Video surveillance is a system of cameras and image transmission, placed in a public or private space to monitor it remotely. The images obtained with this system can be automatically processed and viewed then archived or destroyed. The aim of surveillance is to control the conditions for compliance with safety, security or the execution of a particular procedure.

But we only speak of remote surveillance stricto sensu from the moment when the system is industrialized and allows an operator (monitoring) to control several places simultaneously on a battery of screens, this for civilian purposes.