There is often resistance when it comes to IP surveillance, especially when you are considering the choice between IP and traditional, or analog CCTV. This is usually down to issues of complexity, and, of course, price. But, here’s a hint for those reluctant to adopt the newer IP technology – if you get left behind, chances are you will be overtaken by new entrants and even the DIY market for home/small businesses.

Limitations Of Analog
Although it may appear easier and cheaper to stick to longstanding analogue products, it could prove to be costlier in the long run. Yes analogue is much more appealing from an installation perspective, as virtually any analog CCTV camera can be plugged into any DVR – so literally CCTV is as simple as plugging and playing.

However, there are many limitations where analogue CCTV is concerned, namely the scalability and flexibility. Analogue CCTV is designed to be closed; therefore it’s hard wired and more difficult to scale and IP surveillance allows much more flexibility in this field. IP surveillance can also tackle much larger areas such as university campuses, multi-level buildings and multi-site retail stores.

Resolution can also be much better. Regardless of a camera’s image quality claims, the video signal is only as good as the connectivity, and this is more than likely to impact on the clarity of the image that is transmitted by the camera. Consider this: A 1.3 megapixel IP-camera is nearly four times the resolution of full D1 analog. […]