Cctv, Why Is It Such Poor Quality.

[RATTER15]

Considering CCTV cameras are specifically designed for that purpose, why are the images often unrecognisable and such poor quality, my phone video produces far better quality than many CCTV cameras.

[jomifl]

Not enough pixels because the processor isn't fast enough to give detail and speed.

[THECORBYLOON]

http://www.ifsecglobal.com/cctv-camera-settings-heres-how-to-get-the-best-picture-possible/

[RATTER15]

I am refering to the CCTV footage of the guy wanted for the Belgium bombings. One would think that a multi million pound airport could run to a decent CCTV camera.

[Calibax]

I've often wondered why a camera mounted in the middle stump of a wicket can read the manufacturer's name on a cricket ball bowled at it at 90mph but one mounted in a shop can barely make out the gender or ethnicity of a robber.
Obviously price plays a part but as you say even the cheapest mobile phones have better definition than most CCTVs

[trt]

I agree Ratters, the one I have covering the front of my house is better quality than that airport one, and it only cost me £75.00.

[douglas9401]

The same cameras that allegedly protect us from harm by the religion of peace also monitor the streets where the rich and powerful conduct their dubious trawlings and catching them in HD would never do.
Not till they're dead and buried anyway.

[stoofur]

It is because of data storage space. 24 hrs of video at 1080 takes up about 1/2 a terrabyte of data. So that is one day of video from one camera. Scale that up to multiple cameras and multiple days and you would need so much storage the cost would be astronomical.

[smartypants10101]

try spending more money on a better system> have u tried the focus?

[RATTER15]

Smartypants, refer to my comment at 23:23

[RATTER15]

stoofur, I dont really see that being the problem, when you think of the money that spent on security at such places, also they wouldn't need to keep the data for very long, the storage device could then be formatted and reused after a couple of weeks when nothing of significance has happened.

[Gizmonster]

>>>>> 24 hrs of video at 1080 takes up about 1/2 a terrabyte of data.

I don't know where you've got these figures from, but it seems a LONG way out from what we get from our home CCTV system:

4 cameras (all HD - can't remember if they're 720p or 1080p, but they are all1500 TVL).
2 cameras set to record 24/7 and 2 cameras set to record on motion detect.
1 TB hard drive lasts about 18 days, before it over-writes the oldest recording.

Anyway back to the original topic - I know what you mean Ratter15 - it's not that expensive to get a good quality set up, so you think large organisations would have a good quality set up.
Our system cost around £140 and the quality is very good ......

[trt]

I have seen some corner shops which have a better picture that the airport one, and mine at home is of TV quality.

[ChuckFickens]

Most oder CCTV cameras use composite video, because it's easy to install and only requires one cheap cable but only runs at (a bad!) 576i ...

Also storage... it's only recently storage space has become cheap enough to make multi camera CCTV at HD affordable, remember, you only ever see one feed, the system has to record lots of feeds.

Modern systems will comfortably record 30 plus cameras at full HD but there is a cost to upgrade and until something happens the budget to upgrade won't be there"

[peachybabe]

Having managed a CCTV control room that was used for crime programme backdrops, featured in many news stories, was used to test new systems, and was generally state of the art for its time (1998-2006), I can throw some light on this.
Most of these poor systems are not regularly maintained correctly, many smaller/older systems still use VHS tapes. The tapes are often not cleared in a degauser so are taped over again and again. They only use one or two tapes and don't buy new ones very often. Also if the cameras are not focused correctly or are not being monitored, people often just move a camera to cover a different area and don't adjust the system.