Highest res CCTV camera that can be used with "PAL" input?

[Rog200455]

I have a slightly off-beat application for a church. They require a camera to connect to a Kramer presentation switcher/scaler. It's not a security appliction - it's so the the congregation can view the pic from the camera. The Kramer has four composite video inputs and the specification for these simply states NTSC or PAL. I assume that this would the same as connecting a camera directly to the composite video input of a non-HD domestic TV? I realise that I can't go HD, so what sort of camera would give the best image taking into account the spec limitations?

 

[OwainDIYer]

Typically PAL video is 575 visible lines. You might want to look at S-video if it's available and separate the chroma and luma signals for better results.

The angle of view is going to be important, if you have a wide angle lens on the camera then there won't be any detail and on a large screen the whole image will be indistinct. Narrow angle lens will give a better image of a smaller area, even at a lower resolution on a alrge screen.

Also consider latency, if the congregation will be watching an orchestra/conductor or other people singing, any latency on the system may be very disconcerting. Some cameras have poor latency or react poorly to fast moving images.

 

[Rog200455]

Thanks Owain, Latency is a good point that I hadn't considered, however I think I will get away with it as there is no lip sync. It's simply to mount in the bell tower, to show the bells working between services - video only. The bell space is a bit cramped, so I think wide angle will be needed.

 

[EightyTwo]

Typically PAL video is 575 visible lines.

That's horizontal lines. It's the same as standard TV. PAL is/was the non-US standard for video and runs at 50Hz (whilst NTSC is Yank and runs at 60Hz). Cameras also quote "TVL" which are vertical lines. Good old VHS tapes had a couple of hundred. Modern cameras will be 500-1000 lines. Any camera with a BNC or yellow phono connector should do - the more you spend, the better the image will be. "Box cameras" are getting hard to find so you'll probably end up with a bullet camera. Don't forget to consider the lighting in the bell tower.