Understanding Pixels
Megapixel is the general term used for any camera that has over 1 million pixels in the sensor. The pixels are organised in a matrix of horizontal and vertical pixels and the relationship between the vertical and horizontal pixels is called the aspect ratio.
So you're used to seeing 2/4/5/8MP but what do they actually mean? Basically, images containing a small amount of megapixels create a lower quality image. Your 2MP camera will create clear images, but you would not notice the difference if you went for a 4/5MP camera, purely based on the fact that there are less pixels available. Although megapixels are important, there are other factors that can affect image quality.
Other factors affecting image quality
Can UNV cameras handle wide dynamic range scenes?
'Wide dynamic range’ (WDR) refers to the difference between the light levels of the darkest and brightest part in a scene. An image with a low WDR would depict a landscape on a cloudy day. So if you have varying light conditions in the shot, the technology in the camera will balance the lighting for one clear image.
Depth of field (DoF), focus and lens quality
DoF is the distance between the nearest and furthest parts in an image that are ‘acceptably sharp’. Ensuring that your zone of acceptable sharpness is correct, will improve the quality of your image. In addition, using a high quality autofocus lens will help too.
In summary, megapixels can determine the potential quality but there are other factors that can help sharpen your image too. Luckily our UNV range does most of this for you, but it always helps to understand.