Why do images recorded on security cameras look so blurry and/or indistinct, when they show these images on television?
Some seem fairly clear and you can at least see what the person looks like, while so many others seem like they’d be useless for identification.
Shouldn’t security camera technology be able to provide clearer identification nowadays?
Because security cameras usually record 24/7, and save all the images they record. If they used a high-resolution, that would take up a lot of space on the hard drives/tapes/whatever media format they use.
It just boils down to cost. Is it worth having a 1080p HD security camera to catch the one thief per year when it costs you $5000/year in hard drive and video software costs?
It is. In fact, it’s actually quite possible nowdays to have a security system where the images are clear enough for the facial recognition software that many states are using for drivers licenses to i.d. armed robbers and such.
The answer to your next question is, because the company/bank doesn’t want to spend the extra cash to buy that system when the equipment they bought in 1989 is still working. When it finally craps out they’ll upgrade!
Another factor going to cost, is that many of the older security camera systems would use a looped tape, where it would save 24 hours of images, and keep recording over the old images. Which was a pretty effective solution, but the tape would be getting a huge amount of wear being taped over and over and over again, with each day that passed.
Not all places that had such security systems followed the manufacturer’s recommendations for tape replacement schedules. So often what the police have is a tape that has been degraded through constant use, and should have been replaced months previously. With the degraded image being the best they can get off the worn tape.
AIUI for more modern digital formats, this is much less of a concern - but there are still a lot of the older tape based systems in use.
I would also note that the images you see on TV are often close ups of small portions of the whole image. They don’t show you the whole image or video if the person is way down there in the lower right corner. THey zoom into the lower right corner and center the person of interest on your tv screen.
Another factor, not mentioned yet, is poor maintenance. Leave cameras without any care for couple of seasons and you got dusty, off-focus lens, shaky connections and bugs (living ones) inside cases. As **pkbites **mentioned, modern, well-maintained security camera can have razor-sharp image and current storage media are so cheap, that you can have hundreds and hundreds of hours of footage stored without problems. Only, it’s rarely priority for businesses - just having any camera as deterrent is more important for them that having top-notch system in excellent working condition (which cost money and manpower).
It’s because some thieves watch that video from The Ring before committing crimes. This makes their images blurry and unrecognizable. They figure the risk of Death by Television one week later is a small price to pay for the comfort of knowing you won’t be identified.
Besides, if they ARE caught, it drives the arresting officers nuts when they can’t get usable Mug Shots.