Start from the scenes, not the number
Write the list of scenes that matter: the main door, the car entrance, the rear yard, the roof, the side entrance, the majlis. Each important scene needs a camera designed for it. As soon as the list is written the number appears by itself — and it is often not a round number like 4 or 8.
Why one camera that “sees everything” is not enough
The common mistake is mounting one high camera to cover the whole yard in order to save on count. The result is an image in which a person appears as a dot whose face cannot be identified. Two cameras designed for their scenes beat four scattered at random — what counts is covering the scenes clearly, not the number of devices.
What a home usually needs
- An apartment or a small house: usually 3 to 4 points (the entrance, the corridor, the car entrance).
- A villa: usually 6 to 8 or more (the four entrances, the yard, the roof, the service entrance).
- A large or multi-storey villa: may exceed 8.
These are approximate figures to give you the shape of it; the exact number comes out of a survey of your site.
Watch the recorder capacity when you choose
Recorders come with a fixed number of channels (4, 8, 16). If you take a 4-channel recorder and later need a fifth camera, you have to replace it. So at design time we allow for your future growth: an 8-channel recorder with 5 cameras today leaves you room to add without changing the heart of the system.
In short
Do not ask “4 or 8”; ask “which scenes matter to me?” Request a point drawing showing each camera and its angle, then choose a recorder that leaves you headroom. The right number is the one that covers your scenes clearly, not a figure in an advertisement.
