It’s time to face the facts. Despite the notion that some may be looking forward to the death of digital video recorders (DVRs), especially with online on-demand programming becoming the next best thing after Tivo, DVRs aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. Rapidly evolving technology of the DVR, making them smaller and easier to use, is a plus for those that are becoming more in-tune with these technologically evolving devices. Today almost anyone can record their favorite sitcom on the DVR. For the security scene, the evolution of DVRs is already the here and now. From the simple recording devices they used to be, now the latest DVRs feature such capabilities as motion detection; H.264 compression technology and encoding algorithms; onboard RAID-4 technology; working within a hybrid environment versus as a standalone and much more. It’s clear that manufacturers of these devices see the future as they continue to evolve this product to become part of the integration movement security is already seeing. Read on to hear more about what DVR industry experts have to say and see what technologies they are bringing to the market.

“The market will begin to see DVRs capable of metadata recording and search, allowing text data from disparate devices such as ATMs, POS terminals or license plate cameras to be recorded along with associated video.”
- Christopher Johnston, product marketing manager, Bosch Security Systems Inc. Fairport, N.Y.

The new DVRWM Series wall-mounted DVR from Speco Technologies is similarly installed just like a burglar alarm panel but inside is the heart of a powerful Pentaplex/H.264 networkable DVR. Video can be remotely viewed and the DVR is available in 4, 8 or 16 channel versions.

Advanced Technology Video’s (ATV) FA-XR8/FA-XR16 is an 8- or 16-channel DVR featuring 240 ips with storage up to 3TB plus SCSI port for external storage. In addition to ATV’s Remote Access Software (RASPlus), remote viewing of cameras is now accomplished through WebGuard, a utility that allows access from any PC with Internet Explorer 6 or later. The next-generation FA-XR will utilize a proprietary H.264 hardware codec. It will compress the video images efficiently without compromising image quality while recording all channels in real-time.

The WJ-HD716 Real-Time H.264 DVR and WJ-HD616 H.264 DVR from Panasonic System Solutions Co. delivers field recording at up to 480/400 ips and offer 16 analog video inputs, SD5Link with intelligent-Video Motion Detection (i-VMD) alarm, HDMI and BNC live/playback and monitor outputs with 2x HDMI interfaces supporting dual 1080i HD displays.