Rule of Thumb
As camera resolution increases more hard drive storage is required to get the same number of days of archived video to go back and view or provide police in the event of an incident. Typically, 15 to 45 days of saved video will give you the chance to discover an incident and download and save the video of it before it is overwritten by new video events.
Many variable factors (number of cameras, resolution, frame rate, image quality, continuous or motion triggered) determine how much hard drive space would be needed to get your 15-30 days but a rule of thumb is (1/2) TB (Terabyte) or 500 GB HDD to (1) TB per camera channel. So an 8 Channel DVR should have 4 to 8TB HDD or as little as 2TB for a residence or small business with low activity.
See the charts below for greater detail
High Definition cameras (over 720p) have been the norm with prices dropping to the point that Standard Definition cameras just didn’t make sense anymore. HPI’s standard offering was a 1080p (2MP) camera but 8MP has come down in price so much now, that it is now the norm. But our cameras are backward compatible so they can be set at any resolution needed to give you the image quality and video storage that you require on a camera by camera basis.
Sample Calculations and Variable Calculator from Seagate HDD Manufacturer
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Hard Drives for Security Surveillance Camera System
