Technical Information & Product Comparison

Many of the Digital Video Camera being used by Law Enforcement where designed for other uses.

These include P.O.V. sports action cameras and web camera’s that have memory cards and batteries added to them.

There a few products  designed for Law Enforcement available, but most are very expensive and require special software to work with the files.

Quality:  720 HD  High Quality Video play back, High Quality image capture capability.

Video Files:   .264 Codec .Mov files HD-DVD video quality.

Software-System Requirements:   Video can be played with Windows or Mac without special software. Window XP using Real Player or Quick Time, Windows Vista or Windows 7 using Windows Media Player 11, Real Player, or Quick Time. Mac. using Quick Time.

System requirements:  Minimum 2Gig, RAM ;  Best if 4Gig+.

Lens angle of view:   57 Degree equivalent to 28mm Wide angle on 35mm camera or wide ange setting on Digital Point and Shoot camera. (100 degrees would make the subject look twice as far away and have curvature distortion).

Camera Controls

Camera’s that are not designed of Law Enforcement have major design flaws when it comes to camera controls and features. With most first they must be turned on, then the record button needs to be pushed, then a stop button needs to be pushed and the camera turned off.

With the TAC-720HD it is a two button operation. Green button turns on the camera (the camera vibrates) the recording starts. Push the Red button (camera vibrates) and the recording stops and the camera is turned off.

Manufactures love to ad on features that are not needed and create problems for the end user. Cell phones are famous for this. Most of the non L.E.O. cameras have the same problem. They include still photos, different frame rates, voice only recordings, different resolution settings. The TAC-720 has none of the options so when you get back the office and review your video recordings there no surprises like a single photo or voice only recording of your last interview.

Mounting Systems

How the camera is going to be used and where it is mounted is very important.

If used as a “Body Camera” there are lot of options.

Wearing it on a hat or helmet will give the best results to give point of view of what is being looked at by the user. Also there is less bounce than if mounted on the chest or shoulder.

If the camera is chest mounted the big issue is that if a handgun is drawn, or the user is holding a clipboard  the subject will be  blocked.

Car Camera

Many departments are using voice recorders and in car cameras. The TAC-720 can replace the voice recorders and have the added benefit of having video to do interviews in the field saving time and travel by not having to be done in the station. The camera comes with quick release rotating mount that can be used on the car dash and a car charger. Using a 32 Gig Micro SD card the camera can store up to 9.5 hrs of video; to record traffic events, conduct interviews, or record in car video’s and conversations.