Spy Equipment Terminology

 
If you're like many people, all of the spy gadgets and spy equipment you see on our site can be a little overwhelming. After all, this isn't the type of stuff you're used to seeing your whole life at the store. 

You won't find this stuff at Wal-Mart, Target, Best Buy, or even Radio Shack.

Below you'll find a list of commonly used terms, acronyms, and other information that can be useful when you're shopping for spy gadgets. 

If you have any questions about any terminology, feel free to contact us any time!

DVR

When most people think of the term "DVR", they think of the device that is connected to their TV that records all of their favorite shows. When we refer to DVRs, we are often referring to the literal definition of the term - Digital Video Recorder. This can be any device that is designed to record video, whether it be one of our portable DVRs, or an all-in-one recording hidden camera with a built in camera and hard drive.

GPS

Stands for "Global Positioning System". This technology is commonly to refer to car navigation devices, to help people with directions to their destination. When we talk about GPS and GPS tracking, this refers to a way to use global positioning to locate an object or person who is carrying a GPS tracking device.

Frames per Second (FPS)

Frames per Second, or FPS, refers to the number of video frames recorded per second of video. FPS ranges from 1 to 30. With a FPS of 1, you'll get one frame of video every second, while with a FPS of 30, you'll get 30 frames of video in a second. The more frames per second, the "smoother" the video will appear. The two common FPS for hidden cameras are 12 and 30.

NTSC/PAL

NTSC and PAL are video formats. NTSC is most commonly used in North America, for countries like the USA. PAL is more commonly used in other parts of the world, like Europe. Unless otherwise noted, our cameras are NTSC. Note: This only applies to video that is played directly back on a TV or DVD player. For devices that record to a hard drive or to an SD card for playback or viewing on a computer, the NTSC/PAL standard does not apply, because computer's don't use this information for video playback.

LUX/Illumination

LUX or "Illumination" refers to the amount of light required for a camera to record. The lower the "LUX" rating of a camera, the better it can record in low light situations. For example, a stanard LUX rating for most cameras is around 1LUX. A "low LUX" camera rating is a camera in the range of 0.01 to 0.50. It is possible to have a 0 LUX camera, which means the camera records in total darkness. This is accomplished using IR Night Vision, which uses infrared "illuminatiors" to allow the camera to see and record in the dark.

Overwrite Mode

Overwrite Mode refers to a type of recording mode for cameras and DVRs that are saving recorded video. With a device that uses this functionality, when the capacity of the SD card or hard drive is full, the oldest files or videos are "overwritten" by the newest files or videos. This can be helpful if you don't want to have to delete or remove files from a card, and know that you don't need the oldest files. 

PIR/Thermal Motion Detection

Several of our cameras, like our one year battery life cameras, utilize a type of motion detection called Passive Infrared or "PIR" detection in order to start recording. Unlike regular motion detection, PIR or thermal motion detection starts recording when body heat is detected, rather than actual motion. This is a much more accurate type of motion detection, which not only allows for less false-positives than regular motion detection, but also allows for much longer battery life.

The reason the battery life on a PIR-activated camera is much longer is because the camera doesn't have to be constantly powered on and "looking" for movement. These PIR-based camera recording systems simply supply power to the PIR sensor, and when the sensor detects motion, it "wakes up" the camera, which drastically reduces the total battery consumption, and makes the battery last signifcantly longer.

SD Card

An SD Card is a type of removable storage device that many of our cameras record to. SD Cards come in capacity from 1GB to 32GB. 

Video Resolution

Video resolution refers to the quality of the video. Video resolution can range from 320x240 all the way up to 1960x1080. The most common video resolutions are 640x480. High Definition video starts at 1280x720. The higher the resolution, the higher the quality of the video.