In recent years it has become possible to Upgrade your CCTV security system to HD quality without rewiring. To get extremely high resolution video with the use of network IP cameras and an NVR (network video recorder). If you already have a security camera system in your home or business, chances are it is an analog CCTV system. Most analog CCTV systems have a maximum resolution of around 704 pixels by 480 pixels.
By today’s standards 720 x 480 is a very low resolution and does not produce high definition, high quality video.
Unlike analog DVR’s and CCTV video cameras, network IP systems use a digital signal sent over CAT5 or CAT6 cable. Until now, if you wanted to upgrade your existing analog security camera system and improve the quality of the video to HD you would have to buy an NVR and new network IP cameras. Then you would have to rewire your entire home or business with CAT5 or CAT6 cable. This means you are essentially starting from scratch. You cannot reuse your recorder, cameras or existing cables. Here are a few other things you might want to take into consideration; traditionally IP cameras are more expensive and in many cases rewiring can be costly, time consuming or not possible at all.
So what can you do if you want to avoid the expense of rewiring and buying all new cameras but still want a high-resolution security system?
Well, thanks to the new HD-CVI technology it is now possible to upgrade your existing system to high definition without the need to rewire. This is because HD-CVI technology allows up to 1080P resolutions (2 megapixel), using your existing analog Coax cable. Just look at the difference in the video below.
Another thing you might find surprising is that you can buy an HDCVI recorder and cameras for less than what you probably paid for an analog system a few years ago and many HD-CVI recorders also have the ability to do both analog and HD-CVI. This means you can use your existing cameras and slowly upgrade to HD-CVI cameras over time as you choose.
Have a look at a few of these complete HDCVI packages from securitycameraking.com
Complete 4 Channel Analog to HD Upgrade Package
Complete 8 Channel Analog to HD Upgrade Package
Complete 16 Channel Analog to HD Upgrade Package
What do I need to do to upgrade?
If you already have quality analog cable you simply need to switch out your DVR and replace your existing cameras and you will have a 1080p high quality video surveillance system. The packages shown above also come with free US based tech support + free remote viewing apps.
Some other benefits of HD-CVI are that you can run video for up to 1600 feet on your existing analog cable. Unlike analog cameras you can also control your PTZ (Pan, Tilt, Zoom) cameras and transfer audio over the same cable so in short all you need to do is replace your analog DVR with an HD-CVI recorder and add some HD-CVI cameras and you’re ready to go.
Some Things to Consider when upgrading.
Here are a few you things that you should take into consideration when deciding to upgrade you system. Although you will be able to use your existing hard drive or storage device, in many cases you will get considerably less stored footage due to the fact that recording at higher resolutions means you will be taking up more disk space for each recording frame of video.
For instance, if you have your analog cameras recording seven days a week at 30 frames per second, you would get about 10 days of storage on a 1 TB hard drive. In comparison if you had eight 1080P cameras recording seven days a week at 30 frames per second you would only get about two days of recorded video.
But don’t fret, by dropping the frame rate from 30 frames to 20 frames per second (which is still a very smooth video) you would essentially double your hard disk space. Also, if you set your cameras to record on motion only you could increase your storage capacity even further. One of the nice things about these HD-CVI systems from www.securitycameraking.com is that these settings can be adjusted on a camera by camera basis. If you do decide to upgrade your storage capacity you will be happy to know that the prices of surveillance rated hard drives are very reasonable these days.
Another thing that you should know is that it is not recommended to run HD-CVI cameras over pre-made or lower quality analog cables. The reason is that you will be transferring a high amount of data which requires a quality cable in order to ensure the best audio and video quality. Take a look below at the difference between a quality siamese cable and premade cables.
Now that you understand the quality advantages and affordability of HD-CVI, you may be asking yourself why would I ever want to use a network IP system?