Ever wonder why security cameras are so low quality? Here’s the truth

I’ve been working in the security camera industry for about 10 years now, and at this point we’ve all seen posts on social media asking you to identify a person whose face is 6 city blocks away and completely unrecognizable. With the technology advancing faster and faster, why do some security systems that get installed even today have blocky pictures? In this post, we’ll go through what causes that pixelated video and what to look for in a camera system when you’re shopping to keep it from happening to you. 

There’s a variety of reasons a camera can seem low quality on playback, and the two biggest variables are the camera’s resolution and field of view. Many products are advertised as “high definition” when they are actually rather low resolution compared to market average.

Since the two primary issues that determine how good a security camera looks are resolution and field of view, let’s start there. Later on, we’ll talk about some other things that could be limiting the cameras such as video compression, analogue versus digital, and frame rate.

Resolution: What constitutes ‘high definition’ in security cameras?

The term ‘high definition’ or ‘high def’ was coined when 720p resolution was released, calling it ‘high definition.’ Since then, it’s been applied to any resolution of at least that value. When you purchase a “high definition” security camera, that’s the minimum requirement (720p). This chart outlines the most common advertised camera resolutions today:

Source: Unifore.net

The issue here is that many cameras are being advertised as a “High Definition” 720p system, which frankly is just not good enough. 

1080p Security Cameras can look good, especially when they have a zoom lens attached. We’ll talk about how those work more in field of view, but know this for now as a Rule of Thumb: 2MP indoor hallways, PTZs and small spaces, 5MP or higher for anything requiring detail during playback.

Field of Vision: What’s the difference between a 4MP 360 degree view camera and a 4MP standard view camera?

The number of pixels in a camera is usually attributed as the primary spec you need to look at, and frankly it is an important one. Field of Vision, sometimes referred to by the “focal length” of the lens in the camera, determines how much of the scene is being captured.

Imagine that a camera takes an image of a scene and writes it down on a canvas that’s of a set size. For example, the canvas for a 4MP camera is 2592×1520 pixels. Setting aside the abstract, just imagine that you’re taking everything you can see in front of you, everything to your left and right, and drawing it on that canvas. 

Now draw on that canvas just a narrow slice, say, 90 degrees. You’re going to get more detail on the canvas, at the cost of how much field of view you can draw. 

This is exactly how it works inside the camera. If you want to have a 180 degree camera lens, you should consider using substantially higher resolution cameras in order to get fine detail in your images. 

Technical note: 1.8mm focal length is approx 180 degrees field of view, and 2.8mm focal length is approx 120 degrees field of view. As the focal length increases, the field of view decreases. 

Rule of Thumb: While many Fisheye (180 degree) cameras are available with 4-6MP resolutions, I would suggest springing for at least 8MP for that camera or digital zoom will look poor.

Then why do home and business owners get low resolution cameras?

This is really the burning question – If the technology exists for better camera systems, then why do these super low end systems seem to be all people use? The answer comes down to cost and availability.

These low end systems advertised by walmart and costco can be as little as $500 for a 4/8 camera system, with a recorder and cameras all included, but you get what you pay for. A high end system will cost at least that much per camera. The key is to strike a balance between the quality of the product you’re using and the cost. 

What specs can I look for to prevent my cameras from looking blurry like the ones on social media? 

The two main specs you should be concerned with are resolution and field of view. You’ll want the lens focal length to be at least 2.8mm and the resolution to be at minimum 1080p.  

These are general purpose rules of thumb since every application is different. 

Some other specs I’d recommend checking on before making a purchase are: 

Indoor/outdoor ratings

Power source (POE, standard AC power, USB, etc)

Data (Wifi or wired)

How are my recordings stored? (SD Card slot / Cloud storage via App / Local storage via NVR/DVR/Server)

How do I need to mount this? Is mounting included or sold separately?

Have you ever seen a camera that looked like you were taking a photo every second? 

This is another common mistake made by do it yourself-ers and entry level security systems from big box stores alike–The frame rate, which is how many still images are captured for each second of video (FPS), is so low that making out what is happening in the scene is impossible. 

The solution to this problem is to make sure any camera you purchase is capable of at minimum 12 frames per second. I’d go so far as to recommend you purchase cameras that support 30fps if at all possible, it’s that important. 

Whether it’s on the box or in the manual, every camera and recorder will have it’s FPS capabilities listed for your review. 

It’s also worth noting here that increasing the framerate that a camera is viewed and recorded at will also increase it’s bandwidth usage and storage space requirements. There are calculators available online that will help you determine the storage and bandwidth usage based on the camera’s resolution, framerate, and video codec. 

How does a video codec affect the quality of security camera video?

The three most common video codecs you’ll see are MJPEG, H.264 and H.265. If you’re using MJPEG, the bandwidth requirements are massive compared to both H.264 and H.265, because you’re essentially sending a new entire still image across the network, every single frame. 

What H.264 and H.265 do is break it down to send one “key frame” every second or two, and then just send what changes in the picture. This means in still scenes the bandwidth is significantly decreases, and even in busy scenes it’s significantly better.

If you’re running a system on MJPEG only cameras, your picture is likely going to be jumpy and require a ton of storage, so you not only will have choppy video, but it will fill up your drive and roll off very quickly. 

I recommend you try to use H.265 whenever possible, even though many lower end camera manufacturers only support up to H.264. H.264 is still really good, so don’t see that as a big detractor if that’s the only issue with a specific camera model. 

Analog versus Digital Security Camera Systems, as seen at big box stores

It’s a digital world out there, but somehow many security vendors continue to push analog camera systems. Whether it’s resistance to change, laziness, or maintaining their markup, these ancient analog systems can only be carried so far by modern camera components when they’re still connecting through analog. And you lose a host of edge features that would otherwise be available to an IP camera.

While there are Hybrid DVR/NVRs out there that can accept both analog and IP cameras, like by Hanwha Techwin released January 2020. These systems will work great for small applications such as a gas station, pizza shop, large home. 

There are ways to re-use the analog cables that are in place while converting them to IP-based cameras, however. Coax to Ethernet or Coax to Fiber converters do exist, and some even support Power over Ethernet injection. While this does limit you to using the existing coax which may not be in the best of condition, it does allow you to run Power over Ethernet much furhter distance for remote cameras, without having to run new cabling. 

Here’s an example of this device (external link to Amazon)

Conclusion

The biggest issues regarding camera systems is that the most easily available systems are low resolution, or not high enough resolution for the camera’s field of view. Big take aways for when you’re purchasing cameras: 

• At least 1080p resolution
• At least 15 frames per second, preferably 30
• At least H.264 codec support, preferably H.265
• Bonus: Infrared night vision if required
• Bonus: indoor/outdoor ratings