What recorder

As with surveillance cameras, when choosing a CCTV recorder, you should answer some important questions. Among others :

• As with surveillance cameras, when choosing a CCTV recorder, you should answer some important questions. Among others :

When looking for something to replace your older hardware, be sure to check all the information we have about your current system. System type (analog, network, hybrid), device brand, models. This data is extremely important when it comes to the selection of an additional camera due to the fact that, contrary to appearances, despite the ONVIF protocol, not all manufacturers want their devices to be compatible with devices from other manufacturers.

• How many cameras will our recorder ultimately have to handle?

Often at the beginning we buy a smaller number of cameras, but after some time we become willing to expand our set. It is good to think about this matter at the beginning because the recording devices have a limited number of channels and it cannot be extended later (in such situations it is usually necessary to buy another recorder)

DVRs, depending on the brand and type, have a different number of channels, but most manufacturers can offer us:

• 4-channel recorders
• 8-channel recorders
• 16-channel recorders

For larger locations, e.g. production halls, large shops, underground car parks, etc., some of the manufacturers are able to provide us with:

• 32 channel recorders
• 64 channel recorders
• 128 channel recorders
• 256 channel recorders

• We should also consider what camera resolution our recorder should support?

This is an important issue because each recorder has limitations regarding the supported resolutions and may, for example, prevent us from previewing a new camera that we will buy 2 months after purchasing the recorder (or you can try to lower the resolution of the camera - it depends on the type of our system). The reverse situation may also occur, we will have, for example, an analog system, cameras with a resolution measured in television lines (TVL) - in the case of such systems, be very careful and check carefully whether the recorder we choose will support the type of cameras and whether it will handle such resolutions as we have cameras.

CCTV devices are constantly being improved, thanks to which both cameras and recorders are able to process images in higher resolutions. Currently, the maximum resolution supported by DVRs on the Polish market is 12 Mpx.

• What is our recorder supposed to be used for?

Both on the Internet and in stationary stores, we can meet with various devices. The cheapest devices have only basic functions, e.g. the ability to set a recording schedule or recording only when motion is detected (in many cases, only such functions are of interest to us). As the price of a recorder increases, so does functionality. In high-end recorders, we can see functions such as face detection, line crossing, intruder detection.