Like I said, I'm not an expert, but I think the camera records directly to the tape first and then it feeds to the monitor...which would explain the ghost image...it was already on the tape and the current footage recorded over it
Good question...
It very well could come from the video output of the recorder.
Too bad we’ll never know since this story was obviously just fluff, filler since there’s nothing they consider important happening anywhere.
Since it's a jail/prison, it should be a live feed to the monitor with a back-up recording system. We had cameras all over the prison I worked in. Camera images were viewed via multiple monitors within the prison's arsenal. The views automatically changed on the monitors on a regular basis. The back-up recording system was in the arsenal as well. Everything was controlled by the officer who worked in there. He could change the angle of the cameras, pan in and out, and trigger the recording button. Our camera system worked in conjunction with a microwave alarm system around the prison perimeter. When an alarm was triggered, the camera in that section would automatically turn and focus on the area, and begin recording. Perimeter patrol would be sent to that spot to check out what had triggered the alarm, and the officer in the arsenal would watch it all from the camera image on the monitor.