The History of Security Cameras in Kansas City

We find the history of security camera technology interesting. Improvements in this technology, especially with new mobile and web interfaces, have made security cameras more productive and quite affordable. If you’re at all interested in security cameras Kansas City, you’ll find the evolution of video security systems quite intriguing.

Historical Security Cameras

Cameras have been used for surveillance systems for many decades. In the beginning, the cameras needed to be watched 24/7 because they did not connect to any sort of storage. A human monitor had to watch the cameras and record or remember what he or she saw.

This monitoring might have been done by watching one or a number of TV screens. Obviously, the task took constant vigilance and expensive systems.

The old-style system was effective, but it wasn’t as efficient or effective as it could have been. If the person who did the monitoring looked away, the moment would be lost. Also, all reporting relied on the monitor as there was no way to recover the footage to review. This meant the only large companies, the government, or wealthy people could afford the systems and the staff.

Later, reel-to-reel tapes could be used to record the footage. This was an improvement because images could be reviewed and saved for future use. The problem is that these magnetic tapes still needed to get manually changed when they were full. This process was pretty expensive, slow, and prone to errors. That meant that the use of security cameras was not that widespread.

In the 1970s, VCRs came into use. They made it much easier to record the output from cameras. Because it was easier to change cassettes than reels, security cameras became more popular, but they still weren’t common like they are today.

The next advance came in the 1990s. This was because of a technology called digital multiplexing. This allowed the use of more than one camera, time-lapse recording, and more. It became easier and cheaper to run cameras, so security camera use became a lot more common. They started showing up in small businesses and even the homes of affluent people.

Internet Security Cameras

The last decade or so has seen the introduction of Internet-enabled web cameras. Output can be stored digitally in an efficient, cheap, and reliable way. The equipment is inexpensive enough for almost anybody to afford. For example, it’s used for security cameras, nanny cams, and even baby monitors. It’s also common for small businesses to have these systems to monitor staff and property.

In the beginning, people liked the idea of monitoring their property over their computers. These days, web  basedcameras can even be checked over the phone. Of course, large businesses or wealthy people may still employ sophisticated and relatively expensive security systems.

However, it’s possible for small businesses and individuals to use this new technology with very affordable security camera systems. Worldwide and Kansas City security cameras have come a long way.