Hidden camera

From Free net encyclopedia

Hidden cameras are still or video cameras that film people without their knowledge. Common uses include security cameras in stores and banks. Hidden cameras also have become popular for household surveillance as well. Hidden cameras can be built into many common household objects. Smoke detectors, clock radios, motion detectors, ball caps, plants, cellphones, are common hidden cameras.

Hidden cameras can be wired or wireless. Wired hidden cameras will have a video cable coming out of the object that will have to be connected to a TV, VCR, or DVR. Wireless hidden cameras will transmit the video signal to a receiver within a small (a few hundred feet) radius.

A hidden camera is also a television program related to so-called "reality shows". The producers use hidden cameras to catch unsuspecting people in unusual or absurd situations. This genre began in the 1950s with Candid Camera, and recent examples include Spy TV, Totally Hidden Video, Punk'd, The Jamie Kennedy Experiment, and Girls Behaving Badly. Unlike reality television, in which the participants know they are being filmed and agree in advance, "hidden camera" programs are built around unwitting participants.

Some hidden camera shows have led to lawsuits by people who were trapped in set-ups that they found unpleasant.

There is a band from Canada called The Hidden Cameras.