What to Look for When Choosing Your Monitor for a Wireless CCTV
While your CCTVs cameras are the eyes, your monitor will be the readable output for you. As such, you will want to consider which monitor will best suit your needs. Obviously, if you have color cameras, you will also want to invest in a color monitor, whereas if you have black and white cameras, you will be able to get away with a black and white monitor.
Of course, there are also other considerations to keep in mind when choosing your monitor for a wireless CCTV – what to look for is oftentimes simplicity:
Consider your spatial needs. Will you install one monitor and view the pictures of several cameras via the split screen option, or will you prefer to install a number of monitors for easier viewing? If you decide to install a larger number of monitors, you may wish to look for smaller monitors rather than the full size models you would pick if you only chose to have one or two. Similarly, if you decide to go with a larger number of monitors, you will need to allocate more space. Therefore, it is important to first answer the question of “how many monitors do you need” followed by the question of “how much space do I have?”
Know your budget. How much money do you have allocated in your budget for these monitors? Have the cameras already eaten up a lot of your budget, or do you still have a lot left that you can devote to the purchase of monitors?
Some manufacturers will offer to sell you cut-rate monitors. While this may be acceptable, it is important to find out if they offer adequate resolution as well as screen adjustment options for brightness, color, and also other settings you would expect to find on a monitor. While the cameras that will send their images to your monitor will provide you with the best picture they can, you may be able to enhance the images somewhat by using the monitor controls.
Take a look at the nitty gritty. This refers to the tech talk and may include terms such as “contrast ratio” and “brightness.” The contrast ratio is simply the measurable difference in the intensity of light between the brightest white when compared to the darkest black that your monitor is capable of producing. Obviously, a higher ratio means that you will have a crisper picture, while a lower ratio means that you may not have the ability to see details as well. The bare minimum of resolution that you should accept is 400:1. Brightness on the other hand may be measured in the unit of “candelas” which is often abbreviated as “cd.” It simply refers to the measurable amount of light that is emitted by a screen displaying the purest white. You may been told when shopping for computer monitors that brightness is not good, since it can strain the eyes – but be aware that this pertains to the text applications! Since you will be looking at videos on your monitor, you will want to have all the brightness possible. A top of the line monitor should have about 250cd or maybe even more.
Of course one of the most important aspects of buying a quality monitor does not come in the box: the technical support that stands behind it. Sure, you can get a great deal on some equipment that is on close out sale, but is the manufacturer local? Is the company still in business? If something breaks or suddenly stops working, will you be on the phone with a tech support person in New Delhi or will you have a manufacturer’s representative in your office within 24 hours to fix it? Whatever money you may be saving on those cut rate monitors you will most likely spend when trying to get a bug fixed and being on hold for long periods of time, or finally having to hire an independent installer.
As you can see, the consideration that needs to go into the purchase of the cameras also needs to extend to the purchase of the monitors. Do not go gung ho on the one, only to have to skimp on the other. After all, the picture of even the best camera money can buy will do you little good if you have a monitor that is incapable of displaying it properly.
