High-Definition Technology: More Than Just Entertainment

High-Definition isn’t just for TV anymore. The technology that brings the exciting crisp, clear pictures to our home theaters wears many hats. It’s become a crime fighter, crime solver, interior decorator and real estate agent just to name a few jobs this amazing technology has undertaken.

Chicago recently opened a new high-definition high-tech center that monitors high-definition cameras in place all over the city. These cameras aid emergency service personnel in getting to the emergency, deter crime in high-crime areas, assist with weather-related problems and are in place to aid in disaster response. Chicago, as well as other major cities, also has high-definition cameras installed in their public transportation busses.

Mayor Richard Daley isn’t finished with the high-definition camera wave either. If he gets his way, there will be high-definition cameras installed inside and outside all Chicago businesses open 12 hours or more daily. Some business owners are fighting this proposal though, fearing the installation costs would be prohibitive. Some of them have threatened to shorten their business hours if this proposal becomes mandatory.

On July 7, 2005 there were a series of bombings in London’s rail system. Because high-definition cameras were in place, authorities were able to view the footage, which was an enormous amount, and determine that the four suicide bombers had indeed died in the blasts. Sadly, they took 52 innocent lives with them. Several weeks later another bombing attempt was made but this time only the detonators went off. Again, because of the high-definition cameras, authorities were able to quickly solve the crime and this time arrest the would-be suicide bombers.

Video surveillance cameras have become commonplace but before the advent of high-definition technology, the images were often grainy and the perpetrators hard to identify. With today’s technology however, those perpetrators have become much more easily identifiable, yielding more arrests and convictions.