DVR or NVR: choosing the right recorder for your cameras

Both record what your cameras see. The difference is where the video is turned into a digital file, and that single detail shapes the rest of the installation.

DVR

Works with analogue cameras over coaxial cable, and does the encoding itself. Cheaper per channel and the cabling is well understood, but each camera needs its own power run and resolution tops out lower.

NVR

Works with IP cameras over network cable, and the camera does its own encoding. With Power over Ethernet a single cable carries both data and power, which makes long runs and later additions far simpler.

Choosing between them

If you are replacing cameras on existing coaxial cabling, a DVR keeps the job small. For a new installation, an NVR is almost always the better long-term choice.

Leave yourself channels

Recorders are sold in fixed channel counts. Buying an eight-channel unit for six cameras costs a little more now and saves replacing the whole recorder the first time you want another camera.