Home security cameras are currently more affordable than they ever have been, and they are becoming a fixture in many homes, where they are helping to thwart home invasions or thefts, as well as generally helping the homeowner feel safe and comfortable when it comes to the security of their home. Security cameras can be a single stand-alone product, perhaps pointed to the front door or porch area, where it can capture things like your mailman or solicitors as they approach your door. Other systems involve many cameras that you place strategically around your property to capture any entry points to your home or even interior areas of your home where important and valuable items are stored. The difficulty in setting up a camera system can vary from extremely easy, with wireless and battery-powered options, to more involved installations where you will find yourself drilling holes to run solid wires for power or communication, making a more bulletproof security system. The right system for you will be determined by your specific needs, and if you find a few differentiating qualities of the current security camera systems that make them the right product for you, you can narrow your selection down to a product that will be ideal. A one-camera security setup is often used as a smart doorbell system. The camera can sense motion and alert you when something triggers it. The alerts will go directly to your phone through an app and you can immediately see who is at your door. Some cameras allow you to talk through the camera as well. This feature can be handy if your neighbor or a friend drop by while you are out and you can simply tell them you’re out of the house, but it can also allow you to scare off a would-be thief who might be eyeballing a package that was delivered to your front stoop. For a more robust home security system that covers a larger area of your property, you will want to look at multi-camera system, says our home expert Vicki Liston, writer and producer of the award-winning home improvement show, “On The Fly…DIY.” “Since a system includes cameras at multiple heights, angles, and locations around (and/or inside) your home, you’ll need to consider how they are powered, how many you’ll need, and how they store video footage,” Liston says. These factors and considerations can seem daunting or complex, but they don’t have to be. Some cameras have an easy-to-setup camera system. The cameras don’t need wiring run to them, as they are powered by batteries and use your home’s wireless network to upload their footage to the provided smart-base. The biggest effort you will face in mounting these is having to maybe climb a ladder to install them up at the best vantage point for each area. These systems typically offer two-way audio so you can communicate through the camera with whomever it has captured, but they may also have a high-decibel siren that can scare off intruders. Combine these features with a useful app that allows you to operate the camera’s features with your smartphone and you have a fully functioning, weatherproof security system ready to help keep you protected with only minimal setup effort. If your camera happens to capture a criminal activity like a thief attempting to break into your home or steal a package from your front porch, you will be relying on the footage from this camera as your main source of identification of the perpetrator. This is when having a 1080p camera becomes a huge benefit to you. A security camera that records in 1080p can be the difference between having a blurry image of this criminal activity versus a clear image. If the image is clear enough, which is much more likely in a 1080p camera, it can be the most crucial clue in actually tracking down the person captured in the image. Saving a little money by using a lower-quality camera can actually end up being a big waste of money if the footage is never crisp enough to be usable. “It makes no sense to spend considerable time and effort setting up a system if the picture quality is only ‘fair’ to ‘good,’” says Liston. “1080p quality will give you a great picture, even when recording in night vision mode (and night vision should be a given with any security camera system).” Some security cameras are best used in an indoor setting where you hope to monitor something of value inside your house. Often times the most valuable thing in your home could be your sleeping baby and it is common to want to be able to keep a set of eyes in this particular room to ease your mind and help you ensure the safety of the child. A camera like the YI 1080p Home Camera really shines through for this use as a nanny-cam. The camera is programmed to hear the sound of a crying baby and immediately notify you through the app interface on your smartphone. This function lets you see what is going on in the baby’s room when they are crying, but there is also a live camera function on the app that lets you view the activities in the room at any point in time. This adds a level of comfort and ease in the mind of the users as they know they can remotely check in on their young child at any time of day, also a useful feature when you have a new babysitter at home as well and you would like to make sure they are giving the best treatment to your child. Whether it’s monitoring your pets or children inside your home while you step out for an errand, or keeping tabs on your deliveries to make sure the packages are handled with care, there is likely a good security system suitable for your needs. Think of how much coverage you want from your cameras and how you plan to store your security footage and you can narrow down the field of products to a handful of contenders. From there, find one that has a handy app that you can use through your smartphone or one that can satisfy your need for two-way audio. The right product for you will be revealed once you really determine your priorities and choose the best options for you. Is 1080p good enough for security camera?Absolutely, 1080p resolution provides high-definition image quality that is more than sufficient for most security camera applications. It provides clear and detailed footage, enabling you to identify facial features or license plate numbers more easily than in lower resolutions. Which CCTV is best for home?Best 3 features for you. |
