By: Arthur Cooper
Submitted: 2010-10-14 11:09:10 | Word Count: 664
Used alone or in tandem with other advanced securities home security systems such as residential alarms, digital video home security systems can provide you with total residential security coverage and peace of mind. Digital video camera technology is probably the most advanced securities home security systems used today.
There are several types of advanced securities home security systems including residential and commercial burglar alarms, fire alarms, chemical alarms, pool alarms, digital video security and surveillance cameras, and many other alerts or alarms that can be detected by almost any sort of sensor. Alerts are designed to notify the user or some other entity of an event. Alarms may notify the user or a professional monitoring service of an event, and may also simultaneously trigger a reaction (such as a siren, pre-recorded verbal message or other type of audio or even visual signal) that is designed to aid in aborting a potential criminal act or violation, breech of trespass or entry, or other unwanted act.
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Advanced securities home security systems alerts are usually designed to provide a notice of an event in either a silent, graphic or audible form, For example, a home security alert system may be designed to send an e-mail, a silent form of alert, to the user upon initiation of a trigger. Likewise, an alert may also initiate some sort of warning or picture on a monitor, a graphic form. Finally, an alert may be in audible form such as causing a pager to beep, a cell phone to ring, or some other sound to be initiated.
Alarms are another form of advanced securities home security systems that may provide an alert, and usually, but not always some sort of deterrent of an unwanted act (as defined by the owner of the alarm). Note that one dictionary definition of the term alarm is “An electrical, electronic, or mechanical device that serves to warn of danger by means of a sound or signal,” yet another dictionary definition is “To fill with alarm, frighten.” The major premise behind a loud siren burglar or intruder alarm is not only to serve notice that some unwanted event has occurred, but also alarm or frighten the potential violator enough to abort or deter an further action.
Residential digital video Closed Circuit Television or CCTV) security systems are another type of advanced securities home security system. In fact, a digital video system can not only monitor and record the actual act in progress, but they also can be used as an alert and/or alarm.
Residential CCTV security systems have expanded their capabilities exponentially and their cost has reduced drastically with advances in technology especially over the past 10 years. Legacy CCTV systems consist of analog video cameras that normally recorded their analog video stream to a VHS or even Beta (terms which even now may seem antiquated). Some systems offered the ability to be monitored 24/7 by a professional monitoring company, but at a cost the was normally only affordable to wealthy households.
Contemporary home CCTV systems no longer use analog cameras. These systems now use digital video cameras, video processors, and Digital Video Recorders or DVRs.
Residential security systems’ digital video cameras are much cheaper, lighter in weight, easier to install, and especially lower in cost than their legacy analog counterparts. In addition, the electronic chip used to convert light into electrical impulses is inherently sensitive to near infrared illumination making these cameras an in expensive tool for total darkness video monitoring.
Today’s DVRs are essentially the same as a Personal Computer’s (PC’s) hard disk drive. Since the video files are digital, they can be stored easily on these drives and, as computer hard drive technology and storage capacity increases, the same is true for DVRs. In addition, the DVR may also contain a specialized computer processor called a video processor that realizes the same benefits from advances in computer technology.
Finally, digital video home security systems can easily be connected to personal computers, servers, and the internet providing the user with a myriad of options for notification (alerts), warning mechanisms (alarms), and monitoring methods. The offer a deterrent effect similar to alarms but also add greatly to prevention and documentation of an event.
It’s easy to understand why digital video home security systems are considered as advanced securities home security systems. Used in combination with sensor type alarms, a digital video home security system can offer the ultimate in home security.
