Using Field of View and Lens Focal Length tab you can calculate camera lens focal length, field of view and find best camera position.

To calculate the field of view or lens focal length of CCTV camera you need to know some parameters of installation. If you need to calculate the lens focal length you should specify following parameters:

• Distance from Camera - Maximum distance from Camera to target.
• Camera Installation Height - CCTV camera installation height.
• Field of View: Height - Height of the target. When you select Field of View(FOV) Height and camera installation height the software calculates camera Tilt.
• Field of View: Width - Other option is to specify FOV width instead of height. Just enter desired width of field of view (viewing area) for specified camera distance. If you modify FOV parameters the Focal Length and Viewing Angles will be automatically recalculated. Other option is to specify viewing angles instead of FOV Width. In this case FOV and Camera Focal Length will be calculated automatically.
• Camera Sensor Format - CCD or CMOS sensor size (sensor format). You can choose the sensor format from: 1/4″, 1/3″, 1/2″, 2/3″, and 1″. Usually you can find the sensor format in camera specification. Typical value for network camera with VGA resolution is 1/4″. For many cameras with CCD sensor - 1/3″. Megapixel cameras can use other formats like 1/2″ or 1″.

The 3D Camera View window shows results of camera view 3D-modeling with 2 floating test objects - first on the specified distance and second on bottom camera line. The user can add additional test object (a yellow man. height=180cm) by clicking on the drawing .

In case if you have fixed lens with known lens focal length and need to calculate Field of View you can just enter the Lens Focal Length parameter and get Field of View and Viewing Angles calculated.

See Video Tutorial, IP Video System Design Tool, CCTV Design Tool;

To calculate network bandwidth of your CCTV cameras and get required storage space for video archives you need to add camera types and specify some parameters of your CCTV installations:

• Resolution - Camera resolution in pixels. You can select resolution from the drop-down list. List contains most popular PAL and NTSC camera resolutions (like 352×288 CIF PAL, 704×576 4 CIF PAL) as well as some typical network cameras resolutions (like 640×480) including megapixel resolutions (1280×1024, 1600×1200) and others.
• Compression - Video compression. You can choose from MPEG4, H.264, four levels of Motion JPEG (MJPG) compression (from Low to High) and “RAW Data”. If you use Motion JPEG you can use different JPEG compression levels. If you use low MJPEG compression (level 10) you get best quality of picture and about 10 times lower frame size. If you use Medium MJPEG compression (level 20) you get practically good picture quality and optimal Quality/FrameSize ratio. With JPEG level more than 40 your picture became bad for video surveillance purpose.
• FPS - Frames per second. Typical FPS for video surveillance - from 4 to 15 frames per second. In some applications (like CCTV in casino) it is required to use higher speed values (25-60 FPS).
• Days - Required length of video archive in days (24 hours). Used for storage space calculation.
• Cameras - Number of cameras in your CCTV installation with the same parameters.
• Recording % - Estimated motion recoding activity. 100% for constant recording. This parameter is used to calculate disk storage space in case if video is recorded on schedule or on motion detector.
• Image Complexity - Frames from some CCTV cameras are more detailed and have higher frame size.
• Motion % - Motion activity. 100% for constant activity. This parameter is used for MPEG4 and H.264 bandwidth estimation.

As a result for each camera type you get:

• Frame Size (Kilobytes)- software can make frame size estimation based on resolution and compression. In some special cases you can measure your real frame size and specify it in this field.
• Bandwidth, (Megabits per second) - How much network traffic is required for these cameras.
• Disk Space, (Gigabytes) - Disk storage space required to store video archive.

At the bottom of the window you can find total bandwidth and disk space required for your video surveillance system.

To make proper bandwidth planning you should know practical bandwidth values for your netowork type.

• 1 Gigabit Ethernet - 500 Mbit/s
• 100 Mbit Fast Ethernet - 55..60 Mbit/s
• 10 Mbit Ethernet - 6..7 Mbit/s
• WIFI 802.11g 54 Mbit - 12..25 Mbit/s

The software calculates Frame Size estimations from Resolution and Compression using our own method based on our MJPEG frame size research.

Bandwidth and storage space are calculated using following formulas:

Bandwidth (Mbits) = FrameSize (Kb) * FPS * Cameras * 8 / 1024
Storage Space (GB) = FrameSize (Kb) * FPS * Cameras * Days * 24 * 60 * 60* Activity * / 1024 * 1024

See also: Video Tutorial, IP Video System Design Tool, CCTV Design Tool;

Field of View and Lens Focal Length

Q: What is a Bandwidth, Focal Length, Field of View, Sensor Size?

A: See our CCTV Glossary

Q: How to export the FOV image to other software, like MS Word or MS Visio?

A: Please use Right-Click on the Field of View drawing and select “Copy Picure to Clipboard” from context menu. For export to Microsoft Word, MS Paint, or other windows application please switch to this application and use “Paste” (Edit/Paste) menu to insert the image into the document. In case if you need to export drawing to file, you can save this image as .BMP or .JPEG from MS Paint.
Q:What is the unit of measurement of Distance, Camera Heigth, Object Height - is it measured in meters or in Ft.?

A: For version 4 it doesn’t really matter. If you enter values like Distance in meters you get result in meters too. Starting from version 5 please choose metric system from menu “Settings\System”. You can select Metric (meters) or Imerial(ft.) system.

Bandwidth and Disk Space Calculations

Q: Is there a way to include NTSC resolutions in the calculator?

A: Starting from version 5.0 all NTSC resolutions added to all products. Also starting from version 5.0 it is possibe to add any custom resolutions. Use “Menu/Settings/Custom Resolutions”.

Q: About Disk space calculation. We almost always use motion recording so therefore you need some estimate on how much of the specified time is triggering motion recording. Of cause this is very hard to know in advance, but it would be better to at least be able to specify an percent (10-100%) and also be able to set the time interval for when that is relevant (say between 10 AM to 9 PM, or as many prefer, 9:00-21.00 á la military style).

A: Starting from version 5.0 we have introduced Motion Activity (Activity %) parameter in disk space calculation. It is even possible to calculate Activity from recording and motion activity schedule.

Purchase and Activation

Q: I need to activate CCTV Design Tool on other PC because my previous became broken. My hardware ID is xxxx-xxxx, reg name: xxxxxxx, password: xxxxxxxxx.

A: You can use automated software actiavation system. Just visit our login page and use your email and password. Afther that select purchased product, copy new HardwareID and click Activate.