Resolution: Not Just for New Year's Anymore

Alright, even the name of this post is a misnomer, as it has nothing whatever to do with your resolve or decision making.  It's another discussion of the use and deployment of CCTV (Closed Circuit Video Surveillance) for additional peace of mind.

Recently, a client asked for an "above average" CCTV system; not just standard residential equipment.  I love these challenges, so I researched a number of offerings from various manufacturers and finally settled on and sold this solution to my client.  He was delighted by the installation, clarity of the video and outstanding remote viewing capability.  So satisfied in fact that he asked for a similar treatment at a second residence.  This time, however, he asked for even more "resolution."

Here is where we get into the meat of the discussion.  In the age of "HDTV" and digital imagery, and since everybody has seen crime shows like "CSI" and "NCIS," reality has been blurred into obscurity.  I guess the technology might exist that would allow the identification of a bug on a windshield based on footage from a traffic camera a hundred feet feet away in the dark on a vehicle moving 70Mph, with rain falling at two inches per hour...you get the idea, but it forces you to ask a couple of very obvious questions, the answers to which make it unlikely that this type of camera would be in very high demand.  First, at a price point around $25k or more per camera, who could afford it?  Second, how often will this kind of information really come in handy?

Here are some basics that should clarify (no pun intended) what is meant by the term "resolution" in reagard to video surveillance:

First, understand that cameras capture images in one of two ways; analog and digital.  We won't go into digital much, as they are not as prevalent in the majority of residential and small business applpications.  As for the more typical CCTV setups, there are basically two standards  or formats by which analog "resolution" is figured; they are international standards.  PAL and NTSC.  In places like the United States and Canada, NTSC is the governning standard.  In many other places around the world, PAL dictates how many lines of video appear on a monitoring device.  The reason for this is so that a recorded picture (video) is more universally available to various viewing devices.

NTSC format means that a video is limited to a frame consisting of 720 pixels width and 575 pixels high.  Technically, you will only see about 480 horizontal lines worth of information, and even this image is in reality two fields of interlaced video sent one after the other, very quickly (about 30 times each per second) so that your eye and your brain recognize one solid image.  Let's do math so we have a frame of reference to digital imagery, for which most people have a better feel.  Digital imagery is measured in "megapixels."  For example, your phone may have a 1 or 5 megapixel camera.  So how many Megapixels are in this analog image we are talking about?  Here's the math part...

720 pixels multiplied by 575 pixels, or 720 x 575 = 414,000 pixels.  Now recall that only half of these are really on the screen at one time. (Your brain is filling in the rest) So this is 207,000 pixels.  So at any given instant the maximum number of pixels on display might be 0.2 megapixels.  Now there are other factors that come into play that negatively affect this number as well, such as the speed of the transmission source, noise corruption of the signal as it passes through the wire to the monitor, etc...

You might say "but, the camera I bought says it captures 600TVL of resolution..." and I will tell you they are NOT lying!  NTSC doesn't limit the number of lines of signal that can be gathered, only the number that can be translated correctly by a recording or viewing device.  Capturing more TVL allows the camera to make up for some of the negative factors I mentioned in the last paragraph.  It is an indicater that the manufacturer is concerned with quality, that they used a better sensor to collect the information.

Of course a happy medium might be to select a camera that has a zoom feature.  It won't increase the number of TVL captured, but it can be more selective in regard to what those lines include.

Well, this is mind-numbing stuff, so we'll save the discussion of digital video for another time.

Evaluating Value: A 2012 Safety Odyssey…

If you were planning to jump out of an airplane, would you be shopping for the best price available?  Would you choose a well-known, reputable agency with years of experience or a company just getting into the business?  Do you choose a company that owns its own equipment, employs its own pilots and instructors?  Do you take the recommendation of other people who’ve used the company before and still appear to be alive?  Who would you trust for the experience of a lifetime, if it could be the last experience of a lifetime?

How many chances will you have to get it right the first time?  What are the consequences of choosing poorly?  Is home security worth getting right the first time?  If you choose wisely, chances are good that you'll only have to make this investment once in each home you own.

 

Ever Misplace a Child?

My children are getting older; a supremely better option than the alternative, but they still require a significant amount of guidance and parental supervision.  This is not supposed to be an exposition about modern parenting techniques.  It would likely prove me to be old fashioned, as I believe parents should keep a rather tight reign on their children until they leave home to discover all of the many things for which they are still unprepared.  As a result, I find myself on school sponsored field trips frequently.

Recently, at the Detroit Zoo, I was asked to chaperone my daughter and two of her school chums through the park.  Each of them had chosen an animal to study and about which to write a report.  These choices played a large role in setting our route.  As we studied the map together, they also determined that we should see the lion and the polar bear exhibits.  Along the way, we would need to stop and eat our lunch, and finally, on our walk back to the front gate, they all agreed that we should spend a few minutes on the playground.

Almost as soon as we completed our group agenda I began to dread the task of leadership set before me.  Where would I find the energy required to organize and keep track of these independant little spitfires at my age?  How would I be able to keep up at my age?  What would I do if the group got separated?  Then my safety-man mind kicked in and I came up with a simple, elegant contingency plan using the wisdom that comes from being a person of my age.  It had to be simple so the children would remember and execute the plan properly.

I took a picture of them with my camera phone.  Each of them was given a piece of paper with my name and cell phone number.  They were given one simple instruction in the event they found themselves separated from me; Stay put!  I promised I would come back for them by retracing my steps.  I told them not to approach a stranger for help, but that if a stranger offered to help, they were to simply tell that person to call my phone number.

Maybe there are other solutions and precautions.  The thrust of this article, though, is to ask the question "Does my child know what to do if they get lost or left behind?"

Of course all opinions and suggestions manumitted here are subject to your own better idea. I'm not proud.