What to Look for When Choosing a CCTV Camera for Your Home

When it comes to your CCTV Camera System & house security cameras, you only want the best possible products to be installed in your home.

This is one of the things you simply cannot skimp on quality with.  While you should hope hard that situations, where it could prove useful, do not ever come up, having a CCTV camera installation performed in your home is always the proactive thing to do.  

What factors should you consider when setting up your home security system? Before you shop and contact a licensed electrician in Perth, check out this guide. 

Camera style 

There are different camera styles to choose from, and they’re perfect for different types of application. 

• Bullet style – These are standard wall-mounted cameras that have a sun shield, best placed outdoors.  
• Dome style – As the name suggests, these are round-shaped cameras that are most commonly mounted onto a ceiling or wall, often looking like an “eye” in the room. Because they’re quite unassuming in terms of design, most buyers prefer to place them indoors. 
• Box type – One of the earliest designs of CCTV cameras, box cameras are usually bought without the lens, so they’re perfect for homeowners who want a bit of flexibility when it comes to choosing lenses.  
• Pan/tilt/zoom – Often confused with dome style cameras, pan/tilt/zoom cameras are also round-shaped cameras, except the camera itself is mounted onto a rod. The rod is what’s attached to the wall or ceiling. They are designed this way so operators can change up the angles or zoom into a subject when observing through a monitor. 

Camera lenses

Camera lenses usually range from 2.8mm to up to 12mm. The range reflects how close subjects can appear to a camera, similar to standard photography cameras in that way. You can also have your residential electricians install multiple cameras with different lenses set up in different locations, for variety when observing. 

Viewing area 

Your choice for lenses may depend on the area of your space and its location. The larger the degree of your viewing angle (say, 70 degrees), the wider the image that the camera can cover.  

Generally, larger viewing areas are great for outdoors and smaller ones for indoors. Your CCTV camera installation providers will take this into high consideration as well – positioning directly affects the viewing area.

Lighting and night vision 

Most cameras can do the job of capturing videos during the daytime or when the light is on. But when the lights are poor or it’s dark out, that’s when you would truly need a CCTV camera.  

A camera with a Wide Dynamic Range can produce a clear image of the subject even when they are backlit or the lighting conditions are poor. Also, choose one that has night vision sensitivity or night vision infrared LEDs, and it’s best if your camera’s night vision function turns on automatically as the area gets darker.  

Speaking of LED, you might also want to consider one that has a motion and audio sensor that automatically coordinates with an in-built LED bright light. When the camera senses movement or sound, the bright light turns on automatically, which could be an excellent deterrent for burglars. 

Image quality and resolution 

In the same vein, image quality and resolution are extremely important – no point in having a CCTV camera that can’t actually see anything. Set your minimum resolution at 720p. This should be enough to make out images, faces, and activity. Set your max at 1080p. This is standard high-definition resolution. 

Keep in mind, though, that the higher the resolution, the more storage space the videos consume. You can upgrade your storage to up to 38GB. Some cameras have a self-erasing feature – obviously this results in file loss. But if you’re patient enough to transfer files elsewhere to clear up your storage, it shouldn’t be a problem.

Pan and tilt 

If you’re looking to observe a wider area, you want to choose a camera that has excellent pan and tilt capabilities. Some cameras can pan up to 355 degrees and tilt up to 90 degrees, and with smart cameras out in the market now, you can even choose one that you can control through your smartphone.

Motion and audio sensor 

Modern CCTV cameras offer motion and audio sensor features, and smart cameras may notify you of suspicious activity through the paired app. The installation quality will also make or break this feature, so choose a licensed electrician in Perth.

CCTV Camera System & house security cameras ease of installation

CCTV camera installation has become much easier these days, thanks to innovation in CCTV camera design. There won’t be any cables involved, so all that residential electricians have to focus on is positioning, since that directly affects how much the camera can see. 

Price and value

Finally, make sure to assess all these features against a camera’s price. When it comes to deciding whether it’s of good value, you should prioritise a few key features.

These include lighting and night vision, image resolution, and viewing area – features that help a camera truly see clearly. Other features such as camera type or smart controls may depend on personal preference.  

Need more insight? Work with a licensed electrician in Perth today

The residential electricians over at Brillare would be happy to partner up with you as you choose and set up a CCTV Camera System & house security cameras you can truly rely on. Call us at 0414 281 438 or email us at info@brillare.net.au.