Recording Settings - Home Guard CCTV Security Kit Instruction Manual

Homeguard DVR Instruction Manual
3.2.1

Recording settings

The Local Channel tab is used to define how the DVR records the footage, for each channel. These settings affect the
quality and size of the video, which also means how much time you will be able to record. As a rule of thumb, the
higher the video quality, the more space it needs on the hard drive.

Compression: Modern DVRs use H.264 compression, which simply put means the DVR only records changes
between each frame, as opposed to a whole new frame each time, to ensure the highest quality and
smallest file size.

Resolution is the recorded size of the picture, in pixels.
o D1 is almost the same resolution as a DVD, 704 x 576.
o CIF is ¼ of D1, similar to a low quality webcam.

Frame Rate represents how many frames the DVR records each second. The human eye sees 25fps as
smooth motion. 6fps should be good enough for most surveillance systems, and allows you to record a lot
more on the hard drive.

Bit rate control defines how the bit rate is worked out, it can be variable (a good compromise for recording
high quality video while saving space on the HDD) or constant (better for viewing on mobiles, which require
a steady stream of data)

Quality of the recorded video: this defines how well the DVR handles changes between frames.

Audio: tick to enable audio recording*

Bit rate is the maximum amount of data the DVR records per second. If the bit rate required for recording is
higher than the maximum bit rate selected, the picture quality will deteriorate slightly. If you suffer from
slightly blurry images, you may need to increase the maximum bit rate.

Snapshot allows you to adjust settings for snapshots.

Display Options: adjust recording display settings. Choose to display the channel name and/or number, the
date and time, and if parts of the video need to be covered.
*Requires audio capable camera or self-powered microphone
The Minor Stream settings apply to the video sent to remote viewing platforms, like mobiles. These
NOTE
require lower quality settings to ensure the video can be streamed.
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