What the numbers mean
Megapixels (MP) describe how much detail the camera captures.
- 2MP (1080p) — the baseline; fine for general coverage and small areas.
- 4MP — the sweet spot for most sites; noticeably sharper for identification.
- 5MP — extra detail for wider areas or more zoom room.
- 8MP (4K) — maximum detail for entrances, tills and number plates, or covering a wide area with one camera.
Match resolution to the job
Spend resolution where identification matters; save it where general coverage is enough.
- Entrances, tills, gates and number plates — 4MP–4K (identification matters).
- General rooms, corridors and overview — 2MP–4MP is usually plenty.
- One camera covering a wide area — higher MP gives room to zoom into detail.
The storage trade-off
Higher resolution means bigger files and more storage for the same retention. Modern H.265/H.265+ compression offsets much of this, and you can mix resolutions — 4K at the gate, 2MP for a back corridor — to balance clarity and cost. We size storage so your footage lasts the days you need.
Resolution isn't everything
Lens choice, camera placement, lighting and night-vision quality matter as much as megapixels. A well-placed 4MP camera with good night vision beats a distant, poorly-aimed 4K one. Full-colour (ColorVu) night vision often adds more usable detail at night than raw resolution alone.