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Closed Circuit Television Systems Emerging Trends in Reponse to 911
By: Roy Stephenson
The advent of Closed Circuit Television Systems (CCTV) has definitely had an impact on modern society. Just about everywhere you go, you are probably being viewed or recorded onto a Video Surveillance System.
Whether it is at Work, a Bank, or a Convenience Store, the average person is ?Caught on Tape? 2 or 3 times every day. The proliferation of CCTV Systems has been a boon to Law Enforcement Personnel who now have access to a wealth of information which is being recorded on a very large number of privately owned and managed Video Surveillance Systems.
A typical Crime Scene Investigation will involve the collection and review of Video ?Tapes? from several locations surrounding the Scene of the Crime. Video from Hotel Lobbies, Gas Stations, ATM?s and Traffic Cameras can all contribute valuable evidence to the investigation.
From Boise to Beijing, hundreds of thousands of video clips have been used in Court Cases to help convict criminals, or at least place them at the Scene of the Crime.
During the recent bombings of the London Mass Transit System, video recorded from closed circuit television systems played a major role in the investigation that directly led to the arrest of many of the alleged terrorists.
With some of the top of the line CCTV Cameras currently being installed, you can zoom in and read a newspaper from more than a mile away. Many modern cameras can see in total darkness, while remaining completely discreet.
Because modern CCTV cameras can provide some ?super-human? abilities, it is no wonder that some people feel that their civil liberties are being violated since they are constantly under surveillance in public areas.
Television shows such as CSI, 24-Hours and my personal favorite, Law & Order have all contributed to societies misunderstanding of the capabilities of current CCTV Technology.
Believe me, with today?s technology there really is no way to take a wide angle, fuzzily recorded image of someone standing ? mile away and zoom in 20 times, enhance the video and get a perfect face shot.
In a few years, Super High Resolution Digital Cameras may change everything, but for now, most high end Digital Recording Systems are stuck with image resolutions less than 720 x 480 pixels. A 720 x 480 image file simply does not provide the clarity required to digitally zoom in more than 3 or 4 times and still have a usable picture. The closer you zoom-in, the more pixilated the image becomes. That is a fact.
The limiting factor is not the cameras, as some of the newer digital cameras can provide images up to 10 mega-pixels or higher. The problem lies in the processing speed of the computers and compression formats available. When you are digitally recording an image, higher quality equals more pixels. The more pixels you record, the larger the file size. The larger the file size, the more processing speed is required to capture the image.
Manufactures currently use some type of video compression to make the file size smaller and more manageable so that they can be recorded onto computers. The speed of current computer processors and the existing compression technology simply is not fast enough to deal with the added load of meg-pixel cameras coupled with the recording of real time video on multiple cameras onto the same computer.
Never fear, nothing will stop the genesis of progress. After 9-11 Video Security Technology jumped in many new directions and some very new and interesting applications have emerged. Many are still in the design stages, while others are already on the market, but one thing is for certain. The use of Video Security Systems to monitor your activities is only beginning.
One of the universally limiting factors of CCTV was that there always needed to be someone manning and controlling the cameras to make it effect for anything other than forensic investigations.
Now you can purchase software based video control systems that utilize complex algorithms to monitor behavior and react accordingly. Real Time Video Intelligence and Analysis is one of latest trends to hit the industry.
Intelligent Video Systems can respond to certain behavior and automatically generate alarms to alert security or even dispatch an emergency response team. A simple example would include a series of cameras that are deployed along a fence line. People and vehicles can move on the non-secure side of the fence at any time. If a person or a vehicle should stop to long or loiter in one place, the camera system could generate an alarm to alert security. If a person tried to climb the fence, the system is intelligent enough to immediately dispatch a response team.
Normal behavior in a parking structure at the Mall is for a person to park their car and then walk to the elevators. If a person is moving from car to car, or staggering around the lot, the system will immediately call attention to the situation and alert Security. You can see how this use of technology could possibly prevent vehicle burglaries or even assaults.
Although most of this technology is being driven in response to terrorism, the uses and applications in commercial and retail environments are endless. From catching shoplifters to alerting grocery store of the potentially dangerous spills on aisle 5, this technology is headed to a store near you.
Roy Stephenson is a Security Consultant with over 21 Years Experience Designing and Installing High End Integrated Security Systems. He is currently the VP of Marketing at www.Security-Kits.Com |  |