Security

• CCTV was primarily developed for security in banks and casinos, but as the technology developed and costs diminished, CCTV security is now more widespread. Businesses, like convenience and liquor stores commonly use CCTV to record possible robberies and give police leads to catching criminals. Higher end home security systems also offer a CCTV option.
  
  

Other Uses

• Electronic microscopy, robotics, and medical imagery are also technically forms of CCTV, although the term most notably refers to security systems. CCTV is also used to broadcast information in a local environment, such as deals in a supermarket, race track betting odds, or for programming in schools and hospitals.
  
  

Types of CCTV

• In-Line CCTV is the most simple set up, with the camera mounted directly on top of the display monitor. Out of Line CCTV is a setup in which the camera is mounted next to the display monitor, sometimes in another room. Portable CCTV setups do not need to be directly attached to a television, and can use other forms of display, like computer monitors or projectors.
  
  

Crime Prevention & Privacy

• CCTV systems have been placed in many municipalities and city streets to help reduce crime, and police in Scotland have determined that CCTV deters "opportunistic," or spur-of-the-moment, crime. The public is not completely on board with full scale CCTV being implemented in their communities because of the potential for law enforcement to abuse the data taken from them, and infringe upon freedoms.