Knowledge Base

CCTV Terminology can be confusing so we have created a knowledge base to help explain the key features.

Motion 2.0

Products supporting Motion 2.0 are able to filter for Human and Vehicle targets when using motion detection and thus reduce the number of false alarms created by other moving objects, animals etc.

ColorVu

ColorVu technology uses ultra low light sensors with F1.0 large aperture lenses to collect more light vastly improving the camera performance at night and in low light conditions. Used in conjunction with White LED lights the camera guarantees full colour vivid images at night.

Smart Hybrid Light

Smart Hybrid Light incorporates both White LEDs and Infrared LEDs to allow the camera to work in either ColorVu (full colour) or traditional IR (black and white) images at night. ColorVu mode has the advantage of producing colourful images with high level of detail when viewing objects at a short distance.  IR LEDs on the other hand have a greater reach than visible white light and so allow the camera to see more detail at a greater distance, but in a black and white image.  Users choose the working mode, either ColorVu or IR mode or Smart mode. In Smart mode the camera works in IR by default but switches to ColorVu upon motion detection.

Resolution

Resolution is a measure of the image size and the larger the camera resolution then generally the more detail can be captured for a given viewing area.  Resolution is only part of the camera performance and users need to consider the frames per second (FPS) and also camera sensitivity to make a fair comparison.
1.3MP also referred to as 720P = 1280 x 720 pixels
2MP also referred to as 1080P = 1920 x 1080 pixels
3MP = 2048 x 1536 pixels
4MP also referred to as 2K = 2560 x 1440 pixels
5MP = 2592 x 1944 pixels
3K = 2960 x 1665 pixels
6MP = 3072 x 2048 pixels
8MP also know as 4K = 3840 x 2160 pixels

Frames Per Second (FPS)

This is the number of individual frames processed by the camera or by the recorder per second. Lower FPS produces a laggy and less smooth video image, higher FPS is more fluent.  This is important when recording moving objects and a low FPS can result in blurred images. Higher FPS will cope much better with faster moving objects and produce a smooth video. Real time video is classed as 25FPS. Users should check the FPS performance of both the camera and also the recorder.