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What are the different levels of video surveillance?

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Over the past twenty-five years, video surveillance has grown in its use and its complexity, but on the whole, all video surveillance still fits into one of three categories:

Analog: This is how video surveillance started. Basically, analog surveillance is simply a camcorder continuously streaming footage to a VCR. This is closed circuit, and the drawback is that you can�t watch the recorded material offsite as it is being recorded. The advantage, however, is its simplicity�it is basic, inexpensive, and effective for many purposes.
IP: IP is the modern version of video surveillance; this is the video surveillance equivalent of the digital camera. You can stream the recorded material live over the Internet for monitoring, and if you have multiple cameras, you can monitor them all live and simultaneously. After you have recorded material, you can zoom, enhance, encrypt, or do any other number of adjustments to the images. IP is far more sophisticated and flexible than analog surveillance, and increasingly, companies are turning to it for their video surveillance needs.
DVR: DVR is in between analog and IP surveillance. Like analog surveillance, the images are looped to a recorder and cannot be streamed for live viewing. The images, therefore, are analog level rather than IP. The advantage to DVR over analog is that the images are digitally recorded, which means that you can easily store and keep track of recorded material. In contrast, with analog surveillance, you have to keep track of hundreds or thousands of videocassettes or tape over old material.

Increasingly, companies are moving towards IP surveillance, but analog and DVR surveillance still have their place. Companies with very limited surveillance needs do not need to spend the extra money for all the equipment associated with IP surveillance.

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