Solution
Monitoring a Warehouse: Aisle, Camera Height and Distance
3 min read
In a warehouse the camera hangs high under the ceiling and looks along a long, narrow aisle. That allows large distances and raises a question of its own: how high can the camera hang before the tilt angle gets too steep? This page works through the case and opens it in the 3D scene on request.
Two tasks, two quality levels
In a warehouse two things usually matter: seeing what happens in the aisle and being able to assess people. DIN EN IEC 62676-4:2026-10 assigns the two to different levels.
| Task | Level and pixel density | Example from the standard |
|---|---|---|
| Overview of the aisle, following movement | Discern, ≥ 80 px/m | Recognise objects and their movements and tell people, vehicles and animals apart |
| Perceiving people in more detail | Perceive, ≥ 125 px/m | Perceive people and movements in more detail, without being able to reliably tell gender or distinguishing features |
| Assessing people | Characterise, ≥ 250 px/m | Assess type of person, gait and behaviour |
Which level is required depends on the job. This page calculates with Discern and Characterise. Discern belongs to the LPDO levels for large-area surveillance, Characterise to the HPDO levels, where considerably more image detail is needed.
The set-up in the 3D scene
The “Warehouse” scene in cctvfinder shows a racking aisle with doors. The aisle is 3 m wide, and the camera hangs from the ceiling instead of on a pole. Distance, height and width can be changed, and the pixel density at the target is shown right next to them.
A narrow aisle helps the pixel density
Pixel density is the number of pixels across the image divided by the width the image shows at the target. An aisle 3 m wide is favourable for that: if the image shows exactly the aisle, the result is at most as large as in the table. That is the best case.
| Resolution | Image width | At 3 m width |
|---|---|---|
| Full HD | 1,920 pixels | 640 px/m |
| 4K | 3,840 pixels | 1,280 px/m |
Even Full HD is therefore above 250 px/m if the image fills the aisle. It only gets difficult with growing distance: the camera then sees just a narrow strip but needs a narrow lens so that the aisle still fills the image. How field of view and focal length relate is covered in a separate article.
Height 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. In a tall hall this matters: the higher the camera hangs under the ceiling, the farther it has to be from the target.
| Mounting height | Smallest distance up to 13° |
|---|---|
| 4 m | 10.4 m |
| 5.5 m | 16.9 m |
| 6 m | 19.1 m |
| 8 m | 27.8 m |
A camera at 8 m height must therefore not aim at a spot less than 27.8 m away. Anyone who needs a target nearby hangs the camera lower or adds a second camera for the near area. The tool shows a warning as soon as 13° is exceeded. More in the article on mounting height.
Doors and light
Pixel density is a geometric measure. It says nothing about how good the image is in difficult light. An open door at the end of the aisle is a bright area in the image by day, and cameras cope with such backlight to different degrees. That cannot be calculated from the data sheet, so a test on site is part of the job.
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.
Overview of the aisle, following movement
Level Discern, 80 px/m, camera 30 m away at 6 m height, aisle 3 m wide.
| Camera | Type | Resolution | px/m at the target |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bosch NDE-8513-RX starlight 8000i 4.4-10 | Dome | Super HD | 100 |
| Avigilon H6XP 4 MP 4.4-9.3 | Dome | Super HD | 102 |
| Avigilon H6XP 8 MP 4.4-9.3 | Dome | 4K UHD | 146 |
| Bosch NBE-3703-AL DINION 3100i IR | Bullet | 5 MP | 160 |
| Reolink RP-WCB8MZ | Bullet | 4K UHD | 221 |
Assessing people
Level Characterise, 250 px/m, camera 18 m away at 5.5 m height, aisle 3 m wide.
| Camera | Type | Resolution | px/m at the target |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bosch NBE-3703-AL DINION 3100i IR | Bullet | 5 MP | 263 |
| Reolink RP-WCB8MZ | Bullet | 4K UHD | 364 |
| Reolink RP-PCV8MZ | Dome | 4K UHD | 364 |
| Reolink RP-PCB8MZ | Bullet | 4K UHD | 364 |
| Bosch NBE-5704-AL DINION 5100i IR | Bullet | 4K UHD | 376 |
This is a calculation from data sheets and not a purchase recommendation. Lighting, installation and price are not taken into account.