Most important feature/function of a DVR.

[kandcorp 0]

What is your number one most important feature/function of a DVR. PC Based or Stand Alone and WHY?

[SeanMort 0]

Difficult to answer ... it's a bit like asking the same questions of a car. Are the wheels important or is the engine, or is the steering wheel ? There are a number of co-dependant features that make or break a DVR's feature set.

But if you must ask the question then my first answer would be: Is it reliable (not really a "feature" answer but it negates a feature answer) ?

 

Second would be ease of use. If it's a really really good DVR but it's really really painful to operate, the customer will hate it.

[scottj 0]

Cost, period.

[spytown 0]

I would have to agree with Sean. It depends on what is important for your application. For example-Do you need Dynamic IP Support like the Nuvico units offer? Do you need a unit with a built in CDRW or DVD? Do you need to stay Cheap or do you have some money to spend...there are lots of factors...not a straight forward answer.

[griffonsystems 0]

to me its all about recording a nice clear picture at a high frame rate

 

you have to have that at the base and then you want it to have an easy gui so your client can use the thing and not call you to do their review once they have an incident

[baywatch 1]

I think he most important feature of a dvr ( & cameras etc) is that it suits the customers needs (especially pricewise) reliably.

 

It is no use trying to sell a state of the art system with bells & whistles to a small kebab shop owner who is primarily interested in cheapest possible installation.

[rory 0]

Always it will have to be image quality as the number one factor, otherwise its cheaper to use a VCR

[kandcorp 0]

Yea I think im with you Rory. That is pretty much all the customer seems to be concerned about. Nice smooth clear video. I guess second place would be price.

[cctvron 0]

image quality and warranty

[Jasper 0]

Relaible....

[rory 0]

Relaible....

 

you sure ..

 

id think maybe reliable over relaible

[Jasper 0]

I knew I was going to get caught on that. Hey it's late and I can't see so well. I meant the system, not me...

[SeanMort 0]

Just as I said ... if it aint relaible ..... LOL

[bryan1656 0]

As already noted, for most small businesses, cost is a HUGE factor. I prefer stand alones for most applications that I deal with.

 

Other things I look for:

 

Ability to burn a CD/DVD.

If something happens, the video needs to be able to easily handed over to investigators, attorneys, insurance adjusters, etc. The system should include player software on the disk so that it can be played on any computer.

 

30fps, or equivalent

I want the option of being able to record at "full speed" on all cameras

 

Then I start looking at things like memory, encoding, software features, etc.

 

For most small enterprise customers, I'm trying to sell them a DVR to avoid the problems inherent with VCRs.. namely poor tape management.

 

Considering that VCRs have a max recording resolution of, what, around 240HLOR, the image quality on most DVRs is an improvement. That's important when a forensic video tech is trying to pull a tag number in a kidnapping and murder case.

[cctv_down_under 0]

It has to be resolution and compression for me, after all the bells and whistles are great, but you really simply want the footage to prosecute!!

[AVCONSULTING 0]

I think Rory hit it right. Without a clear playback the DVR is pretty useless and it doesn't matter what other features it has. So I'd also rank playback clarity (vs live view) as the key feature. After that it is a free for all.