Estimate the nominal battery energy needed to run your camera system during a power outage. Include the cameras, recorder, network equipment, and any other devices connected to the backup. Default values are illustrative; actual runtime varies with equipment load, battery behavior, and conversion losses.
Estimate the upfront cost of cameras, a recorder, and installation labor using your own prices and labor assumptions. Defaults are illustrative. The estimate excludes wiring, accessories, permits, taxes, subscriptions, and other project-specific costs. The installation complexity factor adjusts labor only.
Estimate the sustained upload bandwidth needed to stream security cameras off-site. Enter the average encoded bitrate per camera and the percentage of time cameras upload concurrently. The overhead allowance accounts for network protocol overhead. Defaults are illustrative; actual bandwidth varies with scene activity, encoding, and connection conditions.
Estimate decimal storage capacity for 4K security camera recordings from the camera’s configured average bitrate. Defaults are illustrative. Actual usage varies with scene activity, compression, recording settings, and system overhead. Enter the recording hours per day and an allowance for overhead; round up when purchasing storage.
Estimate recording storage from the average H.265 bitrate per camera, recording hours, retention period, and camera count. Bitrate depends on resolution, frame rate, scene activity, and encoder settings; enter a measured or manufacturer-specified average when available. Results use decimal GB and exclude audio, filesystem overhead, and redundancy. Round up when choosing drive capacity.
Estimate storage for H.264 security camera recordings using the average bitrate per camera, recording schedule, retention period, and an allowance for storage overhead. Defaults are illustrative; actual bitrate varies with camera settings and scene activity.
Estimate decimal gigabytes of storage for motion-triggered camera recordings using the average recording bitrate and total recorded hours per day. Defaults are illustrative. The estimate assumes the same bitrate and recording duration for every camera; actual storage varies with scene activity, encoding, audio, and recording settings. The overhead allowance accounts for additional storage needs.
Estimate how many days of surveillance footage can fit on your storage. Enter the average recording bitrate per camera and the hours recorded each day. The usable storage factor accounts for space reserved for formatting and system overhead; defaults are illustrative. Actual retention varies with scene activity, compression, and recording settings.
Estimate the decimal terabytes needed for security camera recordings using the average bitrate per camera, recording schedule, retention period, and storage overhead. Actual usage varies with scene activity, compression, audio, and recording settings. Defaults are illustrative; round up when choosing a drive.
Estimate the storage needed for security camera recordings using the average bitrate per camera. Enter the average daily recording time and retention period. The result uses decimal terabytes (1 TB = 1,000 GB); round up when purchasing drives. Actual storage varies with scene activity, compression, audio, and NVR settings.
Estimate the focal length needed to capture a desired horizontal scene width with a security camera. This uses the distant-object approximation; check the camera’s actual sensor width and allow for framing and lens tolerances.
Estimate the horizontal width visible at a given distance using the camera sensor width and actual focal length. This pinhole-camera estimate assumes a flat scene perpendicular to the camera, no lens distortion, and use of the full sensor width. Defaults are illustrative; use the active sensor width and actual focal length for your camera.
Estimate electricity consumption for cameras with different daytime and nighttime power draws. Enter average power per camera, including infrared illumination where applicable. Defaults are illustrative; actual use varies with camera settings and conditions. Assumes all cameras operate continuously and have the same power draw. Recorder, network equipment, and power supply losses are excluded.
Estimate the PoE output budget needed for security cameras and other powered devices. Enter the maximum PoE draw per camera and allow for any cable losses in the additional load. Headroom is the percentage of the switch’s total PoE budget kept unused. Defaults are illustrative; check device and switch specifications, including per-port PoE limits and supported standards.
Estimate how long a battery can power a security camera using its nominal voltage, rated capacity, average power draw, and usable battery capacity. Defaults are illustrative. Actual runtime varies with recording activity, weather, battery age, and power conversion losses.
Estimate the combined video bitrate for security cameras using resolution, frame rate, and an assumed compressed bits-per-pixel-per-frame value. Actual bitrate varies with the codec, scene activity, image quality, and camera settings; audio and network overhead are excluded.
Estimate continuous recording time from SD card capacity, recording bitrate, usable storage, and the number of video streams sharing the card. Defaults are illustrative. Actual time varies with bitrate changes, audio, file overhead, and device behavior.
Estimate continuous recording time from available storage and the combined video and audio bitrates. Storage uses decimal GB (1 GB = 1,000 MB). Results are estimates: variable bitrate, motion, retention settings, and other files can change actual recording time.
Estimate the network bandwidth needed for simultaneous camera video streams. Enter the configured bitrate per stream; actual bitrate varies with resolution, frame rate, compression, scene activity, and camera settings. Defaults are illustrative. The overhead allowance covers additional network traffic, but results do not include unrelated network usage.
Estimate recording storage from the average bitrate per camera, daily recording time, retention period, and an allowance for storage overhead. Defaults are illustrative; actual usage varies with video activity, compression, and recorder settings. Results use decimal TB (1 TB = 1,000 GB). Round up when buying drives and check their usable capacity.