Using A CCTV System? What To Know About Your Recording Hardware
If you have a CCTV security system set up to record what is happening around your home or office building, you need hardware to record those camera feeds as well. Here is what to know about using network video recorders and digital video recorders to get the job done.
Digital Video Recorders
A DVR is going to take the analog or digital camera feeds from your CCTV system and record them digitally on hard drives located in the DVR. DVRs will have multiple input ports on the back of the unit to capture several feeds of video at once. The video feed is then compressed and stored on the hard drives so that you can review the footage later.
One of the advantages of using a DVR is that it works great when you have existing equipment that you want to use in a CCTV system. Since the cameras plug into the DVR, you can record with almost any camera that has a way to output its video through a compatible cable. You may even be able to save money on your installation as well since coax cameras tend to be a bit cheaper because they don't connect to the internet or process the video within the camera.
Network Video Recorders
An NVR works a bit differently than a DVR. While the function is the same in the end, an NVR is designed to ingest footage from IP or network video cameras. Rather than have all of that video signal sent to the cloud, you store the footage locally on hard drives inside the DVR.
What makes an NVR unique is that they don't actually compress the video using the hardware within the NVR itself. In most situations, the cameras are the devices that are doing the compression of the video signal. The smaller compressed video signal is what is then sent to the NVR, which can provide several advantages to you as the user.
NVRs tend to perform better than DVRs when it comes to things like exporting video, playing video over a remote connection, and having multiple people accessing the NVR at the same time. This is because the NVR is not also doing the work of compressing the video, which slows the device down.
Need more information about NVRs and DVRs for your CCTV system? Reach out to a security specialist in your area that can help with purchasing and installing equipment.
