A Brief History of CCTV & Invention of CCTV
CCTVs are so common that they don’t surprise anyone. Today, there are 5.2 million CCTV cameras in the UK, with a ratio of 1:13 cameras to people. CCTV technology has come a long way and continues to evolve, making us more protected than ever. But have you ever wondered about its origination and what it was used for back then?
Let’s take a look.
The invention of CCTV happens in Germany
he very first application of the technology took place in 1942, during World War II. At the time, German scientists were developing and testing new types of weaponry. They needed a way to observe shots without even being present at the test site. That’s where Walter Bruch and his CCTV came in.
The CCTV devices would send motion picture film to a projector to display images and moving footage. But humanity saw a different potential in what was originally developed for tracking
missile activity.
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London uses CCTV for public safety for the first time
Not many people know it now but London installed its first video surveillance system in the year 1961, at a train station. This was the first time CCTV was being used for public welfare.
Back then, a section of track near Dagenham was experiencing a surge in cases of vandalism that were causing many delays and costing them thousands of pounds.
The CCTVs allowed police to monitor the perimeter more carefully and remotely in hopes to bring down the crime rate.
This also got the attention of many companies and shop owners. As a result, in 1967, CCTV
manufacturers decided to sell the devices to corporations and retail outlets to help them catch
shoplifters.
CCTVs become a part of our day-to-day lives
Met Police installed permanent cameras in London’s Parliament Square, Whitehall and Grosvenor Square. A total of 67 CCTV cameras were installed in the capital in 1969. This number was only set to grow after the emergence of VCRs in the ‘70s.
The invention of VCRs evolved video surveillance technology. VCRs replaced the use of video
cassettes and made it easier to record and view video surveillance footage. People no longer
needed to monitor live footage for safety.
They could simply install them and let the feed record.
The government also set up CCTVs to monitor traffic on the major roads in and around London
in 1974 and later used them in four London Underground stations to monitor crowds at football
matches in 1975 Thai Massage.
DVRs as the future of security
Digital video recording, or DVR, was first introduced commercially in the late ‘80s. Unlike previous recording mediums such as VHS tapes, which took hours to record and playback from
a centralized location, DVRs allowed for real-time recording from one location to be observed
from another Creative Digital Agency.
This meant that people could go back and review footage to find specific clips without having to
spend hours sifting through tape.
And this was only the beginning of digitization!
The rise of digital multiplexing
Manufacturers developed digital multiplexing – a technique that revolutionized CCTV systems.
The result of digital multiplexing was a super-fast image feed, which was much clearer than
previous systems in some cases. This new innovation made the CCTV technology more user-
friendly and brought it into mainstream use.
Digital multiplexing transmitted multiple signals into a single monitor over a shared medium.
The presence of surveillance cameras also became a boon for the law as they made it
convenient for law enforcement agencies to investigate crimes.
The Present and Future of CCTV
The ‘00s saw some major advances in CCTV devices. In 2000, the first facial recognition technology was developed, making security systems more sophisticated than ever.
Facial recognition technology allowed for two major improvements.
First, it provided law enforcement agencies with a forensic database, which made finding and catching criminals incredibly convenient. Second, it allowed business owners to identify and register anybody who walked into their stores, ensuring they are protected at all times.
At Lee Security, we have a similar mission. With each CCTV we install, our aim is to make your
neighborhoods more secure for you and your family. So, if you want to embrace this impressive technology, too, explore our catalog to find the right surveillance system for
yourself.
