Tool
Camera coverage planner
Most camera disappointment is a placement problem, not a resolution problem. This shows you what a camera can actually identify at a given distance.
Where someone would actually be standing.
At 30 ft
Recognition
You can recognise someone you already know, but not identify a stranger.
- Pixels per foot
- 50.8
- Scene width covered
- 50.3 ft
- To identify, get within
- 25 ft
Identification needs roughly 60 pixels per foot, recognition 40, observation 20. This is why one camera pointed at the whole yard cannot also identify someone at the gate — the resolution is spread across the scene. Two cameras with different jobs beat one trying to do both. And none of this accounts for light: a sensor that performs after dark matters more than megapixels, because that is when most of it happens.
Common questions
What is pixels per foot?
How many pixels of the image are spread across each foot of the scene. It is the number that decides what footage can actually be used for: roughly 60 pixels per foot to identify a stranger, 40 to recognise someone you know, 20 to see what they are doing. It depends on resolution, lens and distance together — not resolution alone.
So is a 4K camera not better?
It is better at the same lens and distance, but it does not rescue a bad position. A 4K camera covering a wide yard can deliver fewer pixels on a face than a 1080p camera pointed at the gate. It also fills the recorder three times as fast and needs more light to perform.
How many cameras do I need then?
Fewer than most quotes, in better positions. Cover the choke points everyone has to pass — the driveway approach, the yard between buildings, the door of each building that matters — with at least one camera positioned to identify rather than just observe.
Want the positions worked out on site?
Placement is most of the value, and it is free to get right at install.