Should You Choose A Digital, Analogue Or DECT Baby Monitor?
Posted by Babies - 06/02/12 at 01:02 amIf you’re considering what baby monitor you should buy, and are confused with the different types of baby monitors on the market, this document should help you choose which is the best baby monitor for you.
Your first decision should be whether you want a video baby monitor or just an audio baby monitor. To be completely clear, the video baby monitor comes with audio so both types offer the power to hear your baby if she is crying, but only the video baby monitor offers pictures so you also see what baby is up to. For many moms and dads, the ability to see baby is a must have but video baby monitors are usually dearer than audio-only monitors.
The following decision, regardless of whether or not you choose an audio or video baby monitor, is what kind of technology the monitor uses to transmit it’s audio and/or video. Many moms and pops have no idea of the difference between analog, digital and DECT technology so here’s what you want to know:
All three kinds of technology use radio frequencies to send and receive sounds and photographs but there are important differences between analogue, digital and DECT. Analogue baby monitors are usually inexpensive and use the 49mHz or 900mHz frequency - each of which are common frequencies for other in-home devices like games machines, wireless phones and wireless routers. The top complaint about analog monitors is they pick up interference (static) or they impede with the performance of other gadgets (like home phone). Most come with multiple channels to assist in avoiding the interference issue. Another common issue with analogue monitors is they broadcast an unsecured (not encrypted) signal. This suggests that if you've a neighbour with an audio or video monitor that broadcasts at the same frequency, it is likely that you will be well placed to hear and see what they are monitoring and they might be able to hear and see what you are monitoring.
Digital baby monitors are usually costlier than analogue monitors but they offer two important differences. The first is that all digital monitors broadcast an encrypted signal which essentially means the video and audio are secure. Nobody else will be well placed to hear or see your baby. Second, digital monitors broadcast on 2.4gHz frequency which is also a typical frequency for many household devices, especially wireless routers and telephones. So with a digital monitor, you may be sure that the signal is secure but you may still run into interference issues.
DECT baby monitors are relatively new to the market and utilise a frequency that few other home devices use, 1.9mHz. This implies that you can almost be assured that there'll be no interference when employing a DECT baby monitor. The sole consideration here is that there are only a few of these baby monitors in the market today so that the selection has limits.
Jonah James Smith writes baby video monitor reviews for the internet site WeReviewBabyMonitors.com which can provide resources for parents seeking to find the best baby monitor.
