Lately there has been much debate over the subject of high resolution vs various mega pixel cameras. Some of this debate has to do with the fact that many mega pixel cameras do not give you real time recording. Other say that clogging the network is not worth the quality. I have even heard people taking about how expensive mega pixel is compared to analog. There is truth to much of the arguments but I want to tackle a few arguments:
1) No real time recording: This is known to be true. The higher the definition on the camera, the less amount of frames per second you get. But, is real time really needed. For example, real time DVR are popular not because of the frames per second per se but because the lack of resolution on an analog camera, Let me explain, to get a good shot of a car, individual or what ever happened to be, you needed as many shots of that picture as possible. So if you are able to take a shot of something or someone with a real time DVR, you will be able to capture 30 shots every second of that individual. With a mega pixel camera and lets take the Mobotix 3.0 mega pixel camera, you can get all the detail you need with only one shot. So the need for real time recording is not needed and many customers are more happy to have 5 FPS of a mega pixel camera than 30 FPS of an analog camera.
2) Clogging the network: For most manufacturers of Mega Pixel cameras, this is a known problem when integrating mega pixel camera with an existing network. When you try to transfer between 1 - 5 mega pixels through a network that is running of 512 mb, you bet you are going to clog it specially if you have multiple cameras. Fortunately most networks now days have been upgraded to gigabyte. Even with a gigabyte network, if you have multiple mega pixels camera with a network of about 100 computers... it can clog pretty fast. Many installer just go ahead and install a separate network for the cameras alone and this adds to the cost. But there is the MxPeg technology from Mobotix which allows to use a limited amount of bandwidth when transmitting video through an existing network. They do this by only transmitting the pixels that change from the picture. So there are ways around the clogging issue.
3) High Def is too expensive. This is probably the most used phrase to us who sell mega pixel systems. For some occasion, yes it can be true but for most it is not. Let me explain. One 3.1 Mega Pixel camera, can cover an area that normally 8 analog high resolution cameras would cover. Not only that but it will give you a far more superior picture quality. Also, if you use a camera like the Mobotix Q24, you can cover a convenient store with only one camera in high definition quality for less than $2000 and still be able to capture the whole store in a picture quality 8 times superior than a high resolution camera.Normally , you would have had to use an 8 channel DVR with 8 cameras for such purpose and maybe spend over $2500.
I think Mega Pixel cameras speak for themselves. See below a comparison between a High Resolution camera, a 1.0 Mega Pixel Camera and a 3.1 Mega Pixel camera
CLICK ON PICTURE TO SEE ACTUAL SIZE AND RESOLUTION
Analog 540 TVL High Resolution Camera
Digital 1.0 Mega Pixel Camera
Digital 3.1 Mega Pixel Camera
