Engineers for video security.
We plan, audit and assess video surveillance systems, from near Munich in Germany. cctvfinder is the tool we wished we had while doing that work. Whoever writes back to you here does the work too.
Why it exists
The reason.
Why we built cctvfinder.
In assessment work we kept meeting the same spot: a five-figure budget, good cameras, and after a break-in the recording still is not enough. Not because anyone had cut corners, but because nobody had worked out beforehand what would arrive at the target.
That calculation is no secret science. It is in the standard and fits on a beer mat. Hardly anyone does it, because field of view, distance and resolution sit in three different documents. cctvfinder brings them together.
What the tool calculates comes out of that practice: more than a hundred assessed installations, the standard as it is written, and the figures from the manufacturers’ data sheets.
Independence
We do not sell cameras.
cctvfinder is operated by Becherer Technologies, in technical collaboration with CCTV Check. We do not trade hardware and take no commission from any manufacturer.
Which model comes top of the list is decided by the calculation: the field of view from the data sheet, your distance, and the level to DIN EN IEC 62676-4. Nothing else.
At a glance
- Headquarters. Becherer Technologies, c/o COCENTER GmbH, Koppoldstraße 1, 86551 Aichach, Germany.
- Contact. By email to request@cctvfinder.com. The reply comes from someone who plans these systems.
- For specialist firms. Run cctvfinder on your own website, with your logo, as a tool for advising clients. Learn more.
- Legal. Full details in the legal notice, everything about data protection in the privacy policy.
Basis
What we stand on.
Every figure cctvfinder puts out can be checked with a pen and a sheet of paper. That matters to us: a figure nobody can check is in the end just a claim.
- DIN EN IEC 62676-4. The standard for video surveillance systems turns a task into a figure: 20 px/m for Overview, 40 for Outline, 80 for Discern, 125 for Perceive, 250 for Characterise, 500 for Validate and 1,500 for Scrutinise. Those are the figures we calculate with.
- Pixel density, not megapixels. What counts is how many pixels fall on one metre at the target. That one figure holds resolution, field of view and distance together.
- The figures from the data sheet. We take the field of view as the manufacturer measures it, rather than deriving it back from focal length. On real CCTV lenses the two differ by factors, not by decimals.
- Across manufacturers. The catalogue holds models from several makers, each with the figures from its own data sheet. Which one fits is decided by the calculation, not by purchasing.
Still something unclear?
Write to us, even if the question is a small one. We would rather read a short email than assess a system that cannot do what it was needed for.