Three steps in selecting your IP home security system

Overview

Securing your house with an IP security surveillance has many benefits and is actually an overall easy process. Most IP camera surveillance systems on the market are now plug and play, greatly simplifying the setup process. To get started in selecting your equipment follow these 3 easy steps on selecting the right IP security cameras and Network Video Recorder(NVR).

Step One:

Identify the area(s) to secure.

Depending on your needs and site layout this may vary greatly. For now, just note the number of cameras you think would be required. Common places to secure are the garage, backyard, mailbox, indoors, pool, front door, patio, back door, basement, storage shed, barn, kennel and many more.

Step Two:

Select the cameras based on the area you are trying to capture

One of the most important factors to consider when choosing a security camera will be it's focal length. Focal length is a measurement of the distance between the lens and Image sensor. The focal length of a camera determines it's field of view" or rather, "what the camera can see". In security cameras we encounter fixed focal lengths and variable focal lengths. A Fixed focal length security camera is most commonly called a "fixed lens" camera, while the variable focal length camera is called a "varifocal lens" camera.

Focal length is measured in mm and smaller focal lengths give larger FOV's while larger focal lengths give a smaller FOV. In simple terms you can think of a fixed lens camera as a "what you see is what you get", and a varifocal camera is going to give you the ability to adjust what the camera "can see".

Step Three:

Choose an appropriately sized NVR for the application.

Choosing a NVR relies on a three key starting points which include: the amount of footage you want on storage, the amount of cameras you require to secure you area, and the incoming bitrate of the NVR. Let's briefly touch on each item and how they interact with each other.

The amount of recorded footage that you want on file will dictate the Hard Drive size that you need to purchase. It is important to use a surveillance rated hard drive as they are designed for 24/7 read/write tasks. The amount of storage required is directly related to your total camera bitrate.

The amount of channels is usually pretty easy to determine since 1 channel = 1 camera. Generally speaking, grouping nvr's by this specification is rather effective. However, pay attention to what's actually going on, just because a nvr claims it is a 16 channel nvr doesn't mean it will actually support all 16 cameras chosen.

Bitrate is probably the most important specifications of a nvr. It determines the overall resources available for accepting incoming streams from IP cameras. Bitrate is measured in mbps(megabits per second) and the bitrate varies for each camera depending on the resolution and FPS of that camera.

What does all this bitrate stuff mean? As a general rule we can say that a 1080p camera uses 5/mbps, while a 4k camera can use upwards of 20/mbps. So, if you had a 4 channel recorder with an incoming bitrate of 40/mbps this means you could use one 4k camera and three 1080P cameras(A total bitrate of 35/mbps). On that same nvr you could only use 2-4k IP cameras even though the recorder can support 4 channels/cameras. This is because all of the bitrate is allocated to the 2-4k cameras(40/mbps).

Next Steps:

Once you get your equipment, installation is as easy as running an ethernet cable to each camera and mounting the cameras in your desired locations. It's that simple!

Summary:

Take the time to research the cameras you are buying and compare the different options available not one camera is perfect for every solution. Selecting a quality surveillance hard drive will ensure a stable storage method. Bitrate may seem overwhelming but it's just a simple adding process, correctly paying attention to this factor can help you future proof your system. If you keep these simple steps in mind when selecting your IP surveillance equipment you can be positive that your system will record in the desired manner and have room to grow.