For many of us, CCTV is a vital part of our homes. It deters crime, allows us to monitor our homes whilst we’re away and ensures crucial evidence is recorded in the event of an incident. It’s for these reasons that it’s vital to ensure your system is up for the task.
Your cameras are of poor quality at night
Over the past 30 years, the industry standard for CCTV has been to have a 30m effective infra-red distance. In essence, this means the camera switches to black and white at night time. Since this time, Hikvision has tremendously invested in night technology, with the end result being comparative to night and day (excuse the pun).
Cameras with Hikvision’s Darkfighter technology utilises a larger lens which in turn ensures a full-colour image at night down to 0.0007 lux.
Cameras with Hikvision’s ColourVu technology have a small built-in LED bulb that activates at a certain lux level, ensuring a full-colour image in even the darkest of scenes.
Your NVR / DVR makes too much noise
Until quite recently, both types of recording units used a built-in fan to control temperate to the vital components of your machine. If your system is making excessive fan noise, it could be due to too much strain on your hardware and, in turn, overheating. At best, overheating components are an indication that your hardware is coming to the end of its serviceable life; at worst, it could present a fire risk to your home.
Your system only records when there’s motion
Motion-activated recording used to be an accepted practice and an innovative way to overcome expensive storage costs. However, a trade-off of this configuration is that system owners were at the mercy of the DVR/NVR identifying motion to activate recording. With the rapid reduction in hard disk prices, there really is no reason for this antiquated configuration anymore.
Your CCTV cameras look old
With the increase of residential CCTV, unsurprisingly, criminals are becoming increasingly aware of antiquated equipment. Criminals are also aware that most homeowners leave broken / faulty cameras to act as a visual deterrent.
Cameras that show signs of discolouration from the sun and elements are also a tell-tale sign that the camera is probably past its usefulness.
You can no longer access footage
In accordance with data protection legislation and the ‘secure by design’ principles, CCTV systems are notoriously hard to access without the correct password/credentials. Even if the information is taken directly from the hard drive, images are almost certainly encrypted and protected from unauthorised use. If you have inherited an existing system, you may be better off investing the money that you would have spent defaulting it into an up-to-date system.
Final Thoughts
Deciding when to replace your CCTV system has never been easier, thanks to Duke Security: Experience, peace of mind, ease of use and an all-around better camera and equipment to keep your belongings safe and secure. You’ll be impressed with what we have on offer.
We hope that this article has helped you decide if it’s time to invest in a new security system for your home. Book a survey with our team today, and find out how one of our security systems can improve your home!
