CCTV Storage Calculator

Bitrate is the input, not resolution

Storage is bitrate multiplied by time, and bitrate depends on resolution, frame rate, codec and scene complexity together rather than on resolution alone. A 4K camera watching an empty corridor produces less data than a 1080p camera watching a busy car park, because modern codecs encode differences between frames and a static scene has almost none. Sizing from a resolution table alone therefore over provisions quiet scenes and under provisions busy ones, sometimes by a factor of three.

H.265 halves it and not every system supports it

H.265 achieves roughly the same visual quality as H.264 at half the bitrate, which halves both storage and bandwidth. The catch is decoding: browsers, older video management software and some mobile clients cannot play it, and transcoding at the recorder to serve those clients costs considerably more CPU than recording. The saving is real and it is worth confirming every client can consume it before committing.

Motion recording saves less than expected

Recording only on motion sounds like a large saving and typically delivers thirty to sixty percent rather than the ninety people expect. Pre and post event buffers extend each clip beyond the motion itself, cameras covering thoroughfares see near constant activity, and false triggers from weather, shadows and headlights add clips nobody wants. It also risks missing the event that mattered because the detection threshold was set too high, which is why continuous recording remains common where evidence matters.

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