Experience the Best of Solutions to low-voltage: Our Telecommunications Solutions in Pictures

IP cameras use a single Ethernet cable for power and video.  The cameras can be connected directly to a POE (Power over Ethernet) switch, NVR or even directly to your computer or laptop when utilizing a POE injector. Connected to your network with internet, the cameras can be viewed remotely from your cellphone or another computer. 

Other benefits include that footage can be stored on the cloud or a remote storage location, flexible manageability with remote control and multi-user same time viewing, streaming live views, notification on built in alarm triggers, motion detection, face recognition, people or crowd counters, temperature sensing capabilities and so much more.

Security in one sense can more reliable since the digital format is encrypted and compressed prior to sending data over the internet, on the other hand IP cameras have an IP address and software built in which can be hacked and compromised. Use of a firewall and good network security is invaluable with any IP system.

Camera resolutions offered in the IP camera realm can reach up to 8k, though the most current popular resolutions are 2k and 4k. The higher the resolution the more detail is seen.

Wireless IP cameras can be incorporated either as stand-alone or networked. These can come in handy when it is impossible or too expensive to run cable to a certain location or just for the matter of convenience such as a baby monitor. Note: Wi-Fi cameras still need a power source, either plugged in to an outlet, battery or solar powered.

Analog cameras have been around for quite a while, the original CCTV cameras. These require at least 2 cables, 1 for video and 1 for power.  And possibly, a third cable may be needed, if including audio on some systems. To make the cabling easier, a popular type of cable has been in place for decades.  It is called Siamese Cable.  It is both the RG-59 cable and the 18-2 cable bundled together.  It is mostly seen in a black or white cable jacket.  

Analog cameras require a power source that is a separate unit than the recorder.  It is a transformer and connection terminals housed in a small cabinet, usually attached to a wall. The RG-59 coax data cables are fed into the DVR with BNC connections.

Newer Analog HD systems with network connectivity offer many of the same perks as IP camera systems, have a lower latency than IP camera systems.

Security in analog cameras could be considered better than IP cameras since there is no IP address and no software built into these cameras.  However, there could still be a security risk due to the fact that the cameras are hooked up to a DVR that is on the Network or the Internet.

If you have well installed analog infrastructure in place, and are wanting better resolutions, you might consider upgrading the cameras and DVR to an HD analog system.  Re-using the cabling infrastructure will save a lot of money.