8 MP at 7 FPS vs 5 MP at 12 FPS

[enricol]

I'm buying an XVR (XVR5108H-4KL-X) and a bunch of HDCVI cameras from Dahua. The XVR can record 8MP at 7FPS or 5MP at 12FPS.

Is it worth gaining resolution at the expense of FPS? In which situation one choice is better over the other and viceversa?

 

[bp2008]

I'd pick 8MP at 7 FPS. 7 FPS still captures pretty much all that is demanded from a security cam in most situations.

That said, higher frame rates are a lot more pleasing to watch, but things don't really start resembling smooth until you hit 15 FPS. If it could do 5 MP at 15 FPS, there would be more of an argument in favor of choosing 5MP. But 12 FPS would still look more choppy, giving it less of a perceived value.

 

[enricol]

7 FPS still captures pretty much all that is demanded from a security cam in most situations.

That's what I really wanted to know.

I don't really care if a higher frame rate is more pleasing to watch.
Though it's obvious that lower frame rates have problems capturing fast moving objects/people. And that's why you said "... in most situations".

 

[bp2008]

Yes. I even ran some of my cameras at 3 or 5 FPS years ago when my system was more resource-constrained, as I figured that was better than lowering the resolution.

The main argument in favor of higher frame rates is being able to capture quick motions better, like a guy in a hoodie that might only glance at a camera for a split second before looking away. At 7 FPS you'd probably capture his face once or twice, but at 30 FPS you would have 4 times as many pictures of him at slightly different angles. The thing is, appropriate lenses (zoom) and camera positions are going to improve your chances of a good capture a lot more than just making more captures.

 

[TL1096r]

I run all my 8mp at 20fps. is this bad?

 

[bp2008]

No, it is personal preference.

Unless it is the cause of your performance problems

 

[TL1096r]

No, it is personal preference.

Unless it is the cause of your performance problems

Nice, I don't have many cameras running at around 325 MP/s and 38% cpu