HD CCTV over coax has gone from an untried theory into what is set to be one the most interesting developments in the CCTV world since IP CCTV hit the scene 5 years ago . HD over coax has long been on the wish list of many CCTV installers. We all know the scenario of when a break in occurs, the images are just not good enough to recognise the perpetrators. Now we finally have the answer. That answer comes in the form of HD over coax. In the last two years there has been a trickle of companies producing HD SDI DVR’s and cameras, this has now started to become a flood as all the major players re- assess what will actually be selling most over the next 5 years.
IP CCTV has been pushed and manipulated in every form possible but has still to take the market by storm . The reason is simple, the cost to upgrade in a depressed market place has proved too much of a boundary to overcome for installers and end users alike. Customers want HD! They expect to pay more for HD, but in just about every case it means abandoning their investments from the past .ie their coax network. Add to this that most applications for HD are often only needed to be targeted on key areas and a whole new IP CCTV system seems too much over-kill for the benefits that will be gained.
Enter the HD SDI Camera, megapixel images over coax and a HD SDI DVR that can incorporate existing analogue cameras together with new HD CCTV solutions and suddenly you give the end user a real incentive to upgrade at a cost that is not going to frighten them off. One of the negatives of HD CCTV is often said to be that it lacks flexibility and future proofing. Well analogue CCTV has fundamentally remained the same for many years, its only weakness being poor images and stuttering recordings that lack credibility.
The reason for this? Well analogue has its limitations in the number of lines that can make up an image it can go no further as a technology. With HD CCTV we have addressed the issues, what else would you want from a CCTV system other than crisp clear images that work?
So can HD CCTV fill the gap in the market that has been sadly lacking for many years? Well quite simply yes. Quality images, quality recordings, the ability to enhance those recordings without the degradation normally associated with enhanced images. It’s cheaper and easier to install. Yes HD CCTV is here to stay !