This feature can be very useful, especially if you want others also take a part in keeping an eye on your property. Imagine, with this feature, all the members of your family can also participate in securing your home. This can happen because the images captured are published on the internet which theoritically can be accessed by anyone.

Actually not only images that can be uploaded, but also videos. Of course it depends on the software that you are using. Digi-Watcher, for instance, enables its user to upload JPG files or the entire captured video. The quality of the JPEG files can also be set.

JPG compression has its own advantages. JPG files tend to contain a lot less data stored. This is because this compression will use fewer colors. The end result is the file will become smaller, which is very important for uploading process since such files will not eat up much bandwidth as well as storage space.

Different software has different levels of sensitivity. But generally it ranges from very sensitive to very insensitive. Very insensitive means only dramatic movements will trigger the software. On the flip side, very sensitive means the software will be triggered even by very small movements.

If you set the software to call you whenever there is any movement detected, you will get too many calls if you set the sensitivity level as very sensitive. Although it may not be dangerous, getting too many calls is very annoying. In addition, it will easily eat up your bandwidth or hard disk space.

In order to make the software such as Digi-Watcher to work properly, it is necessary to take the correct settings. If not, you may find the software will not capture important events or, will capture unimportant events. Just do not forget to adjust the sensitivity level in accordance with your environment and needs.

Many homeowners have also started to utilize such cameras to observe the situation of their home. Hidden cams are also used for keeping an eye on nanny or babysitter (hence some call them as nanny cams).

If you connect a hidden cam to a recorder, any activity will be able to be recorded. With the advent of internet technology, now it is possible to perform remote surveillance by utilizing hidden cameras.

You can find wired and wireless hidden cams in the market. Each has different advantages and disadvantages. Normally, the wireless ones require batteries to operate. However, wireless hidden cams that also comes with a special adaptor are also available these days.

To transfer the images captured into various devices, many hidden cameras make use of CCD (charge Coupled Device) technology. Although quite affordable, CCD cameras can produce nice looking images. The formats of these kinds of cameras are varies, from ¼” to 1”. However, probably the most used are the ones with 1/4” or 1/3” sizes.

In recent years, the color model type has becoming more and more popular than its counterpart, the black and white model. Although the last tend to produce better image quality, especially in low light conditions, the technology for the color model has been improved. In reality, it becomes harder to find black and white surveillance cameras on the market.

Due to the potential misuse, some countries or places have restricted the usages of this type of security camera. This means you need to make sure to meet that the local laws and regulations.

In my opinion, hidden cams which are integrated with smoke detectors or exit signs are not quite effective these days. It seems that everyone has already known about it. You can try to get the ones mounted at any other items which are hard to detect. Of course it depends on the purpose of the camera. For instance, if you want to prevent your employees from stealing, you can mount the cameras at strategic spots like doors or even cash register.

The dimension of this wireless camera is very small, only 2 x 2 cm. In addition, the diameter of its lens is only 2mm (pinhole) which enables this camera to be used as a hidden cam. Just watch the comparison of the size between this camera with a 9V battery. This pinhole camera does not come with bracket so that it can be put easily at hidden places using double tape or glue. A set consists of: a camera, a receiver, an adaptor, a 9V battery connector and a ready to use 1/2 m RCA cable.

There are several disadvatanges of using this security camera. With minimum ilumination of 2 lux, it is only suitable to monitor rooms which are bright enough. Another limitation is the maximum distance between this camera and the receiver is only 20 metres. In addition, utilizing CMOS color, the images generated will not be so sharp. Signals with the same frequency produced by other resources might also cause interference.

However, despite all of its weaknesses, this wireless pinhole camera can be the right device for people who want to increase the level of their home security without having to spend much money. Its price is only about US $40. Its dimension and its wireless capabilities can make this camera very hard to find by intruders. Just install it behind a picture, a clock or any other hidden locations.

This wireless indoor camera is built from alumunium die cast material. Its dimension is quite small, only 3 x 3.5 cm with a 4 mm lens. The maximum range of signal transmission from the camera (with built-in transmitter) to the receiver is about 20 metres. Utilizing radio wave 1.2 GHz, the signal transmitted can pass through walls and cannot be catched by television set without using a receiver.

However, one of the weaknesses of this wireless security camera is it can only perform well in bright room. As a note, this camera has minimum illumination 1 lux. Another weakness, with CMOS sensor the images captured are not clear enough. However the price is quite cheap, about US$ 40, including a receiver, a 9 V battery and an adaptor. Moreover, this mini security camera also provides a built-in microphone that might be useful in some situations.

There are various ways of utilizing the motion detection system. For instance, you can put a video camera near a door so that you will always be kept informed whenever someone passing it. A motion detector is not only useful to alert you, but it also greatly economizes the free disk space as compared with a continuous recording mode, especially if you want to record video clips. The recorded video can then be played back through the Internet.

Setting up a motion detection system is very easy. With WebCam Looker, for the instance, you only need to accomplish some steps. First, select the state of the source (Preview only, Continuous recording, Use motion detector). Just choose the “Use Motion Detector” option and then click the “Detector Settings” button. Next, determine the areas that you want to detect and set up the sensitivity level and alarm delay. And then you are free to set what kind of action you want the software to perform in case it detects a movement.

Software such as Active WebCam can perform various tasks, from sounding an alarm, sending SMS, e-mailing captured images, and broadcasting to recording activity when the program detects a motion in the monitored area. WebCam Looker and Digi-Watcher can even run a program (.exe files) automatically. Perhaps it has nothing to do with home security, but it is still a striking feature that can be utilized anywhere. In addition to how far you can take advantage of this feature will depend on your creativity.

Even better, with your PC and a surveillance software you can also record any events in a photo and/or video archive, starting just at the moment when a motion is detected. Besides for saving disk space, it is also not necessary to monitor your home all the time. However, there are times when you want to record the entire series of an event on your hard disk so that you can play it back later.

Similar to the advantage of using any ordinary webcam software, with WebCam Looker it is also possible to record images or video on local machine using video surveillance software. With this surveillance software you can accomplish recording by going into the Settings Dialog, choosing Sources Tab and then click the Continuous recording option. In the Destination List, click add. Notice that WebCam Looker allows you to add only one video destination if you use only one camera.

If no video filename is specified, videos will be saved in the archive. It is not possible to view video file during writing. To reduce the video files size you should use video compression. There are various types of video compression offered by WebCam Looker. To mention some of them: Cinepak, Intel Indeo, and MPEG4-2. To access the recorded videos you can go into Video Archive Menu. You can then playback any recorded videos according to the specified date and time.

Besides allowing you to specify a video compression format, another advantage of recording events with a PC is a surveillance software such as WebCam Looker, Active WebCam and Digi-Watcher also provides a feature that permits the user to set the frequency of image saving. Moreover, you can set it run at your desired time and duration by using Scheduler.

To set it up you need to have a hosting account with PHP support. Then you need to choose the type of Destination as HTTP Upload and to insert some required information such as the location of the uploaded script (filereceiver.php), the filename of the image that will be uploaded and other information. Also, don’t forget to configure the information in the php file (filereceiver.php) before uploading it. And finally you should test the software by clicking the “Test destination” button.

By using this particular distinguishing feature you can notice the last movement detected by the surveillance software. You can do it easily by using a web browser and inserting the URL of the captured image. In this way, you can accomplish remote monitoring anywhere you are. What you simply need is a PC which is connected to the internet. Publishing snapshots on the internet is a great solution for people who do not have a broadband internet connection, because the size of image files is relatively smaller than video files. Another advantage of monitoring your home remotely by using this technique is that your family or relatives can also keep watching your home although they are in different places.

Another great surveillance software, Active WebCam has come in the market with its ability to capture images up to 30 frames per second from any video devices such as analog cameras and network IP cameras. You can even perform simultaneous recording and broadcasting from an unlimited number of cameras. Active WebCam, including Digi-Watcher, actually offers two broadcasting methods: HTTP Server and FTP Upload. FTP Upload means the program uploads captured images to a Remote Web Server using FTP protocol, while HTTP server can turn your PC into a HTTP server (Local Web Server).

There are various alert functions provided by many popular surveillance software. Some of them are SMS alert and email alert. Each has different advantages and disadvantages. In essence, they will help you get informed of all access violations. It can be said that such software can turn your PC into a powerful video surveillance system. It is an affordable and simple way to keep an eye on your property remotely.

Software such as WebCam Looker allows you to set up a message that will be sent to your mobile phone in case the software detects a motion. Just carry your cellphone anywhere you are and you will always get warned in case something happens at home. Another popular webcam security software, Digi-Watcher, can even be configured for dialing a number when a motion is detected.

Moreover, WebCam Looker, for example, offers windows messenger and skype message facilities that can be set up to send you a message whenever the software detects an intrusion. With windows messenger, you use internal Windows net messages service as destination. Choosing skype message as destination means you can send Skype chat messages directly from your PC to another PC. Note that both of the PCs must have Skype installed to make this feature work.

Both the Windows Messenger and Skype are instant messaging programs which are used to perform remote monitoring. Although both of them only send text messages, they enable you to receive a notification immediately whenever a motion is detected. Eventually you can take an appropriate action quickly. Sending out messages in the form of a text will also save your bandwidth.

A home security system will not be complete without the ability to sound an alarm. This feature is also provided by today’s surveillance software. They allow you to play a sound file once it detects a motion and have been already provided with several sound files to choose. For example, WebCam Looker is provided with several sounds of alarm signal in the form of dog barking and a bell.