One of the most important pieces to your surveillance system is your surveillance video recorder. Whether you have one, four or sixteen cameras you have to take what those cameras see and store that video for reference or possible evidence. Now you need to decide whether you want to record digitally to a DVR or record onto VHS tapes using a VCR.

What surveillance video recorder is right for you?

Digital Video Recorder (DVR) - Unlike VCRs, DVRs record video to a computer hard drive or other media such as a CD or DVD. This makes a DVR easy to maintain because there are no bulky tapes to change or the risk of losing video quality when recording over previous footage. Most of our DVRs can be operated and monitored remotely from anywhere in the world using the Internet. While the surveillance video data is stored on the DVR it can be protected from loss caused by operating errors, tampering and accidents.

Embedded (Stand Alone) DVRs - Embedded DVRs do not use a Windows® operating system. In fact, there is no software at all on the hard drive. All functions are contained (embedded) on software encoded computer chips. View in real time. Easy setup. The Embedded series Digital Video Recorders (DVR) operate just like a VCR. However, they have many features that make them more powerful and easier to use than even the most advanced VCR.

This DVR converts analog video (NTSC or PAL) to digital images, and records them on a hard disk drive. Using a disk drive allows users to access recorded video almost instantaneously without having to rewind or fast forward tape. There is no need to adjust tracking. You can freeze frames and forward or rewind without image streaking or tearing. Digital video can be indexed by time/date or events, and users can instantly view video after selecting the time/date or event.