The Value of Hybrid NVR/DVRs in IP Video Systems
IPVideoMarket.Info is a great web resource for those interested in the IP video surveillance market, products, and applications. The site tracks dozens of companies, and has original product reviews and technology commentary. The site is run by industry veteran John Honovich, whose background includes stints with both 3VR and Sensormatic.
Over the weekend John posted a new article on Hybrid NVRs and their value to customers. Entitled The Value of Hybrid NVR/DVRs in IP Video Systems, it is one of the better overviews we have seen, comparing pricing, features, functionality and real-world deployment of Hybrid systems vs. pure NVRs or pure DVRs.
In this review, he brings up an often-overlooked point, which is that many systems advertised as Hybrid aren’t truly Hybrid, and have serious limitations: limited ability to mix and match both analog and IP cameras; limited number and variety of IP cameras that can be connected; limited ability to mix and match standard resolution and megapixel IP cameras. John writes:
The biggest downside of Hybrid DVR/NVRs is that many are not truly hybrid. A genuine hybrid would be equally flexible with IP and analog. Mixing and matching many combinations of analog and IP would be standard. Supporting a variety of IP and megapixel cameras would also be standard. Exacq is a good example of a true hybrid.
He continues on:
The problem is a lot of so called ‘hybrid’ systems offer only token support for mixing and matching and for different IP cameras. One common technique is to offer only a few additional IP cameras, constrained to 1 or 2 IP suppliers, in addition to the 16 analog inputs. GE’s Symdec is an example of a "fake" hybrid.
The full text of John’s article is here. Exacq is one of the companies that John tracks on his site, and you can see the Exacq feed here.
Add comment June 16th, 2008