Glossary For CCTV Surveillance

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Network Administrator : The human that is responsible for setup and ongoing support for a computer network. The network administrator must be involved in any discussions concerning video applications that would affect the network.

Network Bandwidth : This refers to the total amount of network traffic that is allowed on the network. A typical LAN connection is 100Mbps. All devices on that leg of the network share the available bandwidth. WAN traffic is much slower because of the slower connection to the outside world.

Network Camera : This refers to a network based camera. An IP camera can connect to an NVR. You can see the video with the NVR remote software. You can also connect directly to the network camera through a browser connection.

Network Switch : A hardware device used to connect multiple devices to a network. These devices usually have from four to 32 inputs. They can be connected together to make any size network.
N/O, N/C: Acronyms for Normally Open and Normally Closed. This refers alarm inputs/outputs and alarm devices. Most common alarm devices provide a contact closure to initiate the alarm. Some devices are normally an open circuit that closes a switch on alarm and others do the opposite. Most DVRs will accommodate either type with a menu selection.
Node : Any device connected to the network. It could be a workstation PC, a server, a printer, etc. This can be any device with its own IP address on the network (including DVRs and IP cameras).

Noise : Any unwanted signal that affects the video signal. This is usually random electrical energy or interference. In video, noise can produce a random salt and pepper pattern over the picture. Heavy video noise is called snow.

NTP : Acronym for Network Time Protocol: This network feature allows the time on PCs to be time synced with a server on the network. This assures that all network devices are systematically corrected to the same time at selected intervals.

NTSC : National Television Systems Committee of the Electronics Industries Association (EIA) which prepared the NTSC format specifications approved by the Federal Communications Commission, for US commercial color broadcasting. `NTSC' also refers to a color television format having 525 scan lines, a field frequency of 60 Hz, a broadcast bandwidth of 4 MHz, line frequency of 15.75 KHz, frame frequency of 1/30 of a second, and a color subcarrier frequency of 3.58 MHz.

NVR : This is an acronym for Network Video Recorder. An NVR is a server hardware platform with proprietary video recording software installed. NVRs are designed to operate with IP cameras providing an all-digital configuration.

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