subject: The Lowdown On Motion Detection And Video In Home Security Surveillance [print this page] Obviously, the greatest thing when it comes to personal security is literally having someone watching over you. This is why you'll be challenged to find a celebrity or politician without a bodyguard, along with specialists to provide home security surveillance and access control over their gates during sleeping hours.
The sad truth for the rest of us is that people are expensive commodities and, since Abe Lincoln had his way with the constitution, not something you can purchase once off. Machines, on the other hand, well, you can rely on your dishwasher to keep washing those dishes until one of the parts gives or the power cuts out. Built-in obsolescence aside, technology will work for you forever. Now, a well-designed, fully-integrated home security surveillance system certainly won't be able to protect you from intruders - but a wailing alarm siren coupled with the fear of being identified on camera will do a lot to scare would-be burglars away.
The problem people first encounter with home video surveillance systems is logistical. Just how are you going to store all that footage? If your home security surveillance system includes numerous cameras, you'll find that just a few days of recording can call for terabytes of storage space. Since even expensive HDVRs (Hybrid Digital Video Recorders) are only scaleable up to sizes of about four terabytes, the first part of the answer is that you'll need to use a looped system of recording, whereby you keep between a couple of days and a couple of weeks worth of footage before taping over it. With the increasing speed of internet connections and the growing efficacy of wireless technologies, most people are choosing to sign up with online storage clusters that will sell you storage space according to your requirements. You can access this footage through your own private website. This method is great, as it all but eliminates the possibility of crooks messing with your footage to cover up their crimes.
There is, however, a much more nifty solution to the problem of storing digital footage. It involves the judicious use of PIR motion detectors which, with a little uncomplicated rewiring, can be used to activate your home security surveillance system. PIR motion detectors cover a cone-shaped area, and are activated by a change of sufficient degree in the heat of that area. Thus, they utilize very little power and take up no storage space in terms of information. When activated, they'll cause your cameras to come into operation, setting them to run for a certain specified period beyond the last detected movement or change in the observed area.
All you need to do for an efficient home video surveillance system is to have your PIR motion detector rigged to activate the recording function of your cameras, and BAM - your information storage costs just dropped to negligible levels. Your system will now record only when it has to, for a fixed period. It's possible to make such a system even more effective, if you're willing to shell out some cash for panning, tilting and zooming (PTZ) cameras. These are capable of tracking motion, shifting to follow the actions of intruders. If that's too expensive, you can get motion-activated dummy PTZ cameras, which could do a lot to scare off thieves before they even enter the premises.
One can make a fully functional home security surveillance system using the most advanced technology, or the most basic, bargain-bin level materials. If you're deliberating as to what components to use, decide first if you'd be able to do the job as a DIY project. While this might take up some time, it could significantly cut down on your setup costs. Be sure to research the subject thoroughly before you make your decision - if you're in doubt, your best move would likely be to subscribe to a good neighborhood watch or security agency, along the lines of ADT or Chubb. Such agencies, if you can afford them, will offer you the peace of mind inherent in having armed force to call on when your house is under siege.
