First let's talk about the word megapixel.
Megapixel simple put, is one million pixels.
A Pixel or Picture Element is a tiny square building block that is used to make up a larger picture.
The more pixels the more detailed the image.
For example, Panasonic's new megapixel CCD chip produces 1,264,896 pixels or 1.
3 megapixels.
In comparison to a standard IP camera or a coaxial based camera the highest number of pixels possible is 345,600 pixels or a.
34 megapixel image.
This gives the Panasonic camera 4 times more pixels than a traditional camera.
So why do you need all of these pixels? In a camera surveillance system it is typically about details.
When you use the system to replay an event or incident that took place the more detail you have in the image the more information you can get.
In a camera system these details are a person's face, or make, model and maybe even the license plate of a car.
These are critical details when trying to review something from a camera system and trying to figure out exactly what happened and who did it.
Think of it in terms of your TV set.
Remember when people said, "Why do you need a color TV? Black and White TVs are just fine.
" Today we all know that a black and white TV doesn't allow us to get the contrast of colors or the many details that are visible when viewing a color TV.
In today's market, we also have the High Definition (HD) revolution.
Most people once seeing and watching TV in High Definition never want to go back to watching a standard TV again.
It's the same with Megapixel Surveillance Technology.
Black and White cameras were once fine for watching live and record video surveillance because that was the best technology could provide.
Then we began moving to color cameras for our surveillance systems.
Now today we have cameras that go from 1.
3 megapixels all the way up to 16 megapixels.
With that kind of quality improvement, once you see and experience a megapixel camera system you will never want to go back.
Once again we go back to the question of "Needing" megapixel cameras.
Are they truly necessary? Considering what was discussed above, think about all of the bad surveillance video you have seen of a guy holding up a convenience store and the newscaster saying if you recognize this person please call.
I'm sure that the fuzzy blob on the screen may look like a lot of people, if in fact it even looks like a person at all.
What are the chances that they actually identify the actual person in the video? Now imagine that as the robber walked into the same store and a person with a 3 megapixel Panasonic digital camera look their picture.
This time on the news, the picture from the digital camera is used and easily anyone who knows the suspect can easily identify them.
This is why you need megapixel cameras.
If you have a camera system and you want it to work, megapixel cameras are the answer.
If you don't believe megapixel cameras work see this article about a man who stole a $47,000 dollar engagement ring from a jewelry store.
He was arrested the day of this picture appearing in the newspaper.
Access Security installed this system only 6 months prior to the incident and according to the jewelry store owner, "Yes" megapixel cameras work.