Closed Circuit Television (CCTV)
Countrywide Home Automation provides multi camera closed circuit television installation services to small, medium businesses and the owners of larger homes.
Cameras
Camera technology continues to evolve at a fast rate and a very wide range of cameras are now available.
Low light cameras are available that can "see" in starlight, others operate in total darkness, as perceived by the human eye, using infra-red lighting contained within the camera or externally.
Digital Video Recorders (DVR)
These are in effect a specialised computer with a stable operating system. Inputs from the cameras are processed and written onto a hard disc. Recording duration is only limited by the capacity of the hard discs which in many DVRs can be expanded giving large durations. The quality setting will will also have an impact on the recording duration with a higher quality setting consuming more disc space. On reaching full capacity the user settings will dictate if the recording stops, or carries on overwriting the oldest recording.
Live views from the cameras can be shown on the DVR screen as a single cameras or muli-camera views. Past events can be found and viewed very quickly unlike a tape based recorder. A unique feature of some recorders is to only record when some event happens such as movement and down to specific areas of the picture. This can be combined with facility to record the picture starting a set time before and after the movement is detected.