It may seem challenging to attempt to properly cover your parking lot with security cameras. Just using overview cameras to monitor an entire parking lot will usually not be enough. Though the overview cameras will have a general overview of the area, unless you invest in megapixel IP cameras you will get very little detail. IP cameras are certainly an option , but megapixel IP cameras capable of capturing useful detail are fairly expensive. You can easily expect to spend several thousand dollars per camera and then have to deal with the bandwidth and storage issues.
The most economical option is to supplement the overview cameras with a few pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) cameras. The DVR can be programed to trigger a PTZ to cover an entrance or exit of a parking lot when another camera spots motion there. This would allow you to capture great detail as a vehicle or person enters or leaves the parking lot. also, the PTZ cameras can be programmed to remain on a tour while there is no activity in key areas to cover the rest of the parking lot. There is also the option of motion tracking PTZ cameras that are capable of following moving objects in the field of view. Using this combination of cameras can actually provide more usable footage with similar detail as a megapixel IP camera, only it will save you many, many thousands of dollars.
