Mexapixels, Resolution and Lenses – Gain a Better Understanding of Security Camera Technology

Video surveillance technologies – and capabilities – are improving at a record pace. High resolution IP cameras keep taking giant leaps forward in their image capture abilities. Think, for instance, that the 2MP image cameras of not so long ago provided a width and height image of 1920 and 1080 respectively, which, when multiplied delivered an image of 2,073,600 pixels. Today’s 5MP cameras deliver 5,017,600 pixels and a 4K camera’s image a staggering 8,294,400 pixels! The greater the number of pixels a camera can capture, the greater the resolution of their images, which, in turn, determines the amount of evidence and information that can be recorded by a camera.

While most people are aware of this, many don’t realize that as cameras change and are counted on to give higher resolution capability, so too must the lenses change. The lens used in today’s cameras must be specifically designed to work with their promised level of resolution. Bottom line – better glass equals a better, clearer image. An inferior lens on a good camera will not deliver a good image – it will, in fact, degrade the image.

There are also other considerations to take into account. New cameras, for instance, include panoramic cameras with one imager for 360 or 180 degree capture. These types of cameras create a warped image which must be dewarped by the camera or video management software to be viewed in a usable way.

Dewarping is the process of correcting an image to reverse the effects of geometric distortions caused by the camera lens found in fisheye or 360º cameras. Dewarping takes images from a fisheye camera or 360° device and alters the original shape to allow users to view portions of the complete full video image without distortion, and allows users and law enforcement to track suspicious activity and investigate incidents.

As for multi imager cameras, they use four lenses and imagers on one camera.

The four repositionable lenses minimize blind spots and flexibly correspond to wide and variously shaped surveillance areas. This level of protection gives end users much needed peace of mind. Further to that, independently adjustable lenses can be directed at various parts of an area or can be set to create a continual 360 degree field of view.

Most of today’s video surveillance cameras can be configured easily and assigned one IP address and usually one VMS license if there is compatibility between the VMS and the camera. Netronix can help to make sure those safeguards are put in place. And we are cognizant of how low light capability and higher pixel capabilities need to work together. More light is required to maintain a high quality color image and reduce motion blur or ghosting once in monochrome mode.

However, sometimes infra-red (IR) illumination on the camera can attract external nuisances, even including common insets and bugs, and therefore recommend that IR lighting is positioned at the correct from the camera to reduce these nuisances from entering the camera’s field of view.

For most users, the ability to store adequate amounts of video footage video and ratin it for the needed amount of time is a prime concern. Considerations to store enough video range from internal monitoring feed needs to being able to provide criminal evidence, if needed. And, the capabilities of video analytics are significantly empowered when the right lenses are working in tandem with the selected video surveillance cameras.

The expert consulting that Netronix can provide clients goes a long way in establishing and exceeding expectations and workable budgets to deliver the very best in security that sophisticated IP cameras can provide with the correct lenses.