A Pan tilt zoom camera (PTZ Camera) is a closed-circuit television camera with remote directional and zoom control.
In television production PTZ are used with professional video cameras in television studios and referred to as camera robotics. These systems can be remotely controlled by automation systems. The PTZ are generally sold separately without the cameras.
The phrase PTZ Camera has two meanings within the video security and surveillance products industries.
First, PTZ is an acronym for pan, tilt, and zoom and may refer merely to features of specific surveillance cameras.
Second, PTZ Camera may also be used to describe an entire category of devices where a combination of sound and/or motion and/or change in heat signature may enable the camera to activate, focus and track suspected changes in the video field.
By activating only during times of change, systems can notify human monitors and minimize storage requirements.
An innovation to the PTZ camera is a built-in firmware program that monitors the change of pixels generated by the video chip in the camera. When the pixels change due to movement within the cameras field of view, the camera can actually focus on the pixel variation and move the camera in an attempt to center the pixel fluctuation on the video chip. This process results in the camera following movement. The program allows the camera to estimate the size of the object which is moving and distance of the movement from the camera. With this estimate the camera can adjust the cameras optical lens in and out in an attempt to stabilize the size of pixel fluctuation as a percentage of total viewing area. Once the movement exits the cameras field of view the camera automatically returns to a pre-programmed or "parked" position until it senses pixel variation and the process starts over again.