Closed-circuit television (CCTV) is the use of video cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place, limited set of monitors. It differs from broadcast television in that the signal is not openly transmitted, though it may employ point to point wireless links. CCTV is often used for surveillance in areas that may need monitoring such as banks, casinos, airports, military installations and convenience stores. The increasing use of CCTV in public places has caused a debate over public surveillance versus privacy. People can also buy consumer CCTV Systems for personal, private or commercial use. A more advanced form of CCTV, utilising Digital Video Recorders (DVR), provides recording for possibly many years, with a variety of quality and performance options and extra features (such as motion-detection and email alerts). In industrial plants, CCTV equipment may be used to observe parts of a process from a central control room; when, for example, the environment is not comfortable for humans. CCTV systems may operate continuously or only as required to monitor a particular event.

History

The first CCTV system was installed by Siemens AG at Test Stand VII in Peenemünde, Germany in 1942, for observing the launch of V2-rockets.Dornberger, Walter: V-2, Ballantine Books 1954, ASIN: B000P6L1ES, page 14. The noted German engineer Walter Bruch was responsible for the design and installation of the system.Fact: date=October 2007 CCTV recording systems are still often used at modern launch sites to record the flight of the rockets, in order to find the possible causes of malfunctions,while larger rockets are often fitted with CCTV allowing pictures of stage separation to be transmitted back to earth by radio link.

In September of 1968, Olean, NY was the first city in the United States to install video cameras along its main business street in an effort to fight crime . The use of closed-circuit TV cameras piping images into the Olean Police Department propelled Olean to the forefront of crime-fighting technology.

The use of CCTV later on became very common in banks and stores to prevent theft, respectively record evidence of criminal activity, both by customers / outside criminals or by staff. This use popularised the concept.

In recent decades, and especially with terrorism and general crime fears growing in the 1990s and 2000s, public space use of surveillance cameras has taken off, especially in some countries such as the United Kingdom.

Crime prevention / evidence