| Digital video recorders or DVR's record videos that | | | | command it to alert you when it detects certain |
| are in digital format to a medium. A disk drive is a | | | | security threats. Because some digital video recorders |
| sample of this medium. These digital video recorders | | | | have built-in sensors that can detect movements as |
| come in the form of stand-alone set-top boxes that | | | | well as changes in the environment, you can program it |
| are connected to a monitor or television set for | | | | to send you a notification through your e-mail in order |
| viewing. By connecting a digital video recorder to your | | | | to warn you of the event. With the help of a digital |
| video surveillance system, you can easily record the | | | | video recorder, business owners can watch over their |
| images captured by your security camera. | | | | employees even though they are far away. Even |
| DVR vs. VCR | | | | parents who are away on a business trip can make |
| Unlike the VCR and other older methods, the digital | | | | sure that their kids are safe. And, they don't have to |
| video recorder can impress you with its wide array of | | | | worry about leaving their kids to a babysitter because |
| functions and benefits. For one thing, you can store | | | | they can monitor her every move. |
| more video footages when you use a digital video | | | | Video Compression Formats |
| recorder since the video is compressed onto a hard | | | | Video compression in DVR's is necessary since raw |
| drive. | | | | video takes up gigabytes of space on a hard drive. So |
| Another advantage of using a digital video recorder is | | | | in order to make use of limited hard drive space the |
| having more viewing and recording options. Recording | | | | video is compressed when recorded and |
| only when there is motion is most popular but | | | | decompressed when viewed. You've probably seen a |
| scheduled and alarm recording are also available. Being | | | | number of DVR's stating different compression |
| able to mark the footages that you store can make it | | | | formats such as MJPEG, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, Wavlet, |
| easier for you to find them later on. There's no more | | | | H.263, H.264. These are different methods of |
| need for you to go through piles of video tapes just to | | | | compression called Codec's, Codec is a short name |
| find the footage that you are looking for. With an | | | | for coder-decoder. When purchasing a DVR what you |
| IP-based digital video recorder, you also have the | | | | will mainly find is MJPEG will be used in less expensive |
| option of sending video feeds over the Internet | | | | models intended for the homeowner or individuals that |
| allowing you to view them wherever you go. This | | | | may not be recording continuously. These models do a |
| system is usually used by BPO companies for | | | | good job of compressing and decompressing the |
| monitoring their employees all over the world. | | | | video adequately and their playback quality is good. In |
| With a digital video recorder, you also have the option | | | | many cases MJPEG is all you need. However if you |
| of storing the footage taken by more than one | | | | intend to use networking and view or record the video |
| camera at the same time. You can also view more | | | | remotely MPEG-4 or H.264 are better choices. Their |
| than one camera on your monitor during live or | | | | per frame size is smaller resulting in more frames per |
| playback mode. You just need to choose a digital | | | | second that you can receive when viewing over the |
| video recorder that has the number of channels that | | | | internet and they also take up less space on your hard |
| you need. This benefit is not available in conventional | | | | drive. The MPEG-4 and H.264 digital video recorders |
| recording devices like VCR's. | | | | will cost more but may be worth the investment in the |
| Another advantage of having a digital video recorder | | | | long run. |
| instead of older recording devices is that you can also | | | | |