What is an Analog Camera?

An analog surveillance camera begins with a CCD sensor and then digitizes the image for processing. But before it can transmit the video, it needs to convert it back to analog so it can be received by an analog device, such as a video monitor or recorder. Unlike IP cameras, analog have no built-in web servers or encoders and require no technical maintenance. These functions are implemented in the recording and/or control equipment.

In the traditional analog CCTV application, security cameras capture an analog video signal and transfer that signal over coax cable to the Digital Video Recorder (DVR). Each camera may be powered by plugging in the power supply right at the camera or by using RG59 Siamese cable which bundles the video and the power cables. The DVR converts the analog signal to digital, compresses it, and then stores it on a hard drive for later retrieval. Intelligence is built into the DVR to handle such things as scheduling, motion detection, and digital zoom. Monitors for viewing the video are connected to the DVR, or it can be set up to publish over an internal network for viewing on PCs. The DVR can also be set up to broadcast over the Internet and can add password protection and other features. When broadcasting over the Internet, the video for all of the cameras is transmitted as one stream (one IP address). Therefore, it is very efficient.