When it comes to security cameras, one of the names that you’re going to hear thrown around a lot will definitely be PTZ cameras.
To cut a long story short, the acronym stands for Pan, Tilt and Zoom – and any camera that can perform all 3 of these tasks is technically a PTZ camera. If however it can pan and tilt but not zoom, or zoom and pan but not tilt, then it isn’t one.
Many people may be confused by the terms ‘pan’ and ‘tilt’ however, and the easiest way to understand them is this:
• Panning refers to moving horizontally (i.e. side to side)
• Tilting refers to moving vertically (i.e. up and down)
Effectively this sort of camera should have an entire hemisphere of vision (being only blocked by the ceiling), and can point itself at any location within that hemisphere. Furthermore, it can zoom in and out to focus on particular targets within that field of vision.
Traditional security cameras of the past did not have these functions. Matter of fact, most tended to be fixed cameras, and some could pan slightly to the right and left. Nowadays there are ‘PT heads’ that can be used to allow these cameras to pan and tilt, but they still aren’t going to be able to zoom unless the camera itself is changed.
One of the most common and iconic types of PTZ cameras has got to be the ‘dome’ cameras that you will probably see in banks, casinos, and other places where security is tight. These cameras can pan, tilt, and zoom – but they are not ‘domed’ for that reason. Instead, the dome provides them with a larger field of vision, which is not going to be strictly true of all other PTZ cameras.
Although cameras of this type can move to point at any target within their field of vision, it should be noted that for a complete security system to be effective it cannot rely on blind chance that the camera is going to be pointing in the right direction at the right time. That is why a single camera cannot be expected to ‘watch’ an entire hemisphere, and more than one camera may be needed to do so.
The advantage of these cameras being able to pan, tilt, and zoom however lies in the fact that if something of interest is spotted then these cameras can track and focus on it.
Think you have a solid grasp of what PTZ cameras are and how they work? Installing a few of these at the right locations in your home or office could really help with the security of the building and ensure that you’re better protected.