Monitoring a Shop Entrance: Which Camera, Which Height, Which Distance

Three tasks, three quality levels

How precisely a person has to appear in the image depends on what you want to do with it. DIN EN IEC 62676-4:2026-10 separates this into levels, and at an entrance three of them come up.

Which level is required depends on the job. All three belong to the HPDO levels, where considerably more image detail is needed. At 125 px/m (Perceive) people cannot yet be reliably told apart by distinguishing features.

The set-up in the 3D scene

The “Shop entrance” scene in cctvfinder shows a glass front with an entrance door and the pavement in front of it. The area to be covered is 2.5 m wide, about one door with its frame. Distance, height and width can be changed, and the pixel density at the target is shown right next to them.

The narrow door helps: 4K reaches 1,500 px/m

Pixel density is the number of pixels across the image divided by the width the image shows at the target. If the image shows exactly the 2.5 m wide door, the result is at most as large as in the table. That is the best case.

With Full HD, 500 px/m is therefore well within reach, 1,500 px/m is not. With 4K, Scrutinise is just within reach, and only if the image fills the door exactly. There is hardly any reserve. How field of view and focal length relate is covered in a separate article.

Distance and tilt angle: at most 13°

DIN EN IEC 62676-4:2026-10 allows the camera a tilt of at most 13°, measured from the camera down to the target. The tool calculates with a target height of 1.6 m. At an entrance the camera hangs low, and still you reach the limit quickly if it sits close to the door.

A camera at 3.2 m height must therefore be at least 7 m from the door for the limit to be met. The tool shows a warning as soon as 13° is exceeded. More in the article on mounting height.

Glass, pavement and light

A glass front reflects. Depending on the time of day and the lighting in the shop, the image at the door can suffer from reflections, and that appears in no data sheet. A test on site with the planned camera shows it reliably.

In front of the shop lies a pavement, which is public space. How far a camera may cover it is governed by data protection law. You clarify that before planning, not after. This article gives no legal advice on it.

How lighting and colour temperature affect the image is covered in two further articles.

Which cameras fit

The calculation uses the data sheet values of the cameras in cctvfinder, each at the zoom setting that just shows the full width. For each task up to five models are listed that meet the requirement with the tightest pixel density. These are not the most expensive cameras but the ones that just suffice.

This is a calculation from data sheets and not a purchase recommendation. Lighting, installation and price are not taken into account.

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