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Choosing the right camera Choosing the right camera to match your broadband plan is vital for optimum performance and ensuring good camera function. Refer to our System requirements page for basic data relating to hardware and software requirements. On this page we want to detail the importance of matching your broadband plan with the camera you want to purchase. Many ISP (Internet service provider) customers are on an ADSL 128k upload, unlimited download plan unless you have paid for higher monthly data upload capacity. Below is a diagram giving a visual representation of the 3 different video compression options available at present. Video compression translates the images the camera sees into a JPEG, MPEG-4 or H264 format to transfer the images across the Internet. If the video compression of the camera isn't suited to your broadband plan, the camera function will operate so slowly that it isn't worth having, and it will deplete your monthly data upload allocation very quickly. As you can see in the diagram, a JPEG camera uses 5 times the amount of data transfer bandwidth as an H264 camera to achieve the same picture quality or speed. If an H264 camera needs 128k bps for a particular operation, a JPEG camera will need 640k bps. If you are on a 128k bps upload plan, a JPEG format camera will display video images as a series of jerky images. An MPEG-4 format camera is an improvement over the JPEG camera, but it will use twice the broadband capacity of the H264 format camera. Choosing the right Lens Shown below are examples of three lens sizes and the field of vision they cover. They are mounted in the same spot viewing the same scene. It should give you an idea of the size lens you need. The wider the field of vision, the less detail is captured.