Good morning everyone, Mike from CCTV Camera Pros here. Today I want to talk about the
difference between a CCTV video multiplexer and a security camera DVR. So first off, what is a video
multiplexer? Basically, a video multiplexer is a device that can take inputs from multiple security
cameras, BNC Security Cameras specifically, this could be analog or HD-over-coax, takes
the input from multiple cameras and combines that video signal so you could have a live display of
multiple cameras on one screen. That's basically what a video multiplexer does. And multiplexers
are a very simple device, all they're designed to do is to combine those video signals and to
provide a live display. Now, you can have multiple screens, so you can have a grid of four cameras
and the display scroll to another view. They can do other simple things like that, but the main
idea is they're for live display, not recording. Okay, so let's talk about security camera DVRs
now. Security camera DVRs obviously are meant for recording video surveillance, that's the main
thing they're used for, but they also have built in video multiplexing capability. So in addition
to the recording capability of... Let's take our Viewtron hybrid security camera DVRs for example.
In addition to all the security and recording capability, they also have really amazing live
video display capability where you can program custom sequence and custom layouts, basically
it's a built-in video multiplexer for live display as well. And in addition, Viewtron hybrid security
camera DVRs and most of the other DVRs on the market out there also have really robust remote
viewing capability. So they could be connected to a network, you could log in remotely from
iPhone, Android, Windows, Mac, and view your security cameras remotely. And in most cases,
our Viewtron system support this, you can actually search and playback recorded video.
So why would you buy a video multiplexer and not a DVR and vice versa? If your goal is strictly for
live display, and we sell video multiplexers for all kinds of applications. We have
manufacturers that use these devices to monitor manufacturing processes,
we have homeowners that use it to display a nice live view if they have some nice view of something
and they want that displayed on a TV downstairs and the view is from their deck, things like that,
we have dance studios and karate, dojo's that use it in the waiting area for parents to display a
live view of their kids while they're in class. So is all kinds of applications for a live view.
If your intention is also to access your cameras remotely then go with a DVR.
Even if you're not going to use the recording capability of our Viewtron surveillance DVRs,
if you also want to live display remotely from your mobile phone or from desktop, leverage the
multiplexer capability of a DVR and the network capability of a DVR so you have local live display
and remote live display. Also, maybe your intention initially is to not do any video
recording but you think maybe later that might be a possibility, well these DVRs don't cost that
much more than a multiplexer. And we can supply DVRs that are hard drive, so they're cheaper
to buy upfront. And then later, if you decide you want to have recording video surveillance,
you can easily pop in a hard drive to one of these DVRs. And now in addition to acting as your local
video multiplexer, now it's acting as a security camera system and recording that video as well.
So I hope this video is helpful in explaining number one, what video multiplexing is
and how a simple video multiplexer is designed for a local live display on TVs and monitors, and how
you can also leverage a DVRs video multiplexer capability. And if you want remote viewing
and possibly recording in the future, that's built in as well. If you have any questions about any of
this, you can reach out to me any time. I could be reached via email at mike@cctvcamerapros.net.
If you want to learn more about CCTV video multiplexers,
and I'll be posting this video on the page as well, please visit www.cctvcamerapros.com/mux,
that's M-U-X. Thank you for watching.