Video Surveillance Guide

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A glossary of video surveillance terms and definitions -- your path to security and knowledge

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From the smallest business to the largest corporation, chances are they all rely on some form of video surveillance to keep their workplace secure. With so many advances in the video surveillance field and affordable options to choose from, finding the system to suit your specific needs can seem confusing.

With our guide however, it has never been easier. This comprehensive glossary arms you with the necessary knowledge to successfully carry out your search and make the right consumer choices. As you research video surveillance products and equipment, you may come across terms you're not familiar with or want more information about. To help you better speak the language of video security, we have provided the most commonly used acronyms, terms and definitions.

Below you will find hyperlinks to all twenty-six letters of the alphabet.  Below that is a chart with every word contained in our glossary.  To find the term you are searching for, just click the letter that it begins with.  That will bring up a page with only those glossary terms that begin with that letter.  You will also be provided a chart similar to that shown below, but with active hyperlinks to each word contained on that page.  Clicking the word will bring you directly to that term.

A   B   C   D   E   F   G - H   I - J   K - L   M   N - O   P   Q - R   S   T - U   V   W - X - Y - Z  

Access Card

DNS (Domain Name Service)

ITU (International Telecommunications Union)

Regulated power supply

Access Code

Dome Camera

Joystick

Remote head surveillance camera

Access Point

DSL (Digital Subscriber Line)

JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group)

Remote monitoring

ActiveX

DSP (Digital Signal Processing)

LAN (Local Area Network)

RF (Radio Frequency)

Activity Detection

DTMF (Dual Tone Multi-Frequency)

Latency

RG-11

AGC (Automatic Gain Control

Duplex

LED (Light Emitting Device)

RG-59

AI (Auto Iris)

DVR (Digital Video Recorder)

Lens

RGB (Red Green Blue)

Alarm Input

Dwell Time

Level control

Ripple factor

ALC (Automatic Level Control)

Dynamic IP address

Light sensor

ROI (Region of Interest)

Algorithms

Dynamic Range

Limit switch

Router

Ambient Light Level

EI (Electronic Iris)

Linux

RS232 (or RS-232)

Analog Signal

EIA (Electronic Industries Association)

Loss Prevention

RTP (Real-time Transport Protocol)

Angle of view

Electronic Shuttering

Lumen

RTSP (Real Time Streaming Protocol)

Annunciator

E-mail notification

Lux

SAD (Sum of Absolute Difference)

Aperture

Embedded operating system

Matrix switcher

Scanning

ARP (Address Resolution Protocol)

EMI (Electro Magnetic Interference)

Mimic panel

Security Camera

Aspect Ratio

Ethernet

Minimum scene illumination

Sensitivity of a surveillance camera

Attenuation

Event recorder

MJPEG (Motion JPEG)

Sequential switcher

Automatic White Balance

Extruded aluminum

MMS (Microsoft Media Services)

Shutter speed

AVC (Advanced Video Coding)

Fast lens

MOD (Minimum Object Distance)

Simplex

Back Focus

FCC (Federal Communications Commission)

Monochrome

SMS (Short Message Service)

Backlash

Fence disturbance sensor

Motion Detectors

SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol)

Balun

FI (Fixed Iris)

MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group)

SNR (Signal-to-Noise Ratio)

Bandwidth

Fiber Optics

MPEG-4

Spot Cam

Biometrics

Field

MTBF (Mean Time Between Failures)

Static IP address

BLC (Back Light Compensation)

Field of view

Multicast (or Multicasting)

S-Video

Blooming

Firewall

Multiplexer

Sync generator

BNC connector

Flange back

Network Camera

Synchronization

bps (Bits Per Second)

f-number

Neutral Density Filter

TBC (Time Base Corrector)

Bridging

Focal Length

NTSC (National Television Standards Committee)

TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol)

Broadband

fps (Frames Per Second)

NVR (Network Video Recorder)

Telephoto lens

Bullet Camera

Frame

Ohms

Test Pattern Generator

Burn

f-stop

Optical Filters

Time lapse VCR

Bus Network

FTP (File Transfer Protocol)

Oscilloscope

Touch Screen

Byte

Gamma correction

Outdoor Camera Housing

Tracking

Cable tray

Gen-lock

Outdoor Dome Housing

UDP (User Datagram Protocol)

Cameo

Ghost

PAL (Phase Alternating Line)

UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply)

Candela

Ground Loop

Passive

URL (Uniform Resource Locator)

CCD (Charge Coupled Device)

GUI

PCMCIA Card (Personal Computer Memory Card International Association)

UTP (Unshielded Twisted Pair)

CCTV (Closed Circuit Television)

Hertz

Pelco-D

Variofocal lens

CIF (Common Intermediate Format)

Horizontal hum bars

Photon

Vertical resolution

CMOS

Horizontal resolution

Pinhole Camera

Vibration sensor

C-Mount

HTML (HyperText Markup Language)

Pixel (Picture Element)

Video amplifier

Coaxial Cable

HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol)

PoE (Power over Ethernet)

Video compression

CODEC

Hub

Polarizer

Video distribution amplifier

Composite Video

IFrame

Post-Record

Video intercom

Concave

Image intensifier

Potentiometer

Video server

Convex

Impedance

Power supply

Video streaming

Covert

Index of refraction

PPP (Point-to-Point Protocol)

Video surveillance

Crosstalk

Infrared camera

Pre-Record

WAN (Wide Area Network)

CRT (Cathode Ray Tube)

Infrared detector

Pressure mat

Wavelength

CS Mount

Infrared illuminator

Progressive

Wavelet

D1

Infrared radiation

Protocol

WDM (Wavelength Division Multiplexing)

dB (Decibel)

Injection molded plastic

PTZ camera

Webcam

DC (Direct Current)

Insertion loss

PTZ controller

White balance

DD (Direct Drive)

Interlaced

QCIF

Wide angle lens

Default Gateway

Interleaving

Quad

Wireless

De-multiplexing

IP (Internet Protocol)

Range finder

Y/C

Depth of field

IP address

Raster

YIQ (Luminance In-Phase Quadrature)

DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol)

IP Camera (or Network Camera)

Real Media

YUV (Luminance Chrominance)

Digital Signal

Iris

Real time video

Zoom lens

Distribution Amplifier

ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network)

Reed switch

Zoom ratio

DivX

     

There you have it -- 249 terms, numerous choices, and a wealth of information. If you keep this guide handy during your search, you’ll find that zeroing in on the most appropriate system options will be that much easier. It need only be a matter of days until your personal or business site offers the surveillance capabilities you desire.

Also See:  [ Effectiveness of CCTV Security Systems in Crime Prevention ]
[ How Network Based Video Surveillance Works ]
[ History of Public Video Surveillance ]


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