. Second we can strategize our mounting of the camera. The next consideration is the placement. And as a final safeguard the implementation of intelligent video alarms can help keep our cameras safe.

When it comes to the housing or casing of a camera, one made of metal is better protection against vandalism than something made of plastic. Also, a boxy traditional camera that sticks out of a wall or ceiling is much more susceptible to being damaged than a dome shaped encasement. It helps to be hidden and disguised as part of the environment, since the chance of being recognized is minimized.

How the camera is mounted also will determine the level of protection from physical abuse. Mounting the camera or housing flush with a wall or ceiling is much more effective than simply mounting it on the wall or ceiling. If most of the camera is mounted inside with only the transparent part showing, it is much better protected from different angles. We also want the cables to be pulled directly through the wall or ceiling but if that can’t be then at least run the cables through a metal conduit tube to protect the cables.

Camera placement is also an important factor in deterring vandalism. By placing a camera out of reach on high walls or in the ceiling, many spur-of-the-moment attacks can be prevented. The downside may be the angle of view, which to some extent can be compensated by selecting a different lens.

Axis’ active tampering alarm feature helps protect cameras against vandalism. It can detect if a camera has been redirected, obscured or tampered with, and can send alarms to operators. This is especially useful in installations with hundreds of cameras in demanding environments where keeping track of the proper functioning of all cameras is difficult. It is also useful in situations where no live viewing takes place and operators can be notified when cameras have been tampered with.

Your outdoor security camera uses a light sensor to create an image from the light entering through the lens. The light sensor is made up of many pixels which determine how much light is coming through and generates the corresponding number of electrons. Brighter lights generate more electrons per pixel. When it comes to image sensor technology, there are two main types.

These two types are the charge-coupled device, or CCD, and the complementary metal-oxide semiconductor, or CMOS. And despite being viewed as rivals in the camera industry, each type of image sensor really has its own strengths and weaknesses. So the better sensor depends on the situation it is to be used in.

CCD sensors were developed specifically for the camera industry while CMOS traces it’s beginnings to standard technology already in use in areas such as memory chips inside PCs. Today, modern CMOS sensors are advancing in technology and the quality is improving immensely.

CCD sensors are still slightly better in light sensitivity and produce cleaner images than CMOS sensors. Because of higher light sensitivity, the CCD produces sharper images in low light conditions than CMOS sensors.

The problem with the CCD sensor is that it makes the overall cost of a camera more expensive because it is harder to put it inside a camera. The CCD sensor also uses about 100 times more power than a CMOS sensor of equal capacity.

With the CMOS sensor, it is very quickly closing the gap in terms of image quality to the CCD sensor. Cameras that are built with CMOS sensors are lower in cost because the cameras are much easier to build.

The CMOS sensor also allows for greater integration possibilities than the CCD sensor which in comparison is designed to be more stringent in terms of function and integration. CMOS sensors have faster readouts which make a big difference in megapixel technology and you will find megapixel cameras with CMOS sensors much more than with CCD sensors simply because of the costs.

When it comes to megapixel sensors in cameras, the sensors themselves are about the same size or only slightly larger than traditional VGA sensors. This means that the size of each pixel is smaller. So while the megapixel camera can provide higher resolution and greater detail, it is less light sensitive since the pixel size is smaller and light reflected from an object is spread to more pixels.