Parenting and You

Lifestyles are fast changing and parenting adjusts to the different situations. Today’s super jobs are also taking the parents away from their children most of the time and for long periods. If not for remote DVR surveillance and mobile phones, there would be no other way to connect with the children frequently and cheaply and in real-time.

If you’re the worrywart and need constant assurance that your children are safe and sound and that your property is secure from unwanted guests, the latest remote DVR surveillance will ease your mind. You can access the recording going on in your home from any part of the world with an Internet connection.

You can monitor the nanny and your children, and check if the kids are eating well, going to school on time, and keeping to bedtime hours. Being able to do all these things even when you are miles away gives you control over the rearing of your children, no matter the distance.

The Advantages of Remote DVR Surveillance

What makes the surveillance system highly recommended for remote parenting? Here are the best reasons for getting a remote system:

* Immediate access to the recordings wherever you are.
* Ability to change the systems settings remotely.
* Quality images.
* Faster playback.
* Efficient storage and fast retrieval of recordings.

With these features, you can access live video streaming on your monitors, fix camera and user settings, search stored files, and playback files – all remotely. The remote features make your life easier while you’re on the road and far from your young or teenaged children.

A high-speed Internet connection makes the remote DVR surveillance very effective, and wouldn’t you want something real fast when you are after your children’s welfare? You can’t be drumming your fingers 99% of the time because the images are taking too long to download; you might as well take the next flight home.

With real-time viewing of the activities going on at home, you can immediately call the attention of the people at home and remind them of the schedules they have to follow, or you can give directions on how you want some things done while viewing how the instructions are carried out.

Family Protection Plus

The next time before you hop on a plane, prepare you family for emergencies, too. Have the numbers of the children’s grandparents, doctors, teacher, and 911 prominently posted near the telephone, or have the numbers stored on the address book of their mobile phones.

Or, the next time you come home, have your family time neatly planned out. Parenting has it dues, and one is keeping quality family time and having lots of them when you’re home. Togetherness compensates for your absences.

Time will come when you’ll be nostalgic over your babies, “tweens”, and teens. If your job requires remote parenting, trust remote DVR surveillance to help you keep in touch and witness all those wonderful moments in your children’s lives. Secretly, remote parenting has its rewards, too. You don’t hear the usual whines and the racket children make. Don’t you think so?

Shock Intruders With Strobe Lights and Sirens

You might be wondering what strobe lights are. Well, have you seen those bright lights that blink to the beat of the music in clubs? How about those bright flashing white lights in rock concerts? Yes, those are strobe lights.

You can use these lights to catch the attention of your neighbors when you security system trips off. You can place strobe lights in strategic places inside your home to make it more effective. Of course, you have to tell your neighbors about it so that they would understand that something’s wrong when they see blinking lights in your living room.

Also, you can mount strobe lights around your home so the police will know where the intruder was last seen. You can even use sirens to really shock would-be trespassers. This way, your alarms are not only visual, but auditory, too. Using physical alarms in PC-based DVR security systems is not an easy task, so you may have to consult a professional to help you.

Protect Your Physical Alarms

It would be a great idea to encase your strobes and sirens to keep it from being vandalized. Most strobe lights and sirens come with protective casings when you buy them. But if they do not, you should buy one, or let a plastics designer manufacture one for you. However, custom-made enclosures tend to be very expensive. Keep in mind, though, that the most secure homes are protected by very effective PC-based DVR security systems. So you really have to make an investment if you want to keep your family safe.

Buy what You Can Afford

While it is true that efficient PC-based DVR security systems can cost much, you do not have to burn your money on strobe lights and sirens. Go back to the basics. Buy the brightest strobes and the loudest sirens that your money can afford. Since using physical alarms with your security system will require a little tinkering, it may be a good idea to ask the guys at the electronics shop if this will not disqualify product warranties. You can also refer to the products’ manual for the terms and conditions of the warranty. At least, you can ask for a refund when the lights and sirens that you have purchased will not work with your security system at home.

Keep in mind that putting physical alarms into PC-based DVR security systems is a task that is not meant for the ordinary Joe. Connecting wires, hooking up cables, and software synchronization require lots of skill. Working with an expert means more expenses for you. Nevertheless, physical alarms are entirely optional. Suffice to say, an effective DVR surveillance system is enough to keep your home safe.

My cable is still hooked up and running.
details on how to would be great!

Video compression has gone a long way and their main objective still strives to have the smallest file size possible while still preserving good video and audio quality. MPEG4, H.264, and MJPEG are three DVR CODECs that aim to compress the videos for transferring purposes. Each of these formats have their own strengths and weaknesses.

First came MPEG-1 followed by MPEG-2 and now MPEG-4 comes into the picture. MPEG-4 is a massive upgrade to the MPEG-2 format that focuses more on compression. It is a standard that can effectively compress both audio and visual data for streaming purposes or to fit lengthy data on optical media. Because it incorporates the existing technologies of MPEG-1 and MPEG-2, MPEG-4 is also good for video conversations and television broadcasts. It can shrink even the largest video files into small pieces for faster transfers through the internet or over a wireless network. Other data may be incorporated to the MPEG-4 as well like images or video. MPEG-4 also sports some interactive elements as long as they have the supported player to allow some layers of the video to be manipulated.

H.264 otherwise known as MPEG-4 Part 10 or AVC (Advanced Video Coding) takes the MPEG-4 format to another level and is advantageous over the older formats as it contains inter-picture prediction features allowing up to 32 picture references. It focuses on lossless methods and aims for flexibility on a variety of different systems. Their lossless methods can also reduce their file sizes even further than MPEG-4 formats making them ideal for HD video. Still many mobile devices use the more popular MPEG-4 format.

MJPEG is another format that may not be familiar by everyone. MJPEG basically comes from the JPEG format, which is highly standardized for compressing images. The MJPEG follows that same process and adds other stuff in streaming each image or frame together. The end result leads to lower CPU usages compared to the other formats, but higher file sizes leading to increased bandwidth needed for streaming.

Your choice of DVR compression depends on the specifications of your system and your intended use of distribution. This is why there is currently no format that rules over all. If you plan to distribute video clips for slower computers, MJPEG could be the choice. For better compatibility with mobile devices and standard computers, MPEG-4 could be a safe choice. If quality must be preserved while keeping the file size small (preferably on high definition videos), H.264 is the best choice. You can even try compressing the video in all 3 formats, compare them all, and see what looks best for you.

The video capture and playback to and from the disk is enabled by stand alone set-top boxes and software for PC. Some televisions are already come with DVR hardware and software built within the television. But for those who need to install should know what they are looking for.

The important features one should look for installing DVR software. Those are:-

? Motion Detection Function- various DVR software programs offer different levels of motion detection function and you should consider about them before selecting one. Choose that software which has the capability to detect movement as soon as any kind of movement is detected. One more option is there, you can go for software which allows the camera to remain focused on the object and help track it.

? Control and Configuration of Cameras- you should look for cameras which have properties to adjust the images on each camera. Though some basic software applications allow the system to automatically adjust images but are not as good as manually adjusting the cameras. Instead you can go for those programs which have functions like zoom, tilt or pan features.

? Maintenance of Alarm/ Event logs- software with facilities to record and track events which causes the surveillance system to be triggered. This will give a better understanding of the reason which caused the trigger. It would be better to choose such system.

? Storing and Search Feature- find out software which allows to store the video images being recorded as well as carry out searching by using certain criteria’s. This helps in reviewing the information recorded and could be stored much easier. All this characteristics make your software an efficient one.

To get a good DVR you should spend a little more time on research. You should find your software according to what your requirements are which will ensure you to use the maximum out of the surveillance system.

DVR programs are designed to get most out of your camera which is connected to your computer. This helps in checking your employees though you are far away from them. Apart from monitoring you can playback previous recordings of more than one camera and could be accessible to your computer.