Advantages of Analog CCTV | Disadvantages of Analog CCTV
This page covers advantages and disadvantages of Analog CCTV system. It mentions benefits or advantages of Analog CCTV and drawbacks or disadvantages of Analog CCTV.
The CCTV systems are broadly classified into Analog CCTV and IP CCTV. Both the systems allow us to view on smartphone, record on a digital hard drive and help us produce up to 4K 1080p HD images.
What is Analog CCTV ?
In analog CCTV system, analog cameras are connected with DVR (Digital Video Recorder) through coaxial cable (RG59). In this system, video signals are digitized and later stored on hard disk drive.

Figure-1 : Analog CCTV system block diagram
The block diagram depicts connections of various modules used in analog CCTV system. Almost all the system modules shown in the figure are manufactured by Hikvision (Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Co., Ltd.), a chinese manufacturer. The major module is Digital Video Recorder (DVR) with which all the other modules of the system are interfaced. Hard disk drives (1 TB or 2 TB) such as Seagate is connected inside the DVR box as per requirements.
The complete system with all the components are easily available from reputed vendors across the world as per required number of cameras.

Figure-2 : CCTV DVR Back Panel
The wifi router is connected to ethernet port (i.e. RJ45) of DVR on one side and to the cable coming from ISP (Internet Service Provider) on the other side. All the IP enabled devices such as mobile phone, laptop and/or tablet can connect with internet via router and have complete access of all the installed cameras to view live video streams. The video streams of all the installed cameras can also be viewed on the monitor which is connected to HDMI or VGA port of the DVR unit. All the cameras are connected using 75 Ohm BNC interfaces on the back side of DVR as shown. The cameras are powered as required using power adapter. Different DVRs support different number of cameras which help users to buy according to their requirements. Microphone, Speaker and mouse are interfaced to Audio IN, Audio Out and USB ports respectively.
Following table mentions rear panel interfaces used on digital video recorder DS-7204HTHI-K2 series.
No. | Description |
---|---|
1 | Video IN |
2 | Audio IN, RCA connector |
3 | Audio Out, RCA connector |
4 | VGA connector |
5 | HDMI interface |
6 | USB interface |
7 | LAN network interface |
8 | RS-485 Serial Interface |
9 | 12 VDC power input |
10 | Power Switch |
11 | GND |
12 | Video Out |
13 | Alarm IN/Out |
Benefits or advantages of Analog CCTV
Following are the benefits or advantages of Analog CCTV:
➨Low maintenance as cameras are simple to install and manage.
➨Low cost of installation and maintenance.
➨Low technical knowledge required to install and manage.
➨Existing cables can be re-used and later upgrade to high definition.
➨Power over coaxial cable can make it further easy to install. These cables can carry video signals and power both and support distances of about 200 meters.
➨Most of the DVRs support hybrid feature. Hence user can add IP cameras at the later point of time.
Drawbacks or disadvantages of Analog CCTV
Following are the drawbacks or disadvantages of Analog CCTV:
➨It offers lower resolution video compare to IP cameras.
➨Limited number of cameras can be added due to limitations of DVR (Digital Video Recorder).
➨Many of the advanced features are available on IP cameras which are not supported by analog CCTV models.
➨Aanlog CCTV system becomes expensive for large scale surveillance applications.
➨Analog CCTV system is difficult to scale compare to IP based CCTV system.
➨Cables used in Analog CCTV are expensive compare to network cables.
➨ Also refer advantages and disadvantages of IP CCTV System >>.
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