CCTV

Abbr. for closed-circuit television. Basically, camera systems used for purposes of surveillance.

Your modern surveillance camera provides full remote-controlled pan, tilt and zoom functionality and can see in pitch darkness due to infrared capabilities.

The world today (2002) has some 25 Million CCTV cameras in place, 2.5 Million in UK alone, most of them in densely populated urban and commercial areas. The average UK citizen is on surveillance tapes approximately 300 times a day.

Your average security guy can monitor 25 screens. So the UK alone would need about 100000 24h-workers to monitor all their cameras. You can estimate the commercial interest in putting semi-intelligent systems in place that detect (or in the case of Cromatica even predict) "suspicious" behaviour and give silent alarms.

1984? Long ago.

In a country well known for the government spying on its own citizens, it is ironic that China's main television station is called CCTV - Chinese Central Television.

CCTV was established in 1958 as Peking Television, and was renamed in 1978 after spreading all to all over China. It is managed by a government organisation known as the State Administration of Radio, Television, and Film, and thus has no editorial independence.

Like the BBC, CCTV comprises of a number of specialised channels numbered CCTV-1, CCTV-2...up to CCTV-12, plus three other channels:

CCTV-1 ('comprehensive' nationwide channel, mostly news but also documentaries and light entertainment)
CCTV-2 (programmes about life)
CCTV-3 (art programmes)
CCTV-4 (for foreign audiences in Chinese)
CCTV-5 (sports)
CCTV-6 (movies)
CCTV-7 (programmes directed at farmers, the military and children)
CCTV-8 (TV plays, about half being domestic)
CCTV-9 (or CCTV-International, broadcasting in English and other foreign languages)
CCTV-10 (science and technology)
CCTV-11 (Chinese opera and traditional music)
CCTV-12 (special programming directed to China's western provinces)
CCTV-NEWS (China's attempt at replicating CNN with a Chinese perspective)
CCTV-Children (for children)
CCTV-Music (music, of all genres)

Aside from conventional wireless broadcasting, CCTV uses cable and satellite technology. CCTV-9 is accessible off the PAS-8, PAS-9, PAS-10, Asiasat-2 or Asiasat-3S satellites, depending on the region of the world. Alternatively, CCTV-9 is carried by cable through Time Warner Cable in the United States, and B-SKY-B in Europe.

Source: www.cctv.com.cn