NVR Requirements
Thanks to the advent of storage media such as IP-SAN, eSATA, NAS and FireWire, embedded NVRs have overcome the perceived notion that their storage capacity is limited. Without storage capacity concerns, embedded NVRs are quickly gaining traction; now both types of NVRs are on a level playing field. Although everything is embedded, embedded NVRs offer more than what meets the eye; they support the interfaces of other surveillance devices to enable convenient integration with alarm and access control systems, as well as PTZ remote control systems.
Functions and features that a decent NVR should encompass are flexible recording and playback capabilities, a user-friendly and remote-controllable GUI, intelligent motion detection and PTZ camera control. "Based on our experience and industry reports, the CAGR of embedded NVRs is approximately 40 percent. Therefore, we predict the global market for embedded NVRs to reach $460 million in 2013," Kao said. "Both APAC and EMEA regions, especially with the popularity of smartphones and tablets, are showing strong demand for mobile surveillance. Access control, storage expansion, I/O and VCA features and capabilities are also frequently requested. For the Americas, most requests are for vertical integration, mobile surveillance and storage expansion."
SMB applications are taking an increasing market share of NVR products, especially with the price of embedded NVRs being relatively lower compared to PC-based NVRs (with additional VMS fees). "Embedded NVRs enable users to experience superior performance in terms of ease of use, system stability and decoding capability," noted Eric Shen, Product Manager at Hikvision Digital Technology.
Stability
Linux OS optimizes stability by only running relevant surveillance applications. Embedded operating systems contain only the software components necessary for the specific functions of the NVR, and are configured with optimum configurations (backed by rigorous testing) straight from the factory.
Reliability
The precise architecture of embedded NVRs ensures that they are less prone to crash, such as fanless designs and wide temperature operations etcetera. As the controls are embedded right into the NVR, the activity of users can therefore be more easily restricted to work-related use. An industry expert warned that many security personnel who, not surprisingly, get tired/bored from staring at monitors all day think to themselves upon seeing the Windows logo, "Perhaps it's ok that I play or download games like I do with my home computer or perhaps I can download or upload stuff from my phone through the USB port." Entire security systems have regularly been interrupted by staff members "merely" plugging in their phones. With embedded NVRs, foreign devices are not recognized. In addition, most run Linux OS, which is basically free from the risks of being infected with viruses, spyware, adware and malware.