An IP (internet protocol) or network camera can be described as a camera and computer combined into one unit. It has its own processor, memory, operating system and software and with its standard Ethernet interface, it connects directly to any network through a cat-5 or cat-6 cable just like a computer node, It has its own built in web server and hosts its own website within it self, and therefore can be accessed through any internet browser. All one needs to do is to assign it an IP address, static or dynamic, and then type it in the browser. The camera will then ask the user to allow the camera to download a small program called the Active-X control that will receive the video stream from the camera and display it in the browser. Everything needed for viewing images over the network is built into the unit. Apart from basic network related support and functionality some cameras also let users configure FTP, HTTP, Email servers. Other features include alarm input, relay output functions, built in Power Over Ethernet and built in motion detection.

Basically one needs to know only a few technicalities regarding cameras in general. Lux is the measurement of the intensity for light. Indoor environments generally range between 1 and 10,000 where as outdoor environments range from 100,000 to 500,000. Dark areas go below 1 where as 0 lux is defined as complete darkness. The focal length of the lens used with the camera determines its effective range and depth. A typical surveillance camera is mounted with a 4 to 8 mm lens that is either fixed, vari-focal (which means that you may manually adjust the focal length) and/or DC iris (where the camera automatically adjusts itself according to change in lighting conditions). Keeping in mind the relative size of the object with respect to the cameras distance from it, a 4mm lens normally enough to recognize a person standing at a distance of 30 feet, but not sufficient to read a number plate from that distance. Heavy duty lenses in focal lengths over 1000mm are also available for extreme surveillance.

IP cameras are available with a variety of options and features suitable for a range of application environments. The most basic version are the indoor cameras, defined as indoor because of their lower lux range. Outdoor fixed cameras have a higher upper lux, and are usually installed in weather and vandal proof housings. Apart from fixed cameras, IP cameras are available in pan tilt zoom models, where one can navigate the camera and zoom in optically from their computers. The built in optical zoom is provided through a motorized zoom lens within the camera. some models have a 3 mm to 93mm lens giving a 25x optical zoom, which means that objects are magnified 25 times their original size. A single PTZ camera can effectively be used to observe large factory halls or get an overview of the entire facility with an effective diameter of about a kilometer. Other advance hardware related features are the IR cameras that work in complete darkness with Infra Red lamps and Ultra Low Lux cameras that give a black and white image at lighting conditions as low as 0.0005 lux, barely visible for the human eye. Some cameras have built in audio simplex, half-duplex or full duplex, which with advance algorithms such as echo cancellation and input/output gain can be fine tuned to capture voice or used for audio detection to trigger alarms.

With an adaptive frame rate dependent on the prevailing lighting conditions, Network IP Cameras traditionally deliver JPEG images at up to 30 frames/images per second and some new cameras push the frame rate up to 60 frames a second, referred to as Mjpeg or Motion Jpeg. The image resolution can range from as low as 160x120 to megapixel resolutions that go beyond 1024x768 depending on the model.

With the growing demand of wireless networks, IP cameras are now coming with their own built in wireless bridges. The camera does not have the Ethernet port, instead a USB interface used for initial configuration. The camera supports the standard encryption HTTPS protocol for wireless security.

IP cameras are monitored and recorded on computers through the surveillance software. Most software's allow users to configure cameras through the software and also cover up for features such as motion detection, which some cameras might not have as a built in functionality to trigger recordings. Some of the more advance surveillance software comes with a remote client, which could be web based or a standard desktop application to share the monitoring and recorded resources to other computers on the network. Since physical boundaries are transparent on a network, a group of recording and monitoring servers could operate on a network that spans across the nation. The software may be custom designed as most IP cameras come with a software development kit, and support to integrate it in ones website.