CCTVs and magnification

Why is small magnification important for a CCTV?

• One simple answer is overview. The more you can see of a newspaper or other document, the easier it is to orientate. Though you might not be able to read it, a good overview will show you where columns, graphs and photos are. 
• Some people like quite a few people with tunnel vision don't really need the magnification, but a good contrast and low, well readable magnification.
• Finally, to look at photos, maps and graphs, a good overview mode with a low magnification is valuable because it shows you more of the photos and maps.

Important is how much of the text will show on the monitor, because the more text that is on it, the better the overview is. If a magnification is 2 times for example on a 6 inch monitor it will show the same amount of information on a 12 inch monitor, only twice as big.
If you put a ruler underneath the camera, you can see how many centimeters show up on your monitor. In the minimum magnification a good system shows at least 11.5 cm, but preferably closer to 12 cm or even more. This way of measuring is independent from the monitor size, and even more important, independent of the "creative specifications" of some manufacturers.

How can I measure the magnification?

As some manufacturers are quite "creative" in their magnification figures, it is good to measure the magnification. If you want to do this, measure the width of your screen (the actual visible part) and put a ruler underneath the camera. Divide the screen width (say 38cm) by the amount of visible centimeters you see on the ruler (say 3.8cm) this gives 38/3.8 = 10x magnification.

Magnification and monitor sizes

If the monitor is bigger, the magnification is too. This means that if you have a big monitor, your system will need to magnify less than with a small monitor. So you can decrease the magnification and more of the line of text you are reading will show. The more text, the less you have to move the reading table and the quicker you can read. This means a 19" monitor and certainly a 22" WideScreen monitor could make your reading much more comfortable and faster than a 15 or a 17".