How Fine a Camera’s Eye?

Geoff Kohl, editor of SecurityInfoWatch.com, has a meditation on a new high resolution video camera by SentryScope that records at up to 21 megapixels. Wow! That’s a “zoom” capacity, but continuous recording at 21 megapixels could consume 100 gigabytes of storage a day.

A zoomed-in 21 megapixel camera can read a license plate from 150 feet away. That certainly can have utility at a security entry point. (Imagine it coupled with a remote-controlled vehicle barrier.) And resolution can go even higher. But, considering the limits of even multi-gig hard drivers and other wrinkles, Geoff is asking his readers to express themselves on how fine-grained a camera is needed for remote security surveillance. An interesting query in an age of ever-increasing technology.