Understanding the Challenges of Low-Quality CCTV Footage
In today's world, surveillance camera systems play a crucial role in ensuring security and monitoring public spaces. Despite advancements in technology, many CCTV camera footages still exhibit low quality. This article delves into the reasons behind this issue and discusses the challenges in upgrading these systems.
The Evolution of Surveillance Camera Technology
The first installment of surveillance cameras wasn’t updated annually with new hardware. Often, the current systems in place were built around ten to fifteen years ago, if not older. This outdated infrastructure poses significant limitations to the quality of the footage captured.
The advancement in camera technology, including improvements in resolution, has not been matched by a proportional decrease in storage costs over the past decade. Despite these improvements, storage space remains a critical constraint, making it challenging to implement high-resolution systems across various applications.
The Impact of Low-Light Conditions on Image Quality
Low light images are particularly susceptible to digital noise, which can degrade image quality. This is a significant challenge, especially indoors in less-lit environments or in outdoor areas during dusk and dawn. Even with the best cameras, the presence of digital noise can compromise the clarity of the footage.
The Economic Constraints of High-Quality Surveillance Systems
Upgrading to a high-quality surveillance system comes with a hefty price tag. For instance, a 100,000 dollar surveillance system for a convenience store like 7-Eleven is not a feasible option for many organizations. Most surveillance camera systems in use today were likely installed around 10 years ago, and some were even installed 15 years ago. These systems, built with older technology, struggle to deliver high-quality footage.
The First IP-Based System Installation (2008)
My first IP-based system installation in 2008 featured Axis cameras, primarily in VGA resolution of 64480. A couple of high-resolution cameras were installed in important locations at quad-VGA (128960) resolution. The storage was on a custom-configured server PC running Windows Server with Milestone recording system software, along with a substantial 6TB of storage for 30 days of recording.
In contrast, the systems installed at other locations at the time had analogue cameras recording to a DVR at CIF (352x240) or 2CIF (704x240) resolution. More often than not, 2CIF was used for alarm or motion recording due to the limited storage capacity and lower costs.
The Evolution of Storage Capacities
In the past, HDD capacity on DVRs was generally limited to 500GB or less. Today, better systems are available, but prices remain high for top-end gear. You can't expect to achieve 8MP resolution at 30fps for 30 days on an ‘ebay special’. Modern 2 to 4MP cameras are more affordable, but you need to factor in other costs such as recording equipment and possibly staff retraining. Cable also becomes an issue at higher resolutions; Cat5e cable might not suffice for multiple streams. You may need Cat6/7 cable or fiber to support multiple streams. At least 1Gbe connections, and in some cases, 10Gbe connections, are necessary to ensure optimal performance.
For lower-tier systems that I work with regularly, storage capacity still hovers around 1 to 2TB. However, one of our clients has doubled the disk capacity across their sites to 2–4TB, with IP systems standardizing at 12 to 24TB.
In conclusion, while advances in surveillance camera technology have improved image quality and resolution, the challenges of outdated infrastructure and economic constraints continue to affect the overall quality of footage captured. It is essential to balance technological improvements with practical considerations to ensure the most effective and efficient security systems.