Special Report is a technical column that it will discuss about some issues. It may be helpful for you to understand more about those various surveillance products. However, if you are still confused about some technical part, please contact with our professional technical team.
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A letter for those planning to purchase DVR system
Introduction
Are you ready to purchase a professional DVR system for your business? For a suitable DVR system, there are dozens of systems to choose from, and a myriad of features need to investigate. How do we tell the differences between them? The following hints are what you must consider in the first place.
PC based DVR
DVR systems may be categorized as being either PC based or Standalone. A PC based DVR system is a classical PC with video capture cards designed to capture video and/or compress video. A Standalone DVR system is specifically designed as a digital video recorder with its operating system and DVR software embedded in firmware or read only memory.
The ability of the PC to handle the DVR requirements of performance and functionality including multi-channel video display, record, playback, network remote surveillance and setup, has made itself invaluable. Also, the open PC architecture can let users easily build the DVR systems with minimal cost and interface variations of the peripheral devices.
Embedded Linux OS
Typically, the only user interfaces for DVR systems are usually through customized user interface or the Internet Explorer browser. However, using Linux doesn't need direct interaction with the end user, making the user's unfamiliarity with Linux irrelevant. Linux can remove extraneous code and potential security vulnerabilities, fine tune the services needed on the DVR system to optimize sys tem performance, and then fit into very small storage as a ready-made DVR system. As a result, Linux-based DVRs can be stored in a read-only flash memory rather than on the recording hard-drive. The system will automatic notify administrator when hard-drive crash because your DVR is operational even if there's a problem with hard-drive. Therefore, the stability and reliability can be enhanced. Also , Linux is the benchmark when it comes to system performance, reliability and security , especially in the area of networking.
MPEG-4 compression
There are several kinds of compression standards, including Motion JPEG, MPEG-2, MPEG-4 and Wavelet, available for DVR systems. Because of the need to store long periods of video clips on limited HDDs, DVR system require compression technologies that optimize image compression but have a negligible affect on image playback performed at the same time. According to several market surveys, MPEG-4 codec is considered the mainstream compression format for DVR systems because it has the highest compression ratio of the MPEG standards and can also support audio compression. H.264(MPEG-4 Part 10) is a new standard with differential algorithm that may replace MPEG-4 as the industry standard in the future although the cost and performance issues still need to address .
Others
In addition, when choosing a DVR system one should keep in mind the situation in which it will be used. Will it be used for security surveillance in office buildings, airports, or museums? Or will it be used in areas that require high-speed recording such as banks? To proper address video quality/resolution, recording speed, storage capacity, and remote access for those applications, DVR can offers convenience and smart features far beyond that which analog technology is capable of providing.
Summary
For a professional PC-based DVR system, everything you need is plug your Video Capture Cards, S/W flash and HDDs into your PC, connect the various video feeds and other standard cables, and its up and running in a short time – no major assembly and software installation required. Wit-Eye DVR Kit, Softwell's embedded Linux DVR with maximum reliability and stability, offers a range of capture cards, professional DVR features and all the benefits mention above, is your best choice of a professional DVR Kit to build your own DVR system.
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