DVR Security System Review

The Swann SW244-8CP is a digital security recorder that comes complete with surveillance cameras, eight surveillance cameras are included and these are attached to the system through its 8 BNC connectors. The cameras included with the system are known as ‘Bulldog cameras’ and each has a ¼ inch color CCD image sensor. The cameras use wither a PAL or NTSC video signal depending on whether the DVR is obtained from the US, Europe or Australia, the cameras are capable of capturing images in low level lighting and have a resolution of 420 TV lines.

Each camera has an internal synchronisation system and in dark conditions they are able to pick up images at a distance of up to 33 feet, this is the US model so the cameras electronic shutter speed ranges between 1/50th and 1/100,000th of a second. The Swann DVR has an internal hard drive for storing surveillance camera footage, the hard drive included with the system has a 250 gigabyte capacity.

You can monitor cameras attached to the DVR by connecting it to a monitor or a television, there are two BNC video outputs built into the system and it also has an S-Video output.At maximum the DVR can record video at a speed of 240 frames per second when you are using an NTSC signal, in PAL mode the maximum recording speed is slightly lower at 100 frames per second.

The image quality of recorded camera footage is reasonably high, in NTSC mode it can record video at resolutions up to 720*240, PAL video can be recorded at a slightly higher resolution, that being 720*288. The system has triplex functionality so you can playback video footage without having to stop the DVR from recording, there is also an RS485 interface that can be used for security cameras that have pan, tilt and zoom functions.

You can use the DVR to record surveillance camera footage throughout the day or you can set the system to record only at specific times. The Swann DVR also supports alarm sensor devices and it will begin recording when an alarm is activated, there is also a built in motion detection feature that you can also use to determine when the system starts and stops recording camera footage. The Swann system uses M-JPEG compression and it can be used to set up a two way communication system with the use of its audio input and audio output sockets. The CD re-writer built in to the system should prove useful if you want to use CD’s as an additional means to record surveillance camera footage.

There are four RCA audio inputs built in to the DVR so you can set up at least 4 cameras to record sound as well as images, there are also two RCA audio outputs. The DVR has a USB port that can be used for connecting the system directly to a PC, there is also an RJ45 Ethernet port built in so you can connect the DVR directly to a computer network or to the Internet.

Networking the DVR gives you more alternatives when it comes to the locations available to you for monitoring surveillance cameras. Remote viewing software is included with the package and you also get a 512 megabyte USB stick that can be used for transferring video footage on the fly. The Swann DVR also comes with an instruction manual and DVD to help you get the system up and running ready to monitor your premises.

Check the latest price on the Swann SW244-8CP DVR8-Net-8000 Security Recorder With Cameras