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Home > Nannycams: Maintaining Your Child's Welfare While You Are Away
December 20, 2005
By: L. Scott Harrell
Microcircuit, or microchip, video cameras are miniature
cameras about the size of a US quarter or smaller and have
been around for about ten years. These tiny video cameras
have been the cutting-edge of surveillance technology. The
cameras are everywhere and are especially useful for
documenting instances of theft in the workplace or capturing
video evidence for later use in court.
Pinhole video cameras are micro-video cameras that have
been designed with a small pinhole in the front of them.
They are optimized so that the image sensor can obtain
images through a hole the size of a pin, making them very
easy to hide and use in covert situations. Many
professionals in the surveillance business offer ready-made
setups of micro-video cameras built into just about
anything, including clocks, teddy bears, coffee pots, lamps,
radios, etc.
Pinhole and Microcircuit Cameras hidden inside of
everyday objects and then used for surveillance around the
home are oftentimes referred to as nannycams or nanny cams.
The name became popular when videos of baby sitters and
in-home childcare workers, who were abusing children while
the parents were away, began surfacing regularly in the
nightly news.
When choosing a nannycam, or building one for that
matter, it's important to watch the quality of the board
cameras you are going to obtain simply because the US market
has been flooded by low quality cameras that have a limited
life and a high rate of failure. One company hawks them for
as low as $29.95, but this is definitely not the type of
camera you want to use for professional or long-term
applications. It's also important to note that these cameras
require that you wire them in the proper manner for power
supply and video output, which can be confusing to albeit
the most technology savvy users.
It's also important to be aware of the available features
of these cameras. Here is what to look for:
- Automatic Electronic Shutter
Adjustment Video cameras
need to have an electronic shutter that automatically
compensates for lighting changes. You will find that cameras
without AES will under or over expose the resulting image.
- Resolution
Resolution is the number of lines that
compose the image captured; more lines equals a better
resolution equals a better picture. Many of the lesser
expensive cameras have resolution of 360 lines or below. I
suggest looking for cameras with 400 lines or better.
- Light Rating
Light ratings for cameras are measured in
“lux” ratings, which is a measurement of the minimum amount
of light needed to capture an image. Many of the cheaper
cameras on the market have lux ratings of 1 to over 2.5 and
require a lot of light to reproduce an image; you are best
staying below 0.5 lux in black and white cameras.
- Small Size
Of course, all of these cameras are small.
Very small. But size will vary. Size can be as tiny as 29mm
(w) X 29mm (h) X 12mm (d) with the best cameras.
- Wiring and Power
Many of these cameras aren't wired;
that means you will have to wire them and determine how to
route power to them. Some of the better cameras come prewired and allow you to plug them into a standard
electrical outlet or a battery pack. Typically, these
cameras are also prewired with a standard RCA jack to plug
into a recorder’s input.
- Camera Housing
The better cameras come with a
protective housing; the less expensive cameras don't have a
housing are called bare-board cameras. If you are going to
install the camera yourself into something like a clock or
smoke detector, it's best to obtain the bare-board camera.
The purpose of the housing is, of course, so circuits remain
protected during use and remain dust free.
- Power Supply
Low quality cameras require a lot of power
and will drain batteries very quickly; color cameras consume
more power than black and white ones. A short battery life,
measured by a few hours, will make using these cameras
impractical for most hidden camera applications. Quality
professional cameras will give you an extended battery life
or offer an optional wall-outlet connection for a limitless
power supply.
Aside from these features, there are other important
factors to consider. Do you want your images in black and
white or color? Do you want to use a wireless camera or a
hardwired camera? If you use a wireless model, you will also
need a video transmitter; these can be quite bulky. However,
with the advent of new technology, there are now
self-contained microcircuit cameras that have transmitters
built right into them while maintaining their very small
size.
Microchip cameras can be hidden almost anywhere. They can
be set up in a stationary position or hidden on your body.
Covert Microchip cameras are most often inserted into the
following items for stationary applications:
- VCR
- Book
- Desk Lamp
- Table Clock
- Smoke Detector
- Wall Clock
- Floor Lamp
- Portable Radio
- Coffee Maker
- Thermostat
- Teddy Bear
A Word About Audio… I am generally against it!
Although you will find a number of covert video cameras
and microchip cameras with built-in sound, they are actually
illegal; in fact, U.S. Customs has raided some places
selling these units in the past. The laws dealing with
covert audio recording are much different than those dealing
with covert video recording; there is no such thing as a “no
party consent” thus, a covert video camera with audio could
be considered an illegal eavesdropping device.
L. Scott Harrell is a noted author, speaker and private
investigator with 14 years of experience as a private
detective and principal of CompassPoint Investigations.
More information regarding CompassPoint Investigations
can be found via his website:
http://www.CompassPointPI.com/
Article Source:
http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=L_Scott_Harrell
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