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A camera on a column at dusk, looking out over a lit seafront road and the city behind it.

System 01 of 07

Surveillance

A camera that is recording and a camera that is producing usable evidence are two different things, and most of the systems we assess are the first. The difference is decided at design. In how the camera is specified against the worst light on that site rather than the datasheet, and in whether retention was calculated or assumed.

What this system covers

Camera selection and optics
Specified against the actual scene: light levels measured at night, and dynamic range for glare.
Recording, storage and retention
Retention derived from a requirement (insurer, regulator or stock cycle) then verified against real recording rather than a calculator.
Video management and analytics
The platform an operator actually uses, and analytics specified only where they change what somebody does.
Network and bandwidth
Segregated, calculated for peak rather than average, and sized for the cameras that will be added later.
Illumination
Integral and external lighting treated as part of the system, because a camera is only as good as the light it is given.
Evidence export and integrity
How a specific clip is produced, in what format, how quickly, and in a state somebody will accept.

Design decisions

Eight choices that determine whether a camera produces evidence or footage.

  1. 01
    Every position assigned a task before a camera is selectedDetect, recognise or identify. The three require different pixel densities, and specifying a camera before naming the task is how a position ends up useless for the one thing it was there for.
    • 25 px/mDetectIs something there?
    • 62 px/mRecogniseIs that the same vehicle as before?
    • 125 px/mIdentifyWho is that, and what is the registration?

    Identify The plate is readable and the face is identifiable to somebody who has never met them. This is the only one of the three that produces evidence.

  1. 02
    Frame rate set per position, not per systemA lobby and a cash counter do not need the same rate, and applying one figure across a site either wastes storage or loses the evidence.
    Lobby5 fps
    Cash counter25 fps

    At five frames a second the hand jumps. A handover, a swap or a sleight is between two frames and there is nothing to look at. In a lobby that is the right trade. At a counter it is not.

    Both cells are still because your system asks for reduced motion. The lobby records five frames a second and the counter twenty-five: at five, a handover happens between two frames and there is nothing to look at.

  2. 03
    Time synchronised from one source across every systemCameras, access control and recorders on one reference. Two records of the same event that disagree by minutes will not stand up.
    Camera 14, rear corridor
    Recorder A
    22:41:07
    Door 3, rear exit
    Access controller
    22:41:07

    One clock. One account of the night.

    Both systems are working. Neither is wrong. But an investigator now has two accounts of one night and no way to say which is the truth.

  1. 04
    Lighting designed with the camera, not around itA camera specified for a scene that is later lit differently is a camera specified for a scene that no longer exists. Where lighting is somebody else's package, the interface is named.
  2. 05
    Retention calculated at real bit rate, then verified on siteStorage sized from a datasheet assumption is the most common defect we find. It is measured against actual recording before handover, not calculated.
  3. 06
    Camera health monitored and reported, not assumedA failure that nobody is told about is a failure discovered when footage is requested. Monitoring is specified as a deliverable, with a named recipient.
  4. 07
    Export defined as a procedure at design stageWho can export, in what format, with what integrity record, written before anybody needs it. The person trained at handover will have moved on.
  5. 08
    Licensing and life modelled over seven yearsChannel counts, upgrade paths and end-of-support dates checked at specification. A platform that is cheap at year one and unsupported at year five is not cheaper.

  6. All eight are decided before anything is bought, and none of them appears as a line on a quotation.

Standards and approvals

IS 16910 series, video surveillance systems for security applications
The Indian adoption of the IEC 62676 series, published by BIS through its technical committee on alarms and electronic security systems. Covers camera devices, interfaces, system requirements, image-quality test methods and installation guidance.
Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023
Footage is personal data. Retention period, access control and purpose limitation.
A written policy the committee adopts
Placement, retention and who may view footage should be set out in a written policy the committee adopts, so that it survives a change of committee and answers a resident who challenges it.
Insurer and client standards
Where a policy or a client audit imposes requirements beyond code, the higher standard governs.

What we hand over

Coverage drawings
As-built, showing actual fields of view rather than symbols.
Camera schedule
Every device with location, model, lens, and the settings it was commissioned at.
Retention calculation
The working, and the measured result after commissioning.
Commissioning images
One capture per camera at handover, day and night, as the reference nobody otherwise keeps.
Platform configuration record
Users, permissions, schedules and alarm behaviour, so the next engineer inherits a record.
Export procedure
Written, with the timed result from commissioning.
Surveillance interfaces
InterfaceNormally contracted toWhen it is nobody’s
Alarm-driven pinning Intrusion vendor, or nobody Cameras hold their patrol during the one event worth recording.
Door event correlation Access vendor You have a reader log and footage, and no way to line them up.
Fire evidence capture Fire contractor, assumed by security No footage of the incident the enquiry will ask about.
Lift car floor tagging Lift contractor A person in a lift and no way to know which floor they left at.
Lighting monitoring Electrical contractor A blind spot that raises no alarm and is found months later.

Across the spine

Surveillance appears at all six stages. It governs none.

It is the only system that touches every stage, which is why it is the one most often specified last.

Have a camera layout you would like reviewed before it goes out?

We review specifications, drawings and cause-and-effect matrices for consultants and project management teams. Findings in writing, no obligation, and no approach to your client.

Request a design review