A Digital Video Recorder (DVR) usually comes to mind when people are looking for a versatile surveillance device for commercial and public areas such as office spaces and retail outlets. To put simply, it is a computer with hard drives, equipped with a video encoder with coaxial ports for analog cameras. DVR can come in two forms: a PC-based DVR, and a standalone DVR. Regarding a PC-based DVR, it can display real-time videos from any camera and an overlay hardware is usually adopted to deliver excellent image quality in real time and in different monitoring modes. As for a standalone DVR, it offers a choice of in-built or external backup sources and is generally equipped with functions like ‘sequence spot’, ‘live picture’, ‘playback’, etc. It is important to note that the feature of simultaneous remote monitoring is available for both of them.
What makes an ideal DVR then? First and foremost, a good DVR has to be able to connect analog and IP cameras simultaneously. Second, it needs to adopt a high-profile compression format to get high-quality video at a much lower bit rate. Third, the dual stream technology is desired for local storage with high definition, remote network transmission and remote surveillance with mobile device. Finally, an intuitive and user-friendly Graphics User Interface (GUI) is essential to bring about added convenience.
In the wake of the pandemic, network cameras that feature smart body temperature detection are more popular than ever. When it comes to providing body temperature detection, an ideal DVR is usually equipped with thermal technology as well as a fixed dual vision camera to cater for long distance video surveillance in outdoor applications. It is best if the DVR has a quick response time and is able to conduct body temperature detection for a large number of targets per second.
