Regarding your CCTV policy for Underground stations and on streets, I would like to know what is recorded in your documents regarding the image and video settings quality being captured. If you could share the minimum acceptable settings for a cctv camera stating what Resolution, Bitrate Type, Frame Rate, Max. Bitrate, average Max. Bitrate, Video Encoding used across your network please

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TfL Ref: 3199-1819

Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 21 February 2019 asking for information about our surface and London Underground CCTV cameras.

Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy.  I can confirm that we hold the information you require. you asked: Regarding your CCTV policy for Underground stations and on streets, I would like to know what is recorded in your documents regarding the image and video settings quality being captured. If you could share the minimum acceptable settings for a cctv camera stating what Resolution, Bitrate Type, Frame Rate, Max. Bitrate, average Max. Bitrate, Video Encoding used across your network please.

On-Streets Cameras:

All our On-Streets Cameras and encoders have a D1 resolution of 720 x 576 and they are certified by VCA as “Approved Devices”.

Please see below the details for the current video stream settings for our Streets CCTV System Encoders and IP Cameras:

Resolution:                                       Minimum of D1 (PAL)

Bit Rate Type/Mode:                        Variable Bit Rate (VBR)

Frame Rate:                                     25 frames/s

Bit Rate:                                           4000kb/s

Video Encoding                                   MPEG-4  (H264 is also used but not on any Streets cameras used for enforcement)  

TfL road tunnels:

Resolution:                                          Minimum of D1 720x576

Bit Rate Type/Mode:                           Variable Bit Rate (VBR)

Frame Rate:                                        25 FPS or 5 FPS

Bit Rate:                                              4000kb/s

Video Encoding/Codec                       MPEG-4  or H264

London Underground:

Resolution:                                          For analogue systems the minimum resolution will be 4CIF or 400 TV Lines; for digital systems the minimum resolution shall be HD 720p.  

Bitrate type                                          Constant rate, not VBR

Framerate                                           1-4fps and 30 fps

Video Encoding                                   AVI, MPEG4, H264 and other proprietary formats

If this is not the information you are looking for, or if you are unable to access it for any reason, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal as well as information on copyright and what to do if you would like to re-use any of the information we have disclosed.

Yours sincerely

Sara Thomas

FOI Case Management Team

General Counsel

Transport for London

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