Megapixel Network Camera

Megapixel video resolution allows for image clarity once not seen in the surveillance world. A megapixel network camera refers directly to the amount of pixels present in a single image. Standard network cameras usually tend to offer video resolutions up to 640x480 or slightly higher. However, a megapixel capable network camera will allow for resolutions usually starting at 1280x1024 or 1.3 megapixels (1280 x 1024 = 1310720 or 1.3MP). There are megapixel capable network cameras that hold closer to 1.0MP but far more megapixel cameras today start at 2.0 megapixels and increase in resolution from there on.

The benefits of using a megapixel network camera include advanced picture clarity for video and snapshots, advanced digital zoom capabilities and a potential need for fewer cameras to surveillance an area due to the added picture resolution of megapixel technology. A strong argument against using megapixel capable network cameras has always been that with the increased resolution comes an increase in the amount of network bandwidth needed. However, more and more networks are being updated to allow for an increase in the overall bandwidth available by switching from a 10/100mbps network to a 1000mbps (1Gbps) network. In addition to this, more and more network cameras are including support for H.264 video compression technology which helps to greatly reduce the amount of bandwidth required to operate a network camera at a high level as compared to network cameras utilizing MPEG4 or MJPEG video compression.