How Long Do Security Cameras Keep Footage?

Each camera and security system is unique. CCTV cameras are a low-cost option to provide security around your house. Storing security camera video for a reasonable period is critical to your company’s safety. They are used to discourage crime and detect it because the recorded video may be valid proof under the law. Not, If you’re looking for an answer to How Long Do Security Cameras Keep Footage, let us tell you that there is no simple solution. 

Quick Answer: It will seem different based on various things, including the number of cameras you have, the technique you’re using to record, the amount of space you have available, the resolution of your cameras, and the reason you’re capturing video surveillance footage in the first place

Continue reading the article to know more about how these factors work and how to increase your storage

What Do Security Cameras Do?

A popular form of security is video surveillance cameras. They can get found in office buildings, parking lots, retail businesses, and several other places. Those who can easily design their home security system should prioritize finding the best ways to keep their property safe and secure, regardless of its size.

Through two basic approaches, video security assists. First, real-time monitoring allows employees or law enforcement officers to detect and monitor any threat in real-time. Then there’s the archival film record, which may get inspected later if a crime or other concern is discovered or suspected.

How Long Do Security Cameras Keep Footage?

If you take video footage on the camera’s hard drive, you may only have seven to thirty days to save it. That is, you will be able to see your files no later than these days. Here are some typical time durations for various security applications:

• Home security cameras often only record for a week or two.
• For hotels, shopping centers, construction enterprises, and other medium-sized applications, the standard is 30 to 90 days.
• For businesses, it keeps footage for three months.
• High-risk locations that handle large quantities of cash, such as banks and casinos, often keep video for six months to a year.

Related: How To Use Mobile As CCTV Camera Without Internet?

What Factors Decide the CCTV Footage Storing Time?

The longer your security system can preserve data, the more peace of mind you’ll have, knowing you can always go back and check on old footage. The duration of CCTV camera footage storage time depends on the below-mentioned factors. 

• The Camera’s Resolution: Higher image quality consumes more bandwidth, reducing the camera’s time to record data. On the other hand, the reduced rate of your security cameras may result in worthless footage since crucial information such as facial characteristics and license plates may be too fuzzy to make out.
• Footage Compression minimizes the size of the original video and allows security cameras to record for more extended periods.
• The Storage Space: A larger storage space typically means a longer recording duration for CCTV camera video. The amount of storage you require gets determined by the number of cameras you have.

Where Is Security Camera Footage Saved?

Data is stored differently by different persons or organizations based on their choices, resources, and needs. While cameras used to use cassettes or DVDs in the past, most current security solutions adopt one of the following methods:

• Hard drives of CCTV cameras. 
• SD cards: These devices are also an excellent choice for storing camera video. The majority of CCTV cameras include SD cards. However, the cards may not be able to hold all of the information you require. As a result, you’ll need to buy an external SD card to expand your storage space.
• Servers or DVRs: A standard method employs DVRs and NVRs. These two are external devices with several hard discs that store video.
• Cloud storage: The cloud is also an excellent storage solution. If you have an internet connection, you can only store your videos, and it also allows you to purchase more storage space if you so choose.

Related: How To Power Outdoor Security Cameras?

What Happens To Older CCTV Footages?

Suppose you do not manually delete old data regularly. In that case, the camera will begin to overwrite the previous film when the SD card’s storage capacity is total. Well, this is the most reasonable way to deal with old. If you’d prefer, delete older footage manually for any reason. In that case, you can generally change this setting in your NVR’s web interface.

How To Store Footage For A Longer Period?

The most obvious solution to increasing video storage is to purchase extra space, but this is not always an option because it can be costly for your organization. Following are some of the ways to store your footage for a more extended period:

• Install security cameras that are pre-programmed or detect motion. You may avoid significant parts of worthless footage and conserve storage space by arranging cameras to record solely at specified times of the day.
• You may use motion-detecting cameras to capture movement in the area just when there is movement. With security cameras becoming more intelligent and effective at detecting attackers, investing in smart cameras is an excellent approach to improve security and video storage capacity.
• Exporting your camera footage to a computer or a backup hard drive, such as a thumb drive, is a practical technique of archiving it indefinitely without taking up space in your primary video storage system.

Final Thought

The storage capacity of different brands and kinds of security cameras varies greatly, and this is the most crucial element in determining how long they can preserve footage.  Once the hard disk or SD card on your security camera and recorder is complete, it will begin recording your oldest video. As a result, if you want additional capacity, you may get required to invest in external storage devices.