Have there ever been times that you wished for a camera surveillance system in your house? Have you ever heard the doorbell ring and wonder who was there, or worse, answer the door to find no-one at the door. Moms often times wish that they didn’t have to drop what they are doing and go check on the kids in the back yard. Small business owners, struggling to get by, sometimes don’t have a clue as to whether merchandise is walking out the back door or not. In all of these cases, a camera surveillance system can provide a solution. Many people think that these systems are just too expensive to consider. Until the last few years, that was true. However, in today’s day and age, camera surveillance systems come with many different options and are affordable for any budget.
Technology has been racing forward at a breakneck speed. We are all benefitting from the advances by seeing the price of camera surveillance system. There are two varieties. The first is PC based as it has a tower and the functions of the system are carried out by (usually) a Windows based program. The good thing about the PC based systems is that they can integrate well with wireless cameras to form home based wireless surveillance camera systems that have all of the power of their wired cousins at a fraction of the cost.
The second and more popular version is based on an embedded DVR. There is no software to install, as all of the systems functions are embedded in microchips. Up until recently, basic two camera DVR systems cost over $1,000. Today, you can get a system that includes the two cameras, a DVR , 120 minutes of looped recording, live viewing from anywhere via the internet, PDA, VGA, and USB outputs for under $400. Many of these features were not available five years ago, for any price.
A PC based surveillance video camera system is more expensive than the DVR type for two reasons. First, they come with more hardware than the DVR types, the PC tower and a minimum of four input cameras (sources). Second, because they are PC based, the software comes with more flexibility and can be updated easily. These systems usually com with image control software that gives you more options on the output side. All of this functionality comes with a price. These systems start at over $1,000. While this might seem expensive, it is an order of magnitude cheaper than ten years ago.
For people willing to take the time to research and install camera surveillance systems, it can be done for a minimum amount of money. The systems are well worth the amount of money spent for the security and peace of mind that they provide.