Digital video recorders (DVRs) – although much more affordable and accessible for end-users than they ever have been – still are high-value products. Client expectations are usually high, too, because end-users believe they will be able to record everything, keep it forever, find it easily, and zoom in on it for breathtaking detail. Some clients do not realize the inevitable trade-offs between frame rate, image quality, and storage capacity. Sometimes they do not realize the size of the images they are recording and how that limits quality and storage capacity. (For more information about this topic, see related article in this issue, “DVR Performance Criteria.â€)
Some security dealers and systems integrators also have unreasonable expectations about DVRs – about what they can or can’t do for their clients, as well as what to expect during a job set-up and installation. Setting the record straight on the facts and fiction of DVR technology can improve your technicians’ skills and your clients’ satisfaction.