H.264 vs H.265 for CCTV: What Is the Difference?

Understand H.264, H.265 and H.265+ compression, storage savings, bandwidth and compatibility before choosing a CCTV recorder.

H.264

H.264/AVC is widely supported and remains common in cameras, NVRs, browsers and software. Its broad compatibility can be valuable when a system includes older equipment.

H.265

H.265/HEVC is designed to deliver similar visual quality at a lower bitrate than H.264 in many practical scenarios. That can reduce storage and network load, but the exact saving depends on scene complexity, camera settings and encoder implementation.

What about H.265+?

Many manufacturers offer enhanced or smart codec modes under names such as H.265+. These techniques can reduce bitrate further in suitable surveillance scenes, but the feature is vendor-specific and should be checked for recorder compatibility.

Choosing a codec

For a new all-IP CCTV installation, use a codec supported end-to-end by the camera and NVR and validate the expected bitrate. If compatibility with older clients is important, H.264 may still be the safer choice.