Why isn't CCTV as clear as television?

[brawnypandora0]

Why are CCTV cams often blurry? Most are still in black and white it seems.

[ve4cib]

Combination of cheap equipment and little-to-no post-production.

TV and movie cameras are very expensive, and designed to take crisp, clear images, because that's what you need for movies. A typical TV studio may use up to 8 cameras at a time, so spending large amounts of money on cameras isn't prohibitively expensive. Even a large studio, filming multiple shows, may only have a few hundred cameras.

CCTV cameras on the other hand need to be cheap (they're paid for by governments and private firms largely, and installed by the thousands; spending tens of thousands of dollars per camera simply isn't feasible. They also need to be very robust and able to withstand large changes in temperature, physical abuse, humidity, etc... without breaking down. Cheaper, durable plastic lenses have poorer optics than professional-grade glass ones, but can tolerate abuse much better.

There's also the issue of production values. TV and movie studios take multiple takes of each shot (normally), and use the best ones. For live broadcasts, they make sure they have optimal filming conditions (good, even lighting, etc...), makeup, and trained operators who can adjust the camera settings on-the-fly if necessary.

A security camera bolted to a wall will be in fully-automatic shooting mode, adjusting the exposure and focus however it "thinks" is best, which often results in parts of the frame being too dark and other parts being washed out. There are not studio-quality lights around most security cameras, so they have to make-do with the ambient lighting, which is usually poor from a photography standpoint.

[KiwiNZ]

Enough endless questions....Thread Closed