While a certain famous – or should that be infamous – dome may be a bit of a white elephant, thankfully all domes are not the same, and this shape has been used to great effect in the security area in the guise of the increasingly capable dome camera.
After visiting the recent ASIS exhibition, with many examples of domes prominently displayed, the question has to be asked - why is this type of CCTV camera so popular? There are I believe a number of reasons, when it comes to flexibility, domes certainly score highly, it being possible to find them surface-mounted, hung from the ceiling or on internal and external walls, even inside vehicles for covert and overt surveillance.
Domes have also become much tougher in recent times with materials such as polycarbonate for the camera bubble making them a realistic proposition for exposed external locations liable to attack by vandals.
Such cameras also tend to be more aesthetically pleasing than their contemporaries in a standard housing – a key consideration for prestige developments or conservational areas - and high rotational speeds mean that domes are ideal for tracking suspects.