CCTV Systems
A digital video recorder (DVR) is a device that records video (footage) in a digital format to a disk drive device so that it can be re-played later if needed.
- Frame Rate – a higher frame rate will lead to a more better quality images but will also use up more space on your hard drive. For real-time recording and playback 25FPS (frames per second) is used.
- Maximum Hard Drive Capacity – if you want to store records of footage for the past few weeks or even months, you’ll need a hard drive with a large capacity to store all of that extra data without running out of space. Hard disk capacity can be a limitation to some DVR’s.
- Image Quality & Resolution – capturing a burglar on film won’t be much help if the image is too blurry to see his or her face, so it’s important to consider the quality and resolution of the stored images. However a high resolution will again use up your hard drive space quicker so you may need to find a good compromise between image quality and disk space.
- Backup Facilities – the most common and also the cheapest form of backup for DVRs is via burning DVD or you may wish to opt for a network backup with involves streaming the data onto a computer and converting it to an AVI or other file type.
- Networkability – if you want to watch CCTV footage over the Internet or a network you need a DVR that can do this. Also consider the speed of the network you are using – a Local Area Network has the capability to provide almost real-time streaming. But in order to view the DVR remotely you need at least 2mbps internet speed at both ends.
