In this paper, we propose a multi-camera video surveillance system with automatic camera selection. A new confidence measure, Quality-Of-View (QOV), is defined to automatically evaluate the camera's view performance for each time instant. This measure takes into account view angle and distance from subjects. By comparing each camera's QOVs, the system can select the most appropriate cameras to perform specific tasks. We also present an approach to determine the minimum number of cameras and their layout in a convex polygonal room under specific QOV constraints. Finally, we implement an experimental surveillance system, to confirm the stability of our algorithm and validate the critical underlying concepts of QOV.