Is 1080P CCTV Still Worth Buying?

We're going to be taking a step back away from all the latest technology in this article so that we can look at the reasons for buying (and installing) HD CCTV. When we are looking at HD CCTV we are basically talking about Full HD, so 1080p resolution, or 2MP.

Technology moves quickly, in fact every year processing speeds nearly double that of the previous year. So you can imagine that what you thought was state of the art when you bought an item is actually outdated fairly quickly. What has that got to do with CCTV? The technology in the recorder will decide how much can be processed and recorded. The more that can be recorded means that the higher the resolution can be. So the knock-on effect is that the recorders can handle double the resolution of that of last year.

A prime example of the speed of change is to look at 4K cctv which is now available to buy. This was not affordable over the last few years, and those that were available were inherently quite expensive. Nowadays you can pick up a 4K camera for a little under £83, meaning you can get a 2 camera system for less than £500! Before this you would be lucky to find the same system for less than £1,000, but as technology becomes more widely available the prices start to come down.

The lowest price 1080P system on this site comes in at just under £240 which is less than half the price of the equivalent 4K system. If you don't need 4K resolution it works out to be a lot more cost effective to get a 1080P system.

Full HD cctv systems have been around for a while. This means the technology behind it has been tried and tested. With newer technology there is a 'bedding in' period whereby bugs are slowly found when products are 'in the field' and the software and technology is revised to be more efficient. We're not saying that the newer systems are less reliable, merely stating that with all new technology there are certain situations that have not been accounted for that could effect the performance of a CCTV camera.

The last point on this topic is quite subjective. A lot of people will automatically look at the newest technology but will the latest 4K cameras be displayed correctly? Is the recorder setup to output onto a 4k screen? Will the user be looking at one camera at a time? If the user will be looking at the quad screen view then this would not be displaying anywhere near 4K resolution so any benefits of having a 4K cctv camera will immediately be lost.

To summarise we have 3 perfectly valid reasons as to why HD CCTV systems are still a viable option:
1. Price - HD CCTV has never been as affordable as it has now
2. Reliability - The technology has been around longer
3. User benefit - unless you are looking at an individual 4MP or 4K camera in full screen mode on a large 4K monitor or TV screen there is no added quality in the picture.

So if you are looking for a CCTV system a 1080P system is still a good choice.