Though most of our attention these days is focused on the transition to IP video technology, it's important to note that analog CCTV security cameras can still be highly effective for many surveillance applications, especially those on a budget. With traditional CCTV security cameras, the video signal is processed and transmitted in analog format for local viewing from one central monitoring location. But that doesn't mean you can't use analog cameras in an IP-based surveillance environment. Using IP video encoders and other equipment such as digital video recorders and hybrid DVRs makes it possible to leverage your existing analog cameras while migrating into the world of digital surveillance.

In its truest form, a CCTV camera is an analog video camera that transmits signals via coaxial cable to a single central location for monitoring, recording, and video analysis. While the recent trend is a push towards IP network cameras, CCTV cameras are still widely used, and offer a cost-effective answer to many common surveillance scenarios.

CCTV technology has been around since the 1940's, and became a major player in the security industry around 1970. The technology is tried and true, and there are CCTV security camera models for virtually any surveillance application. The two main categories of CCTV cameras are fixed cameras and pan/tilt/zoom models which can rotate horizontally and vertically to cover more area.