Myth No.1 ~ 'IP CCTV systems only produce poor quality images'

In the IP Myths report I wrote...
"Today’s truth is that properly designed IP surveillance systems will produce images that are every bit as sharp and clear as older, analogue set-ups.

Good quality IP cameras (or network cameras) have exactly the same high quality image sensors and optics as analogue cameras. Of course, these high quality, professional products should not be confused with lower-spec models, or with PC webcams, which cannot deliver the same results. The more demanding the conditions, the bigger the performance gap will be between the professional IP cameras and the cheaper models – so it’s important to choose the right camera.

IP systems allow you to take full advantage of megapixel technology, whereas analogue systems do not. Analogue cameras are in fact limited to 0.4 mega-pixel resolution because of the PAL standard that they operate on. By contrast, mega-pixel network cameras can deliver 1.3 mega-pixel images or more.

Image quality degrades less with digital systems. With all analogue systems the CCTV images have to be converted between analogue and digital formats, typically three or four times (for transmission via coaxial cable; for compression and processing; for display on the monitor etc.). Each time this happens the image quality degrades. By contrast, when IP based digital signals are transmitted directly via the network to a network video recorder (NVR) and digital LCD monitor they do not have to be converted at all, so there is no loss of quality. Not surprisingly, this can result in vastly superior images."

What's your experience? Is it true that properly designed IP surveillance systems will produce images that are every bit as sharp and clear as older, analogue set-ups...or...is it all hogwash?... Please let me know what you think.

Next week we will look at Myth No.2 ~ 'IP CCTV Uses Up All My Bandwidth'
Click here to download the free report "IP CCTV - The Reality Behind the Top 20 IP CCTV Myths"