Why is there such a big difference in price for CCTV systems on the internet?

Like everything in life CCTV is available at a range of different prices points and quality levels. You can fly on a plane for £500 in the economy or you can pay £5,000 to fly on the same plane in a first-class suite.

The problem with CCTV is a lack of regulation and failure to understand the basic principles means people often sell systems that won't do what they claim. They sell you a first-class suite but you board the plane to find yourself squeezed into a small economy seat. Actually, it's worse than that, they sell you a first-class suite to New York but you get to sit on an orange crate whilst the plane flys to Luton.

People selling CCTV tell lies

We set up CCTV42 for frustrated customers. We did our homework, looked at the specifications, listened to the sales patter and were very disappointed with what turned up. When you know what you are looking at the claims made by people selling CCTV are appalling. It isn't just the odd seller on eBay, it's rife across the industry. Big national retailers are misleading buyers in an attempt to get their money.

When you see a camera with a claimed range of 25 metres you assume it's capable of filming something 25 metres away. You might allow a bit of artistic licence and work on 20 metres to be safe but the reality is it might only have an optical range of 3 or 4 metres.

The specifications retailers use are often not important

Sticking with CCTV cameras as our example retailers often use TVL (television lines) as a determining factor in how good or bad their products are. The number of TV lines has little to do with the quality of a camera, that is more to do with the lens fitted and its optical range. Even if TVL was important retailers rarely quoted TVL correctly, they advertise 560TVL cameras as 1000 TVL cameras because they don't understand how TVL is calculated.

Compare eggs with eggs

This is easier said than done. There comes a point where it becomes almost impossible to distinguish truth from reality, particularly when many of the retailers are well-respected household names. Whether deliberately or through a lack of technical understanding they are making claims for their products that simply aren't true.

Advice and support

We don't just sell boxes. We listen to customers' needs, advise them as to the most appropriate equipment and then support them once their purchase arrives. That advice and support are vital but usually lacking at the cheaper end of the market. CCTV isn't difficult once you understand a few basic rules but most people struggle because they are misled by false claims. Only a tiny proportion of CCTV fitted actually does what it should. We want to ensure you are one of those small minority who owns effective CCTV solutions.

Please don't hesitate to get in touch with us if you are planning a CCTV system. Call during office hours and we can talk through your requirements whilst looking at your site or property using aerial images. From that, we will be able to tell you