Find out how many terabytes you actually need before you buy — calculated, not guessed.
Each camera produces a roughly constant data stream determined by its resolution. The calculation is bitrate × hours × days × cameras, adjusted for compression and recording mode. The figures we use are realistic averages from actual installations: 2MP ≈ 2 Mbps, 4MP ≈ 4, 5MP ≈ 5, and 8MP (4K) ≈ 8 Mbps.
H.265 saves roughly 40% over H.264 at the same quality, and motion-triggered recording typically saves 60–70% depending on how busy the scene is — those two settings move the result more than anything else on this page.
The figure is an estimate and lands close to reality, but a busy scene — a street, a production line — produces more data than a still room, and poor lighting adds noise which increases file size. For that reason we always suggest adding 20% headroom to the result.
Surveillance drives are designed for continuous writing around the clock, all year. An ordinary desktop drive is built for intermittent duty cycles and fails quickly under constant recording — the single most common complaint we hear from people who installed a system with a standard drive.
If the result is larger than you expected, there is usually a cheaper answer: reduce retention on the less important cameras, or use motion recording in quiet areas while keeping continuous recording at the entrances. Browse CCTV cameras · Contact us