How To Use Cell Phone As Surveillance Camera?

Security cameras, also known as surveillance cameras, are used to monitor homes, businesses, and other types of properties. In the last few years, IP-based security cameras have become increasingly popular. Using a smartphone as an IP camera is one of the most accessible ways to set up home surveillance. CameraFTP offers a mobile security camera app available for both iOS and Android devices that enables this functionality.

Types of Security Cameras

Analog CCTV Cameras

Analog closed-circuit television cameras record pictures or videos as analog signals. Most old surveillance cameras are analog cameras. This type of camera records directly onto a video tape recorder. In order to save recordings to a PC, the analog signal must be converted to a digital format; this can be done with a video capture card.

Digital CCTV Cameras

Digital CCTV cameras directly capture images and videos as digital signals. The signals are compressed and encoded into a standard video format such as MPEG. Digital CCTV cameras usually record videos onto a hard drive or a storage server.

IP / Network Cameras / Webcams

An Internet Protocol camera or network camera is a type of digital video camera that can send and receive data via a computer network. This type of camera has become increasingly popular among homeowners and business owners in the last few years because of steep price drop. A webcam can also be considered as a network camera because it can send or receive data via a computer.

DVR/NVR Security System

A DVR (Digital Video Recorder) security camera system or a NVR surveillance system is basically a series of security cameras connected to a monitor and recording system. Most old DVR/NVR security camera systems are CCTV-based with the cameras connected to the recording system via video cables. A multi-channel DVR/NVR security camera system is dramatically more expensive than a regular IP camera. Using IP-based network cameras, you don't need a DVR/NVR security camera system as each network camera can connect to the cloud directly.

Security Camera Features

• Motion Detection: Many security cameras now support motion detection — a technology that triggers recording only when something changes in the scene. Motion can be detected by image changes or sound changes. By setting a higher threshold, minor scene changes will be ignored and only scene changes that reach the threshold will be recorded. Motion detection is very useful if you want to significantly reduce bandwidth and storage usage.
• Night Vision: One of the main usages of a security camera is to monitor night-time scenes. If the scene is not well lit, it is recommended that you use a camera with night vision capability. Those cameras use an infrared spectrum of light at night and can take pictures of objects in the dark.
• Wireless Security Cameras: Wireless security cameras transmit video and audio signals wirelessly to a receiving device. There are analog and digital types of wireless cameras. Digital security cameras have become much more popular recently because they can be accessed over the internet.
• FTP/SMTP Cameras: FTP/SMTP cameras are a type of IP cameras that can upload recorded image/video files to an FTP/email server. Almost all IP cameras support FTP/SMTP uploading. FTP offsite storage is the most popular way of storing image/video files from a security camera/DVR.

Using a Cell Phone as a Surveillance Camera

Smartphone security camera apps are a popular way to repurpose old phones for home monitoring. The most commonly requested features include automatic video recording when motion is detected and the option to record without audio.

• Alfred: Download Alfred Home to the phone being used as a camera and Alfred Monitor to your current cell phone. It alerts you when it senses motion in your room or home for free, records footage, and allows you to adjust settings for all types of notification options. The free tier covers recording and motion alerts.
• Motion Detector App (Android): Available on Google Play, this app offers a simple setup and allows recording in the background. It is suited for users who need motion detection without audio recording and without requiring a second phone, Wi-Fi live view, or complex configuration.
• CameraFTP Mobile App: Available for iOS and Android devices, CameraFTP allows you to use a smartphone or tablet as a cloud IP camera. Once the camera uploads recorded image/video files to the CameraFTP server, you can play back the recorded footage from anywhere using CameraFTP's viewer app, which is available for PC, Mac, tablet, and smartphone.

Storage and Recording Considerations

Most DVR/NVR security camera systems can store recorded images and videos to a tape, hard drive, or onsite storage server. However, storing data in this manner leaves it susceptible to tampering and damage by intruders. For better protection and security, offsite storage is the best solution.

1. Storage Size Requirement: The required amount of storage is dependent on your camera's image resolution, frame rate, compression ratio, and days of retention. Setting up your camera to use motion detection can significantly reduce storage usage.
2. Footage Retention Time: Security cameras can generate a large amount of data. The amount depends on the compression ratio, images captured per second, and image size. Most cameras provide a limited amount of storage space; therefore, recordings are usually kept for a preset amount of time before being overwritten by new images.
3. Upload Bandwidth: The higher the resolution, the more storage space and the more bandwidth it requires. If you set the resolution to higher than 1920x1080 and if you have multiple cameras, you could run out of upload bandwidth if your internet connection is not very fast.
4. Offsite Recording: Instead of storing recorded data onsite, recorded images are uploaded to a cloud server in real-time. Even if an intruder destroys a security camera, the recorded data cannot be destroyed, which can be very helpful for tracking down the intruder.

Camera Image Resolutions and Bandwidth

Analog Camera Resolutions

An analog security camera usually supports PAL (768x576 pixels) or NTSC (720x480 pixels) format.

Digital Camera Resolutions

A digital security camera can support many different image resolutions, e.g. 640x480, 800x600, 1280x960, 1920x1080 and more.

Video Surveillance Standard

While the resolutions of still image cameras can go as high as 20 million pixels, for a video surveillance camera the standard resolution is lower. The main reason is because of storage and bandwidth requirements.

Security Camera Vulnerabilities

Security cameras themselves are not completely secure. They can fail due to dust, smoke, fog, loss of power, or damage. They are also easily susceptible to tampering. If a security camera records data onsite, both the camera and the recorded data can be destroyed — by intruders, burglars, or anyone else who wants the data gone forever.

When using an old phone as a surveillance camera, there are additional hardware considerations. The problem with using old phones for cameras is they are not designed to have the camera on 24/7. It will overheat the battery and can result in battery bulge in a year or two. Some phones will do better than others. For phones with removable batteries, this risk is reduced compared to phones with built-in batteries.

Real-Time Viewing and Remote Playback

Most security cameras support real-time monitoring and live streaming via a web browser within the same network. From the internet, it requires more complicated network configuration. With a cloud-based camera service, you can view images/videos over the internet from anywhere using any device. It also allows many people to live stream the video concurrently.

For smartphone-based camera apps such as CameraFTP, the sensor must be connected to a Wi-Fi network with full internet access, while the monitor can connect via Wi-Fi or mobile data. This setup allows you to access your devices from anywhere in the world rather than restricting you to your home network. Streaming traffic does not pass through the service's servers; the server is only used for the initial connection handshake so the two devices can locate each other.