Quick answer: An NVR supports as many cameras as the lowest of three printed limits allows: channels (the maximum number of camera streams it will record), PoE ports (how many cameras it can power directly) and incoming bandwidth (the total Mbps it will accept). A CS-N220 P16H-AI prints 20CH, 16 PoE ports and 160Mbps (AI on: 120Mbps), so it records 20 cameras: 16 on its own ports and 4 through a PoE switch on its uplink, provided the 20 streams stay under the bandwidth figure. CASE channel counts run 5, 10, 20, 40 and 80.
Channels, PoE ports and bandwidth: three different limits
The question “how many cameras can an NVR support?” has three answers, and a quote is only right when all three agree.
- Channels are recording slots. The catalog prints them as IP Video Output: 5CH, 10CH, 20CH, 40CH or 80CH. A camera occupies a channel whether it is powered by the NVR, by a switch or by its own supply. No firmware setting adds channels; the count is the recorder’s ceiling.
- PoE ports are power and cable terminations on the back of the recorder: 4, 8 or 16 on the CASE PoE models, N/A on the 40-channel M-AI and both 80-channel units. A camera on a PoE port needs no switch and no separate power, and must be within 328 ft (100 m) of the recorder. The ports share a PoE budget that the catalog table does not print; confirm it on the spec sheet.
- Incoming bandwidth is the total video the recorder accepts per second from every camera, with a lower figure printed for AI on on the 20-, 40- and 80-channel AI units (CS-N105 P4H-AI and CS-N110 P8H-AI print a single figure). Sixteen 8MP cameras at 30 fps can exceed it while channels are still free.
A fourth number, outgoing bandwidth, limits how many viewers the recorder can feed and never limits cameras; it is covered with the incoming math in the IP camera bandwidth calculator.
CASE NVR table: channels, PoE ports, bandwidth and resolution as printed
Every figure below is as printed in the CASE Catalog 2027 Q1. Never carry a value from one row to another; CS-N880 N and CS-N880 H-AI are both 80CH and print different bandwidth rows.
| SKU | Channels (IP Video Output) | PoE ports | Bandwidth I/O | Max resolution per channel | Cameras beyond the PoE ports |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CS-N105 P4 | 5CH | 4 | 100Mbps / 80Mbps | 16MP | 1, via the 10/100 Mbps uplink |
| CS-N105 P4H-AI | 5CH | 4 | 100Mbps / 80Mbps | 16MP | 1, via the 10/100 Mbps uplink |
| CS-N110 P8 | 10CH | 8 | 100Mbps / 80Mbps | 16MP | 2, via the 10/100 Mbps uplink |
| CS-N110 P8H-AI | 10CH | 8 | 100Mbps / 80Mbps | 16MP | 2, via the 10/100 Mbps uplink |
| CS-N220 P16H-AI | 20CH | 16 | 160Mbps (AI on: 120Mbps) / 80Mbps | 16MP | 4, via the 10/100/1000 Mbps uplink |
| CS-N440 M-AI | 40CH | N/A | 400Mbps / 400Mbps (AI on: 200Mbps / 200Mbps) | 16MP | 40, via 2×RJ-45 10/100/1000 Mbps |
| CS-N440 P16H-AI | 40CH | 16 | 400Mbps / 400Mbps (AI on: 200Mbps / 200Mbps) | 16MP | 24, via the 10/100/1000 Mbps uplink |
| CS-N880 N | 80CH | N/A | 640Mbps / 320Mbps | 16MP | 80, via 2×RJ-45 10/100/1000 Mbps |
| CS-N880 H-AI | 80CH | N/A | 400Mbps / 400Mbps (AI on: 320Mbps / 200Mbps) | 16MP | 80, via 2×RJ-45 10/100/1000 Mbps |
The channel ladder maps onto the 4, 8, 16, 32 and 64 most camera schedules are written for, with spare channels at every tier: a 16-camera design lands on a 20-channel recorder with four channels for the camera the customer adds at handover. CASE NVRs carry a 6-year warranty. The full selection logic, including AI by NVR and VCA Search differences, is in choosing the right CASE NVR.
Worked example: 20 channels, 16 PoE ports and four cameras on a switch
A distribution building needs 20 cameras: 14 fixed 5MP turrets and two 8MP domes inside, plus four 8MP bullets on the yard poles 450 ft (137 m) from the rack. The recorder is a CS-N220 P16H-AI.
- Channels: 20 cameras against 20CH. Full, with no spare; if the customer may add a camera within the year, the 40CH CS-N440 P16H-AI is the right quote now.
- PoE ports: the 16 indoor cameras plug into the 16 built-in ports, each run under 328 ft (100 m). The four yard cameras are beyond the PoE channel length, so they go to a PoE switch in the yard building, which uplinks to the recorder’s Gigabit RJ-45 port over a copper run inside the 328 ft (100 m) limit, or over fiber with a media converter or SFP switch at the rack end.
- Bandwidth: 14 × 4 Mbps + 6 × 6 Mbps = 92 Mbps of main streams at H.265, 15 fps planning figures, plus 20 × 0.5 Mbps sub-streams = 102 Mbps. With AI by NVR on, the printed figure is 120Mbps: it fits, with 15% headroom. At 30 fps it would not.
- PoE budget: the 16 built-in ports share a budget the catalog table does not print (confirm it on the spec sheet); the four yard cameras draw from the switch’s printed budget, sized in the PoE budget calculator.
The same logic scales down: a CS-N110 P8H-AI records 10 cameras, 8 on its ports and 2 over its uplink, and that uplink is printed as 10/100 Mbps, so the two network cameras share 100 Mbps with every remote viewer. It scales up on the non-PoE units: every camera on a CS-N440 M-AI or CS-N880 H-AI arrives through a switch, and the design question moves from ports to the switch budget and the 400Mbps (AI on) figures.
Adding cameras beyond the PoE ports: how the network side works
Cameras that do not plug into the recorder reach it through the LAN. Three patterns cover almost every site:
- A PoE switch next to the recorder for cameras 17 to 20 on a CS-N220 P16H-AI, or for all cameras on a non-PoE unit. The switch’s uplink goes to the recorder’s RJ-45 port, and the cameras are added by IP address or discovery, exactly as the built-in ports do automatically. CS-POE33108PF prints 8×10/100/1000M RJ45 PoE ports with 2×1000M SFP uplinks; CS-POE33024PF prints 24.
- A remote switch in another building, linked by fiber on the SFP uplinks, for cameras beyond 328 ft (100 m). The cameras still occupy channels on the recorder, so a two-building site is one recorder until the channel or bandwidth limit says otherwise; the decision is worked through in designing a two-building site.
- The customer’s existing network, where the cameras sit on a camera VLAN and the recorder’s uplink joins it. The channel math is unchanged; the IP addressing is not, and the built-in PoE ports usually run their own subnet, so cameras on the LAN must be addressed on the uplink side. If a camera is added and does not appear, the NVR not showing cameras checklist starts with that distinction.
Two things do not change when a camera moves from a PoE port to a switch: it still consumes a channel, and it still consumes incoming bandwidth. The only thing you gain is distance and power from the switch’s budget.
Resolution caps per channel and what counts as one camera
All nine CASE NVRs print Resolution 16MP, the maximum a single channel will record. Every current CASE fixed camera, including the 8MP (4+4) Stitched CS-I86V I-180 at 4640×1728@25fps, sits inside that cap. The practical limits are elsewhere:
- Bandwidth, not resolution, is what a 4K camera costs the recorder: an 8MP stream at 6 Mbps uses three times the incoming budget of a 2MP stream at 2 Mbps and the same single channel.
- Dual-lens and dual-channel units are the exception to “one camera, one channel”. Non-stitched dual-lens cameras printed 8MP (4+4) Non-Stitched (CS-I8RN S-2.8mm, CS-I85N L-180) and the 180° panorama plus 25x PTZ CS-P66V 25XA-180, which prints separate Panorama and PTZ rows, are planned as two channels each unless the spec sheet and firmware confirm otherwise. Stitched 180° units such as CS-I86V I-180 print a single stitched resolution (4640×1728@25fps).
- Local display decodes a limited number of full-resolution channels at once; that figure is on the spec sheet and does not reduce the recorded channel count.
Checklist before you write the channel count on a quote
- Count every camera in the finished design, including dual-lens units as two, and add the cameras the customer mentioned for “later”.
- Pick the CASE channel tier above that number: 5, 10, 20, 40 or 80.
- Mark which cameras are within 328 ft (100 m) of the recorder for its PoE ports; the rest need a switch, an extend-mode port or fiber.
- Add the main and sub-stream bitrates and compare with the printed incoming figure, AI on if any AI by NVR function will run.
- Confirm the PoE budget of the built-in ports and of each switch against the spec-sheet maximum draw of the cameras on them.
- Write channels, ports, bandwidth and the bitrate assumptions on the quote so the limits travel with it.
What to tell your customer
“Your recorder records up to 20 cameras. Sixteen plug straight into it; the other four connect through a small switch because they are farther away. The limit that matters most is not the number of sockets but the amount of video per second the recorder accepts, and we have designed the cameras to stay under it with room to spare. If you add cameras later, we check all three limits again before quoting.”
FAQ
Can a 16-port NVR record more than 16 cameras?
Yes, if it prints more channels than ports. CS-N220 P16H-AI prints 20CH with 16 PoE ports, so four more cameras arrive through a PoE switch connected to its Gigabit uplink. CS-N440 P16H-AI prints 40CH with 16 ports, so 24 can come over the network. The extra cameras still count against the printed incoming bandwidth.
Does a camera on a switch use an NVR channel?
Yes. A channel is a recording slot and every camera occupies one, whether it is powered by the recorder’s PoE port, by an external switch or by its own supply. The switch only changes where the camera gets power and how far it can be from the recorder. Channels and incoming bandwidth are consumed identically either way.
Why do CASE NVRs have 5, 10, 20, 40 and 80 channels?
The CASE channel ladder sits one step above the 4, 8, 16, 32 and 64 most camera schedules are written for, so every tier carries spare channels for the camera added at handover or the PTZ added next year. A 16-camera design lands on the 20-channel CS-N220 P16H-AI with four channels free, within the printed bandwidth.
Does a 4K camera use more channels than a 2MP camera?
No. Each camera uses one channel regardless of resolution, and all nine CASE NVRs print a 16MP per-channel cap. What a 4K camera uses more of is incoming bandwidth: about 6 Mbps against 2 Mbps for 2MP at H.265 and 15 fps. Dual-lens non-stitched cameras and dual-channel PTZ units are planned as two channels unless the spec sheet says otherwise.
How many cameras can a CS-N110 P8H-AI support?
It prints 10CH with 8 PoE ports and 100Mbps incoming, so ten cameras: eight on its own ports within 328 ft (100 m) and two through a switch on its uplink, which is printed as 10/100 Mbps and also carries remote viewing. Ten 5MP cameras at 4 Mbps plus sub-streams are about 45 Mbps, inside the printed figure.
