CCTV camera resolution: how many megapixels you need
More megapixels means more detail, so you can zoom into a recording and still make out a face or a number plate. It also means bigger files, so you need more storage.
Resolution at a glance
| Resolution | Typical use |
|---|---|
| 2MP (1080p) | Small rooms, corridors, budget systems |
| 4MP | Most homes and small businesses: driveways, gardens, shop floors |
| 5MP (3K) | A step up for analogue systems, wider areas |
| 6MP | Wider scenes where you still want detail at the edges |
| 8MP (4K) | Car parks, yards, entrances where you need to identify people |
| 12MP and above | Very wide areas covered by one camera |
Detail depends on distance and lens too
A 2.8mm lens shows a wide view, so detail drops off quickly with distance. A varifocal or motorised lens lets you zoom in on the area that matters, such as a gate or a till. As a rule, to identify a person you want them to fill a good part of the frame, so pick the lens for the distance first, then the resolution.
Storage
An 8MP camera uses roughly twice the storage of a 4MP camera at the same settings. H.265 compression, which most current cameras use, uses up to around half the storage of older H.264. See our hard drive size guide.