Guide to Recording Resolution

Recording resolution is the number of pixels (dots) used to create an image. Higher resolutions use more pixels to create an image. This means that greater amounts of detail can be expressed in the image, but larger files sizes and a greater amount of storage (i.e. hard drive space) are required to save the images or video. See the example below.

The resolution is increasing from left to right

Recording resolution is measured as the number of horizontal pixels by the number of vertical pixels (width x height). The following table shows some common recording resolutions supported by Lorex DVR's.

Notice the increase in the total number of pixels as the resolution increases. Because the total number of pixels is determined by the number of horizontal pixels times the number of vertical pixels, if both horizontal and vertical pixels are doubled, the total number of pixels increases by a factor of 4. This means that the amount of hard drive space needed to store an image or a given duration of video will also increase by a factor of 4 (given factors such as the frame rate remain equal). It is recommended to try different configurations on your system to balance image quality against the amount of storage space available.

The graphic below shows a comparison of the resolutions listed if each pixel takes up the same amount of space.

Last Updated: 7/9/2012