Legacy CCTV vs Cloud Security Camera: Key Differences, Features & Comparison

Introduction

In today’s rapidly evolving security landscape, choosing the right surveillance system is crucial for both residential and commercial applications. Two prominent types of security camera systems are legacy CCTV cameras and cloud-based security cameras. While both serve the core purpose of monitoring and recording video footage, they differ significantly in terms of technology, storage methods, accessibility, scalability and features.

Legacy CCTV Camera

CCTV stands for Closed Circuit Television. CCTV based cameras are traditional video surveillance systems that operate over closed system. These cameras connect to DVR or VCR using coaxial cables. The system require physical infrastructure for power and data transmission.

The figure depicts IP CCTV block diagram. The key features are as follows.

• Operate via analog or digital signals.
• Captured footage is stored locally on hard drives or other storage devices.
• Require onsite monitoring or manual retrieval of captured footage.
• No internet access is required and it is fully self contained.

Cloud Security Camera

It uses internet to transmit video footage which is stored on a cloud server managed by third party. Cloud security cameras are also known as IP cameras.

The key features are as follows.

• Footage is transmitted and stored in the cloud servers using internet.
• The data stored in the cloud can be accessed using mobile phones, laptops, desktops or tablets.
• Cloud security camera use wifi or ethernet to save captured footages to the cloud servers.
• It houses advanced features like motion detection, AI analytics etc.

Key difference between legacy CCTV and Cloud Security Camera

Conclusion

Legacy CCTV systems are ideal for closed, offline environments with local monitoring needs. Cloud security cameras are better suited for modern, scalable and remote accessible surveillance solutions.