Axis Megapixel/HDTV cameras
Megapixel and HDTV technology enables network cameras to provide higher resolution of video images than analog CCTV, i.e. the ability to see details and to identify people and objects – a key consideration in video surveillance applications. With a megapixel or HDTV network camera, the resolution is at least three times better than an analog CCTV camera.
Combining megapixel/HDTV network cameras with a selection of non-megapixel network cameras that are optimized for other needs (such as powerful optical zoom, extreme light sensitivity or low cost) creates video surveillance installations that are effective, reliable and cost-efficient.
What do you need to see?
Megapixel and HDTV network cameras have an important role to play in video surveillance applications. They are obviously more suitable for some areas than for others. The determining factors are ultimately the requirements of the individual customer’s system. Once the specific objectives for each network camera in the surveillance application are set, the right type of camera can be selected for the best fit.
Naturally, the variation of requirements within video surveillance is enormous. The most fundamental question, however, is generally a choice between two different priorities:
General overview
In this case, the aim is to obtain a general overview of a scene. In a shopping mall, for instance, your primary goal of a camera installation may be to watch for the presence of people and view their movements—not the identification of individuals. Or you may want to see whether a parking lot is full or has empty spaces, rather than identify individual cars or read license plates. For overview applications, sufficient resolution and coverage of a scene may be achieved with a single megapixel/HDTV network camera or a number of non-megapixel network cameras.
High detail
These are the really demanding situations where you need to be able to identify persons or objects in a scene. This could be point-of-sales monitoring where it is necessary to clearly see every item a customer is purchasing, or situations where you need to be able to identify a face. High detail images can be achieved by installing a network camera with a telescopic lens or a lens with zoom capability to allow a closer view of the area of interest, or by placing the camera close to the area to be monitored. Using a megapixel or HDTV network camera in all such cases will provide even higher resolution images with more details than a non-megapixel network camera.
