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DVR update

Digital and networked video recorders have taken over. In a world where access, flexibility and reliability are paramount, DVRs provide security operations with all of those features and more. Analogue products have a long heritage and are therefore firmly entrenched in many environments, but the lack of flexibility of these products is their downfall as we can see happening in the analogue CCTV market as well.

To start off our DVR Update 2008, Hi-Tech Security Solutions looks at what is happening in the world of digital and network recording.

More is better

The DVR/NVR market shows a continuous move to embedded devices that offer higher frame rates, better compression (such as H.264) and more channels per recorder. The hardware specifications are moving to higher ground as customers demand more from less at lower cost.

Due to the mixture of video technologies out there at the moment, there is also a growing demand for hybrid devices that support the latest in digital recording from intelligent IP cameras and older video systems as well. This trend is predictable in any technical scenario where customers are loathe to, or simply cannot afford to throw out older technology on a wide scale.

The market is also seeing vendors expanding their scope of influence to either find ways to keep customers loyal to their brand or as a way to attract new customers who have other brands installed and seem disinclined to throw them out. One the one hand, camera manufacturers are creating their own proprietary software for their products to give customers a broader range of functionality in the hopes of keeping them brand loyal. On the other, companies that develop recording software and hardware systems are in the process of diversifying and adopting open architecture and non-proprietary platforms for their systems to make sure they can be integrated into almost any solution and can include more product brands on their platforms. Competition will keep this area of the market turning out newer, better, faster and smarter products for a long time.

More customers are also demanding an easy graphical interface to their systems as well as Web access. In fact, the ability to log into systems remotely and have access to the full functionality of the system is crucial to many buyers.

Finally, as in the world of IP cameras, intelligent video monitoring is becoming an important aspect of the DVR market as customers demand more functionality from fewer devices, at, as is usual, a lower cost.

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