In professional video surveillance, cameras are always connected to video management systems for the purpose of recording and managing access to video. There are two main characteristics to decide on for connectivity.
- Analog versus Internet Protocol : Video can be transmitted over your computer network (IP) or it can be sent as native analog video. Today, most video feeds are sent using analog but migration to IP transmission is rapidly occurring. Both IP cameras and analog cameras can be transmitted over IP. IP cameras can connect directly to an IP network (just like your PC). Analog cameras cannot directly connect to an IP network. However, you can install an encoder to transmit analog feeds over IP. The encoder has an input for an analog camera video feed and outputs a digital stream for transmission over an IP network. Learn more about the choice between IP and analog transmission.
- Wireless vs. Wired: Video can be sent over cables or though the air, whether you are using IP or analog video. Over 90% of video is sent over cables as this is generally the cheapest and most reliable way of sending video. However, wireless is an important option for transmitting video as deploying wires can be cost-prohibitive for certain applications such as parking lots, fence lines and remote buildings.