A spy camera alone is not enough for successful video surveillance. After all, your ultimate aim is to view what is going on. That makes surveillance monitors as important as cameras themselves. Complete surveillance systems come along with monitors that can vary greatly in features, characteristics and price. All kinds of professional video surveillance equipment include monitors. For personal use, though, you can do with TV screen or PC monitor. Before you decide to go for a spy system think if it is wise to save on monitor – what if you regret later? Estimate the advantages of wireless surveillance cameras with monitors and compare prices of different models before you take the final decision.
There are different types of surveillance monitors. They come in different screen sizes, resolutions and modes, color and black-and-white; may combine audio option and recording capability. You may choose a spy camera with monitor according to your surveillance needs. Probably, you do not really require an elaborated model and can achieve great results with a comparatively simple and cheap monitor.
Surveillance monitor screen can be as tiny as less than 2 inches in diameter and as big as more than 20 inches. But size does not really matter here. Even small monitors are capable of high quality picture, besides, they are more economical. Picture resolution (sharpness) depends on the number of TV lines in the camera image. The larger the number of TV lines, the better the resolution and hence, overall picture quality. Over 400 TV lines is considered a good resolution, while more than 500 TV lines is defined as high resolution. All spy cameras with monitors have a much greater resolution than a regular TV screen. If quality of video images is crucial in your surveillance, you just cannot substitute a professional monitor by a TV.
Choosing between color and black-and-white surveillance monitor think about the purpose of your surveillance and the environment it will be held in. Of course, spy cameras with color monitors give more realistic picture but they are more expensive also. Black-and-white monitors do not mean compromising on quality, in fact, they can have even higher resolution than color monitors. And if you are going to use a night-vision camera or infra-red feature, color will be lost anyway. Color spy cameras and monitors are good for well-lit surroundings.
Additional audio and video inputs are available with some models. That means you can record sound and video images using a compatible VCR or other recording device. Video/audio digital recorders may be built-in for your convenience. Often, you can even add extra cameras or an additional monitor.
Quite a lot of models can handle more than one camera. With split mode of your surveillance monitor you can view or record images transmitted by a few cameras simultaneously. Quad splitter models are especially popular for professional video surveillance. They allow to split the monitor into four parts and get four different pictures to view in real time or record for later viewing. You can also switch between the cameras and view the images full screen or picture-in-picture mode. Some wireless surveillance systems with monitors can receive and view video from eight cameras at the same time! Such multiplexers are extremely effective to control large areas.
Wireless surveillance cameras and monitors may have alarm capability among other handy features. That is, you can connect alarm devices to your monitor, which will automatically start displaying or recording once any movement is detected. It is useful if you do not want to keep on viewing or recording still objects.
In comparison with TV screens surveillance monitors have extended life of picture tube – it is necessary with any static picture that can cause picture burnout.
As you see, a monitor can really complement your spy system. In case you intend to buy a wireless surveillance camera for more or less serious purposes and use it for a long time, consider getting a monitor as well. Eventually you will feel you have made the right choice.
