Step one
Work out what you already have — it takes about a minute
Almost every upgrade decision in Los Angeles turns on one question: what kind of cable is behind the recorder? You do not need a technician to answer it. Pull the box forward and look at where the camera cables land.
| What you see at the recorder | What it is | What it means for the upgrade |
|---|
| Round screw-on connectors on a single thin cable, one per camera | BNC on coax — analog, HD-TVI, HD-CVI or AHD | The cable is almost always reusable. Cameras and recorder can both be replaced without opening ceilings. |
| Flat clip-in connectors, and the box has network ports labelled PoE | IP cameras on Cat5e or Cat6 | Already the modern architecture. Usually only the cameras and recorder need attention. |
| Coax with a thin two-conductor cable bonded alongside it | Siamese cable — video on the coax, power on the pair | Both halves are reusable. The power pair often becomes spare capacity after a retrofit. |
| The box is labelled DVR | Digital video recorder — the coax family | Replaceable with a modern HD-over-coax or hybrid recorder that keeps your existing runs. |
| The box is labelled NVR | Network video recorder — the IP family | Cameras can often be upgraded one at a time while the recorder stays. |
Two more things worth checking while the panel is open: whether the cable is RG59 or RG6 (both work; RG6 goes further), and whether there is a spare pair or spare conduit anywhere in the run. If there is, a full IP upgrade becomes much cheaper than it looks.
Fastest route to an answer: text a photo of the back of your recorder to (805) 517-4668. We can usually tell you which of the four paths below applies before anyone drives out.
Step two
Why the picture is unusable — and why it is rarely about megapixels
The most common complaint we are called about is not “my cameras are broken.” It is “something happened and the footage is useless.” Owners assume the fix is more megapixels. Usually it is not.
What actually decides whether a face or a plate is readable is pixel density on the target — how many pixels of sensor land on each foot of the scene at the distance that matters. The European and international standard for video surveillance system design, IEC/EN 62676-4, ties four operational outcomes to four pixel densities, a model the industry calls DORI.
| Outcome | What you can do with the footage | Pixel density needed |
|---|
| Detect | Confirm a person or vehicle is present | 25 px/m (about 8 px/ft) |
| Observe | See what someone is doing and what they are wearing | 62.5 px/m (about 19 px/ft) |
| Recognise | Recognise someone you already know | 125 px/m (about 38 px/ft) |
| Identify | Identify a stranger with confidence | 250 px/m (about 76 px/ft) |
Now apply that to real cameras. Pixel density is simply the camera’s horizontal pixel count divided by how wide the scene is at that distance. Same camera, different field of view, opposite result:
| Camera | Horizontal pixels | 15 ft wide view | 30 ft wide view | 60 ft wide view |
|---|
| 1080p (2 MP) | 1920 | 128 px/ft — Identify | 64 px/ft — Recognise | 32 px/ft — Observe |
| 4 MP | 2688 | 179 px/ft — Identify | 90 px/ft — Identify | 45 px/ft — Recognise |
| 4K (8 MP) | 3840 | 256 px/ft — Identify | 128 px/ft — Identify | 64 px/ft — Recognise |
Read the right-hand column again. Not one of these cameras can reliably identify a stranger across a 60-foot view — not even the 4K. That is why a shop with one wide-angle 4K camera over the whole floor still cannot tell the police who took the till, while a correctly aimed 1080p camera at the door would have. Buying resolution and pointing it at everything is the single most expensive mistake in this category.
The other three reasons old footage fails
- Dynamic range. An LA storefront at night looks out at a lit street through a dark interior. Without wide dynamic range, the camera exposes for one and loses the other. This is not a resolution problem and no amount of megapixels fixes it.
- Infrared bouncing back. Cameras mounted under a soffit, behind glass, or too close to a wall light the surface instead of the scene. The image whites out at night. Repositioning fixes it for free.
- Compression and frame rate settings. Many recorders ship set to a bit rate low enough to keep months of footage. It is the recorded stream, not the live view, that gets handed to an investigator.
Before you spend anything, it is worth walking the property against our Los Angeles camera placement checklist. Half the upgrades we quote turn out to need fewer new cameras than the owner expected, and better-aimed ones.
Step three
Four upgrade paths, compared
Once you know what cable you have and what you actually need to see, the choice narrows to four. Most Los Angeles retrofits land on one of the first two.
| Path | Reuses existing cable? | Best when | Watch out for |
|---|
| HD-over-coax (HD-TVI, HD-CVI, AHD) | Yes — same coax, same BNC connectors | Analog cameras already on coax, long runs, no ceiling access, tight budget | Recorder and cameras must speak a compatible format; on-camera analytics are more limited than IP |
| Ethernet-over-coax adapters | Yes — the coax carries IP data and PoE power | You want true IP cameras and modern analytics but cannot pull new cable | One adapter pair per camera; bandwidth is shared; the PoE class has to be checked against the camera |
| New Cat6 with PoE | No — new cable | Ceilings already open, a remodel is under way, or runs are short and accessible | Ethernet is limited to 100 m (328 ft) per run; the real cost is pathway access, not cable |
| Hybrid recorder | Partly | Phasing the job over two or three budget cycles | Channels are split between coax and IP — confirm the counts before anything is ordered |
The numbers that decide it
100 m (328 ft)Maximum length of a single Ethernet run before you need a switch or an extender. This is the constraint that pushes long runs back onto coax.
802.3af / at / btPoE delivers roughly 15.4 W, 30 W and up to 90 W at the port. Fixed cameras are usually fine on af; PTZ heads and heated housings normally need at least PoE+.
Hundreds of metresCoax carries HD video far past the Ethernet limit — the exact figure depends on format, resolution and whether the run is RG59 or RG6. We measure it rather than guess.
One honest caveat on the adapter route: manufacturers publish long distance figures for Ethernet-over-coax, commonly around 300 m at 100 Mbps and further at lower speeds. Those are best-case figures on good cable. On a thirty-year-old building with corroded connectors and unknown splices, the only reliable number is the one we get by testing the actual run.
New this year
What changed in 2026: the FCC rules on older Hikvision and Dahua equipment
A very large share of the camera systems installed in Los Angeles between roughly 2013 and 2020 are Hikvision or Dahua hardware, often sold under a different brand name. If that is your system, one thing changed this summer and it is worth understanding precisely, because a lot of what is being said about it is wrong.
On 26 June 2026 the FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau and Office of Engineering and Technology released Public Notice DA 26-635 (PS Docket No. 26-72), prohibiting the continued importation and marketing of previously authorised covered equipment that was added to the FCC Covered List in 2024 or earlier. It was published in the Federal Register on 6 July 2026 and took effect ten days later.
What that notice actually says, in its own words:
- It does not affect equipment you already own. The Commission states plainly that the prohibition “will not affect the continued use or operation of already-purchased communications equipment,” and that consumers may keep using any device they legally purchased that holds an existing authorisation. Your cameras did not become illegal.
- For this category the ban is use-based. The video surveillance entries added on 12 March 2021 are covered only when the equipment is imported or marketed for public safety, security of government facilities, physical security surveillance of critical infrastructure, or other national security purposes. A private restaurant, shop or apartment building is not normally in any of those categories.
- The critical-infrastructure prong is suspended. The FCC has suspended that part until it adopts a definition of “critical infrastructure,” following the D.C. Circuit vacating its earlier one.
- Spare parts were specifically not carved out. The Commission rejected a request to exempt “equipment that is used for spare parts, updates and replacements,” saying that would defeat the purpose of the prohibition.
- It is being litigated. Hikvision’s petition for review is pending in the D.C. Circuit (Hikvision USA, Inc. v. FCC, No. 25-1274).
So the practical effect for an ordinary Los Angeles business is not legal, it is logistical. Your existing system stays lawful to operate. What gets harder is sourcing matching cameras and parts for a ten-year-old recorder through compliant distribution — which is exactly the scenario where a coax-reuse retrofit makes more financial sense than nursing the old system along.
There is one case where it does become a compliance question rather than a supply question: if your site takes federal funds, houses a federal tenant, or you bid on federal work, the rules that bind you are Section 889 of the 2019 NDAA and FAR 52.204-25, not this FCC notice. Tell us at the survey and we will scope the replacement accordingly.
What we will not do: tell you your cameras are illegal in order to sell you new ones. If your existing system is serviceable and your building is not in a covered-use category, we will say so — and quote the smallest change that solves your actual problem.
Step four
What a fair upgrade quote contains
Retrofit quotes are where most of the money gets lost, because two proposals for “eight cameras” can differ by a factor of three and neither one tells you why. Send every bidder the same list and the comparison becomes trivial.
- Make and model number for every camera, recorder and switch — not “4 MP dome.”
- Which existing cable is being reused, and which runs are being replaced, listed run by run.
- The intended outcome per camera stated in DORI terms: detect, observe, recognise or identify, and at what distance.
- Lens focal length or field of view for each position, not just the megapixel count.
- Recording resolution, frame rate and bit rate as they will actually be configured.
- Storage in days at those settings, with the calculation shown — not “30 days” asserted.
- Whether recording is local, cloud, or both, and whether any monthly fee is mandatory.
- Who owns the credentials and the configuration file when the job is finished.
- Labour, equipment and materials on separate lines.
- The contractor’s licence numbers in writing, and a certificate of insurance naming workers’ compensation.
Two verification steps take about two minutes each: check any California contractor at cslb.ca.gov, and check an alarm company operator licence at the Department of Consumer Affairs. Innov8av holds a C-10 Electrical Contractor licence, CSLB #1043428, and BSIS Alarm Company Operator licence ACO 7755. Check ours the same way you check everyone else’s. Our fuller list is in questions to ask your security installer.
Budget
What an upgrade costs in Los Angeles
Published planning ranges for new Los Angeles camera work, verified against our own quoting: a typical four-camera residential system runs about $2,000 to $4,500 installed with continuous local recording, and an eight to sixteen camera commercial site runs about $8,000 to $25,000 and up. The full breakdown, including what drives the spread, is on our Los Angeles CCTV cost page.
A retrofit that reuses existing cable normally lands toward the lower end of the band for the same camera count, because the largest single labour line on a commercial job — getting new cable through finished ceilings, walls and conduit — comes off the estimate. That is a planning statement, not a quote: the real number depends on how many of your existing runs test clean, how many positions actually need to move, and whether any of the coverage you need has no cable to it at all.
We do not give final prices sight unseen. The survey is free, the proposal is line-itemised with model numbers, and no deposit is required to get the number. If you want to sketch a budget first, the security system cost calculator is a reasonable starting point.
FAQ
Questions owners ask before they upgrade
Can I upgrade my old security cameras without running new wires?
Usually yes. If your cameras run on coax with screw-on BNC connectors, that same cable will carry a modern HD or 4K picture through an HD-over-coax recorder, or carry full IP cameras and their power through Ethernet-over-coax adapters. New cable is normally only needed where you want coverage in a spot that has no cable to it today.
Do I have to replace my DVR if I want HD cameras?
If the DVR is analog-only, yes — but you are replacing one box, not the wiring. Modern HD-over-coax and hybrid recorders drop into the same position and connect to the same runs. If you already have an NVR, cameras can often be upgraded one at a time while the recorder stays.
Why is my security camera footage too blurry to identify anyone?
Almost always because too few pixels are landing on the target, not because the camera is low resolution. IEC/EN 62676-4 sets the identification threshold at 250 pixels per metre, roughly 76 pixels per foot. A 4K camera covering a 60-foot-wide view delivers about 64 px/ft — enough to recognise someone you know, not enough to identify a stranger. Narrowing the view, or adding one dedicated camera at the door, fixes it.
Are my existing Hikvision or Dahua cameras now illegal to use in California?
No. FCC Public Notice DA 26-635, released 26 June 2026, prohibits continued importation and marketing of that equipment, and states expressly that it does not affect continued use or operation of equipment already legally purchased. What does change is parts availability, because the FCC declined to exempt spare parts and replacements. Sites that take federal funds have a separate question to answer under Section 889 of the 2019 NDAA and FAR 52.204-25.
How far can a camera run on coax versus Cat6?
A single Ethernet run is limited to 100 metres, about 328 feet, before it needs a switch or an extender. Coax carries HD video considerably further, with the exact distance depending on the format, the resolution and whether the cable is RG59 or RG6. On long runs across a warehouse, a yard or a parking structure, that difference alone often decides the design.
Is it cheaper to upgrade my existing system or start over?
In most Los Angeles buildings, reusing the cable is cheaper, because pathway work is the biggest labour line on a commercial job. Starting over makes more sense when the existing coverage is in the wrong places, when the runs test badly, or when you need analytics and access-control integration that the old topology cannot support. We test the runs during the free survey and tell you which case you are in.
