Surveillance On A Budget

Many of the everyday folk want their own private surveillance equipment for better home security. Besides the surveillance systems that are run through various VCR or DVR systems, there is computer software that can be used to control cameras. Most of the large companies and businesses purchase surveillance equipment with the software it uses already installed. Most these systems are far too expensive for the regular business owner or private home owner to use. So how can they share the same comforts as these big business owners do when it comes to security ? Must they too spend the same amounts of money these large companies fork over for surveillance systems ? The answer is no.

Now then, each of us has the ability to purchase and set up our own home security system to make sure intruders do not take advantage of our homes or families in any kind of situation. A person's personal computer can now be used as a valuable surveillance tool. By connecting a webcam to the computer and installing the correct software, the PC becomes a powerful spying device. This is a fairly inexpensive method for home security when compared to the systems that some people purchase that consist of a whole installation crew just to hook up the wiring alone. As a matter of fact, with current technology upgrades, up to 16 different webcams can be displayed through the same PC.

This is like having a whole system at the touch of a button. You don't want to record everything that goes on in the room even when someone is not in it ? These cameras can be set to detect when there is motion present within the room, and once something is detected the camera will start recording at that instance. Since the video that is picked up by these webcams is being stored on the hard-drive of your computer, which takes up valuable computer space, it can be more cost efficient to use this technology instead of buying additional storage space for to store your surveillance videos. Also this eliminates having to go through hour of video to find when something happens worth seeing. No one wants to watch hours of a dead room when trying to find a missing wallet.

To store the video it takes a lot of hard-drive space. To record for a 24 hour period with one camera, it can cost up to 1GB of HDD space per day. This is also reliant on the kind of image quality chosen to use by the camera. The lower the quality of the video feed chosen the less bandwidth required to save the video within the HDD. Another good trick to keep the storage issue to a minimum, is to set the FPS (frames per second) to a lower level. By doing this you'll be saving even more HDD space. If for some reason your computer comes equipped with a large HDD that has space available in abundance, such as 160GB and plus), then really you have nothing to worry about. If this is the case then video storage shouldn't even warrant an issue.

Remember, webcam software combined with a few inexpensive webcams can be used to watch over loved ones or precious items within the home. There is no need to spend wads of money on a surveillance system when one can be made using the comfort of your home PC. One of the best features about doing so is that if your PC has internet access you can use the IP to watch the video from anywhere. Say you are about to go out with a friend and wish to check out your room before you go. You can log on through his PC, log onto your personal IP, and watch the current video feed that is happening right now. With features like this it is a wonder that everyone doesn't have a surveillance system to help watch over their prized items.