Resolution vs Frame Rate

[Rob Bond]

I am looking for guidance for selection of 4MP (2688 x 1520 @ 20 fps) vs 2MP (1920 x 1080 @ 30 fps) operation for an indoor mini-dome. Will it be easier to grab a clearer picture of a moving face at 30 fps or will the higher resolution at 20 fps be better.

Any practical guidance? The camera has a 4mm focal length.

Thanks.

 

[fenderman]

I am looking for guidance for selection of 4MP (2688 x 1520 @ 20 fps) vs 2MP (1920 x 1080 @ 30 fps) operation for an indoor mini-dome. Will it be easier to grab a clearer picture of a moving face at 30 fps or will the higher resolution at 20 fps be better.

Any practical guidance? The camera has a 4mm focal length.

Thanks.

None, you dont need either...10-15 is WAY more than enough.

 

[Trax95008]

i have battled with this myself. i really like the smooth looking 30 fps, and to me 1080p looks good enough, so i run all my cams at 1080p even if they support a higher resolution. however, i would love to hear from some pros on this forum on this topic. why would someone choose to run a lower frame rate? is the only advantage to conserve storage space? any other reasons???

 

[mlapaglia]

Trax have you tried running at 15 or 10fps? Go do a few tests for yourself. At the beginning of my time here I also thought "movies are at 24 fps, 10 fps looks too choppy for gifs online" etc and stuck with 30. The hardware had problems keeping up with the high bitrate I was also using. Once i moved everything to 15 fps I can barely notice a difference in motion.

 

[Rob Bond]

Thanks!

 

[mlapaglia]

Rob, if you want to record video at night, larger sensors and smaller megapixels will generally have greater night performance than higher megapixels and smaller sensors.

 

[Trax95008]

Trax have you tried running at 15 or 10fps? Go do a few tests for yourself. At the beginning of my time here I also thought "movies are at 24 fps, 10 fps looks too choppy for gifs online" etc and stuck with 30. The hardware had problems keeping up with the high bitrate I was also using. Once i moved everything to 15 fps I can barely notice a difference in motion.

I run my sub streams at 15fps to conserve bandwidth for remote viewing. It looks so choppy to me. But I guess that's only by comparison cause in used to the 30. Are you saying that the 30fps puts a strain on the hardware? (Cams,NVR) does it suck up all the resoursces? I guess I could try lowering all my cams to 20fps and start getting used to it... but I would be curious what I'm gaining by doing that

 

[mlapaglia]

I found running max bitrate at 30 fps caused my cameras to randomly choke, particularly when a lot of motion was happening on camera.

This thread was about what would get you a better picture of a face. Running at a higher bitrate and lower FPS would get a better picture

 

[Trax95008]

Yeah I don't mean to get off topic, I just want to absorb as much info as possible for learning purposes. And I think I did learn something. I occasionally will have a camera "hang" for a second or two... I will try lowering my fps on all my cams and keep an eye on it! Thanks!

 

[mlapaglia]

The last thing you want is the camera choking right as the perp is walking by!

 

[Rob Bond]

Rob, if you want to record video at night, larger sensors and smaller megapixels will generally have greater night performance than higher megapixels and smaller sensors.

Right, but I cannot change the image sensor in my camera. Your advice is great if I was shopping for cameras, but the question was related to configuration considerations (resolution vs frame rate). Please correct me if I misunderstood your point. Thanks!

 

[mlapaglia]

Oh I thought you were looking at 2 different cameras. Operating the same camera in either 4 or 2 won't give different dark performance. Ignore me!

 

[Rob Bond]

Oh I thought you were looking at 2 different cameras. Operating the same camera in either 4 or 2 won't give different dark performance. Ignore me!

No problem. I could have been clearer.

 

[ravuthkumars]

if you need more clarity on digital zoom : 4MP (2688 x 1520 @ 20 fps)