1940s
Did you know the first documented use of CCTV was in Germany in 1942? Its designer was engineer Walter Bruch, with the intention to monitor V-2 rockets. It wasn't until 1949 that a design was made for the commercial sector. In that same year, the American government began promoting the system. In the early stages of CCTV, the system could only be used for live monitoring and had no way of recording the footage.
Later, it was developed so that you could record and preserve data from a reel-to-reel process. However, the magnetic tapes had to be swapped by hand which was time consuming, unreliable and expensive. Due to this, the systems were rarely used.
1970s
It was then in the 1970s that the development of videocassette recordings was able to revolutionise CCTV. The systems no longer needed 24-hour monitoring as you could pick and choose when to record, therefore the popularity of CCTV skyrocketed. The use of CCTV for businesses allowed a sense of security and safety for their staff, property and goods. Although a breakthrough, CCTV was far from perfect. This was due to the cassettes having to be changed regularly, therefore large amounts of space were needed if the tapes wanted to be kept long-term.
1990s
In the 1990s multiplexing solutions became available. This allowed signals from a number of security cameras to be displayed on one screen. This meant that if a company had four security cameras, each of these video signals were synchronised, displayed on one monitor and recorded on the same tape. This allowed popularity to increase as the surveillance became efficient and easier to use.
Millenium
After the millennium, digital technology advanced greatly meaning CCTV became better quality and easier to use. Video Cassette Recordings were replaced by Digital Video Recorders (DVR), removing the need for rooms dedicated to tape storage.
Present
Network Video Recorders (NVRs) have now been developed. NVRs allow systems to work by encoding and processing video footage from the camera, then stream this footage back to the NVR to either store or remotely watch. This development is particularly useful for organisations which have multiple site locations as CCTV users can view various departments at one time. The development from DVR means remote viewing is higher quality, making the footage clear to watch and more effective when evidence is required.
The features of CCTV is no wonder why the technology is in such high demand both commercially and domestically, a new level of safety for businesses and homeowners.
WINNS Services has been established for over two decades providing security services, including CCTV systems to clients. We pride ourselves on exceeding expectations and working with clients to offer the best solution to their queries. If you are wondering whether you would benefit from security measures such as CCTV, call us on 01702 719100 or email us at info@winnsservices.co.uk