A security camera monitor is an essential part of any surveillance system. You can have the best surveillance available, but if you don't have the proper monitor you are wasting your time.
When comparing and deciding on which camera to buy, you want to look at security monitors with just as much scrutiny. Matching the performance of the camera and the monitor from the outset will save money and the aggravation returning it for the right one.
What are your options? A cheap way to do this is by using your computer screen or even your television, but they are not going to provide you with the best image quality you can get with a professional security camera monitor.
There are many things to consider when you are looking at a quality security camera monitor. Many monitors offer much better resolution compared to regular TV's. You can find some monitors that handle 900 or 1000 horizontal TV lines. This is going to give you the maximum image quality you can get.
If quality pictures are not as important to you then you may go for a 330 or 400 TV line monitor. This is going to cost less and can still do the job.
Another decision you have to make is whether to choose a color or black and white monitor. If your security cameras are black-and-white and you plan to upgrade to color cameras at a later date go with a color monitor other wise stick with a B/W monitor
Some security cameras have a 2 way audio feature. Be sure to factor that in to the price of the monitor you choose. This allows the person doing the monitoring to also speak to the person near the entrance. This is a great feature if you have a security guard watching a door or gate.
Finally, consider how many cameras your security monitor is going to handle. More complex systems allow you to view up to 16 cameras at a time. You can switch from one camera to another or some even have a picture-in-picture view. A good rule of thumb is that the more cameras you have on your system the larger the monitor should be.
For example, If you have a 4 camera system you can view all four on a 13 inch monitor. On larger systems such as a 8 and 16 camera system a 21 inch monitor is recommended. The more cameras you have the smaller they will appear on the monitor. This is due to how many times the screen has to be divided to show all of the cameras at the same time.
To summarize this article, security camera monitors are not that expensive. For a basic B&W model you can pay a little over 0 dollars. For a better LCD monitor you can spend anywhere from 0 on up depending on its size The key is to match the performance of the camera to that of the security camera monitor regardless of price.