HD-TVI carries high-definition video over standard coaxial cable — the same RG59 that’s already in the walls of virtually every building that has ever had cameras installed.

Here’s the situation we see constantly: a business installed analog cameras eight or twelve years ago. The footage still records, but you can tell a person was there, not who they were. Replace the cameras and the recorder, keep the coax, and you go from unusable to sharp HD without opening a single wall.

Lower resolution ceiling than IP. The highest resolutions and multi-sensor cameras are IP-only.

Limited analytics. Line crossing, object classification, and license plate recognition are largely IP territory.

One camera per cable. IP allows multiple cameras on one network run through a switch.

Modern recorders accept both HD-TVI and IP inputs. A typical approach: keep the existing coax for general coverage areas, and run new network cable only to the handful of locations that need what IP provides — the entrance where you need identification-grade detail, the parking lot where you want license plate capture.