How to Calculate CCTV Camera Lens Range

Security camera Before purchasing a CCTV (closed circuit television) camera or a lens for a CCTV camera you will want to know how to calculate the camera lens range. The lens range will tell you the horizontal and vertical fields of view. You may want a wide field-of-view for looking over a parking area or a much smaller field-of-view to recognize someone at your front door Things You'll Need

Tape measure Calculator Size of the CCTV sensor in the camera

Instructions
1.
o

1 Measure the distance from your camera to the area you would like to view.

2 Measure the width of the area you would like to view. Divide the width measurement into the distance measurement. For example if the distance from the camera to the area you want to view is 20 feet and you would like to have a 5-foot-wide view at 20 feet, divide 20 by 5 and your answer is 4.

4 Look up the size for your camera sensor below and multiply the answer in Step 3 by the given multiplier:

1-inch sensor multiplier = 12.8 2/3-inch sensor multiplier = 8.8 1/2-inch sensor multiplier = 6.4 1/3-inch sensor multiplier = 4.8 If you have a 1/3-inch sensor, following the above example you would multiply 4.8 by 4 = 19.2, so the lens size you would need is a 19.2.
o

5 Multiply the horizontal field-of-view by 0.75 to get the approximate vertical fieldof-view. Using the example in Step 3, the horizontal field-of-view is 5 feet times 0.75, so your vertical field-of-view is 3.75 feet. This is a good field-of-view for being able to clearly see the details of a person's face and upper torso at 20 feet.