Programming a DVR

Okay, so now you have cameras, monitors, cables hooked up, and a DVR in place. Now what? Now we configure the DVR to give you the most out of it. There are 1000’s of DVR manufacturers out there and most configuration menus are very similar, but only the verbiage or position may be different. There are 6 elements to programming a DVR and they are Camera Setup, Recording Setup, Schedule Set Up, Alarms Set Up, Network Setup and System Setup. Each one of those setup menus are important except maybe for the schedule which I will go over why I think it is not.


The Camera setup section allows the administrator to manipulate the frame rates, resolution, and image quality. Along with this the camera title can be changed to fit your needs e.g. “Front Door” or “Back Door”. Many DVR manufacturers will also give you the ability the change picture quality from here like Saturation, Brightness or Contrast. This section is pretty important for “Covert” cameras, because it enables you to enable or disable the camera to covert mode. Covert mode allows the camera to record in the background without displaying the picture from the camera. This is used for cameras like a Cash Room where you don’t want employees to know there is a camera.

Now, we move on to the Recording section. Here we have many options to adjust how we record the video. What resolution do you want to record at CIF, 2CIF, 4CIF etc.. This option can be set globally for all cameras or on an individual basis depending on the manufacturer. Here we also have options for stopping the recording after the HDD is full or having on circular recording which means First in First out (FIFO). Most of the times circular recording is the best way to go as you never have to worry about your recorder stopping to record. The other option here is an Auto Delete option. After a certain number of day designated by you the video recorded will automatically erase and the HDD will be fresh. I personally like the circular and that is usually the norm in most DVR configurations.

Scheduled recording to me is useless and manufacturers have to put it in their to support maybe a small percentage of the video surveillance population. The reason why I say it is useless is because most DVR’s have the capability of recording on Motion Detection or Alarms. If you have it on a schedule from 8am to 5pm Mon-Fri and something happens on Tuesday at 8pm you will not have that video. Whereas, if you have it on motion detection the DVR will only record the video when the camera sees motion. Obviously it makes sense to leave it on motion which is why I am not a big fan of the schedule.

I hinted a little about Alarms in the above paragraph. Alarms are exactly as what it says, it alarms when something happens. This requires the addition of some other peripherals like motion detectors or dry contacts for doors or windows. The action that the DVR will take if a contact or motion is tripped is dependent on the administrator. The DVR can send emails, sms, or notification to appropriate parties.
Network Setup allows the DVR to be connected to the internal network of a location or the Internet cloud. What this means is the ability to view from anywhere in the world. The setting that are usual in this screen would be IP address set up (Dynamic or Static), SMTP set up for email notification, DNS server address and what the ports they want to use for access into the system from the outside world. This capability of remote view gives the user a tremendous capability and most people usually get video surveillance just for this feature.

Finally System Setup, this is where you have the system name, date/time, and the ability to set up time server addresses. This section also gives you the ability to change passwords for the users of the system hardware or for remote viewing. You can also make any firmware upgrades from this screen to your hardware.

That in a nutshell covers all of the different programming menus involved in a DVR. As I mentioned most DVR manufacturers have similar menus and if a manufacturer has different types of DVR’s the menus are exactly the same across the board. If you learn one then you know them all. The concepts are the same so you have to just learn those and the rest is a piece of cake.

Hope you enjoyed this topic and I will see you on the next one!

Kal