Surveillance and CCTV “closed circuit television” is a fast growing industry.
Cameras are being installed everywhere; locations such as traffic signals, parking lots, corporate and small businesses, supermarkets, industrial plants, hospitals, airports, all the way to the plains of the Serengeti for viewing wildlife via a wireless IP camera. Infrared Imaging Cameras are even popping up in airports in hopes to find potential carriers of the "swine flu".
The simple truth is that there probably is some form of CCTV in every public place that we travel to and from. At the moment CCTV is mainly used for security surveillance. Most standard security cameras have what’s known as night vision which means when night approaches the cameras have a built in infrared illuminator that uses infrared light instead of the regular lighting spectrum in order to produce better images in complete darkness or low light conditions. This type of night vision camera only record in black and white, but some cameras will record color during the day. The drawbacks to this type of camera are that the viewing distance of the camera is limited to the range of distance the infrared light emitter’s project. Do not confuse an infrared camera with a day/night camera. Day/night cameras can record in low light, but not in zero light and do not use infrared lighting.
True infrared imaging cameras do not use IR illuminators instead they use a microbolometer; this is a special type of sensor the camera uses to see light from a different region of the electromagnetic spectrum than the visible light we normally see. This type of camera is not dependent on any light source to see. Now with several new advents in infrared technology we are discovering new fields of use for true full spectrum infrared cameras integrated with CCTV units. Since all warm-blooded animals exude heat; infrared cameras work great for security system. Even at the zero light level an infrared camera will still see the normally non visible light from your heat signature.
Obviously the ability to see at night without any light necessary is an excellent boost to any security system. But what other benefits can infrared cameras offer with surveillance systems? CCTV is now being used with incorporation of an infrared camera to monitor industrial equipment or anything temperature relevant, this can be used in a multitude of applications. Many industrial plants are using this method to monitor temperature related situations such as the temperature of a pipe or the liquid flowing through that pipe, analyzing simple or complex machinery, circuitry, or wiring to view what component is running above or below operation tolerances for the devices operational run time.
In short, the Infrared CCTV cameras can be applied in many different modes. Remote or local security CCTV can operate in low or nonexistent light levels, especially at night. Infrared CCTV also has other applications such as, constant operational run time monitoring, diagnosing, troubleshooting, and analysis.
Kieth Dartez
Infrared Cameras Inc. carries a complete line of infrared imaging thermal cameras to meet all your security and surveillance needs!
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
