Free tool · Storage
CCTV storage calculator
Storage per camera = bitrate × recording time. Pick the resolution, frame rate and codec, or type your camera's real bitrate, and the calculator shows storage per day and for the whole retention period.
Your cameras
Total storage
5.18 TB
8 cameras × 30 days
Buy at least (+20% headroom)
6.22 TB
Covers RAID overhead and bitrate peaks at night.
Per camera per day
21.6 GB
All cameras per day
173 GB
Bitrate per camera
2.00 Mbps
Estimate for 1080p (1920×1080), 15 fps, H.264.
How the cctv storage calculator works
A camera writes its bitrate to disk for every second it records. One megabit per second is 0.45 GB per hour, so a 4 Mbps camera recording 24 hours a day fills about 43 GB a day.
The calculator starts from a typical H.264 bitrate for the resolution at 30 fps, scales it by your frame rate, and applies the codec factor (H.265 needs about 40% less). Motion-only recording multiplies the result by the share of time the camera records.
Real bitrates change with scene detail, night noise, lens and compression settings. For an exact figure, read the bitrate from the camera's stream settings or the NVR's live view and type it in the bitrate override.
Frequently asked questions
How much storage does one 1080p camera need?
At a typical 4 Mbps H.264 stream, recording around the clock, one 1080p camera uses about 43 GB a day, or about 1.3 TB for 30 days. H.265 brings that down to roughly 0.8 TB.
Does H.265 really halve storage?
H.265 (HEVC) usually needs 30–50% less bitrate than H.264 at the same visible quality. The calculator uses 40% less. Smart codecs (H.264+/H.265+) can save more on static scenes.
How do I count motion-only recording?
Set the share of the day the camera actually records. A camera that records on motion for about 6 hours of a 24-hour day records 25% of the time, so it needs about a quarter of the continuous storage.
Should I buy exactly the calculated capacity?
No. Add headroom of 15–25%: drives are sold in decimal terabytes, RAID uses part of the raw capacity, and bitrates rise at night and in busy scenes.