Close Circuit TV

CCTV Operation: Closed circuit television is a special application in which camera signals are made available only to a limited number of monitors or receivers. The particular type of link used depends on distance between the two locations, the number and dispersion of receivers and mobility of either camera or receiver. Figure illustrates various link arrangements which are often used. The simplest link is a cable where video signal from the camera is connected directly through a cable to the receiver. A television monitor, which is a receiver, without RF and IF circuits, is only required for reception in such a link arrangement. About one volt peak-to-peak signal is required by the monitor. Since the video signal is normally delivered via cables and even when transmitted, it is over a limited region and for restricted use, CCTV need not follow television broadcast standards.

CCTV Applications There are numerous applications of CCTV and a few are briefly described here. (i) Education. One instructor may lecture to a large number of students sitting at different locations. Similarly close-ups of demonstration experiments and other aids can be shown on monitors during these lectures. (ii) Medicine. Several monitors and camera units can be installed to observe seriously ill patients in intensive care units. In medical institutions, operations when performed can be shown to medical students without their actually gathering around the operation table.

(iii) Business. Television cameras can be installed at different locations in big departmental stores to keep an eye over customers and sales personnel. (iv) Surveillance. In banks, railway yards ports, traffic points and several other similar locations, closed circuit TV can be effectively used for surveillance. (v) Industry. In industry CCTV has applications in remote inspection of materials. Observance of nuclear reactions and other such phenomena would have been impossible without television. Similarly television has played a great role in the scanning of earths surface and probing of other planets. (vi) Home. In homes a CCTV monitor finds its application in seeing the caller before opening the door. (vii) Aerospace and Oceanography. Here a wireless link is used between the transmitter and receiver. In some applications camera is remotely controlled over a microwave radio link. As shown in Fig. (c), for aerospace and oceanography a carrier is used for transmitting the signal and a complete receiver is then necessary for reception.