A DVR is a feature-packed, state-of-the-art, PC based, digital video surveillance and recording system, utilizing the latest in video capture and storage technologies. With features like; remote viewing, remote backup and remote setup; integrated alarmed recording, or motion detection recording; enhanced M JPEG compression, and password protection, the DVR leaves very little else to be desired. DVR.s may be configured in multiples of up to 32 video channels per DVR, with ability to stack systems for an infinite quantity of video channels. The video storage capacity for each DVR is virtually unlimited.

Analog tape, as in the case of a VCR, works by magnetically encoding a representation of a video signal on a long strip of metallic coated plastic. This strip of plastic moves past what is known as a head inside of the VCR. Heads are responsible for converting the magnetic energy into electricity for playback, and vice-versa for recording. Other components inside the VCR keep the tape moving past the heads at precisely the correct speed. It should be noted that practically every component in a VCR physically touches the tape, causing wear and tear on the tape itself. While it can be argued that VHS cassette tapes reproduce images accurately, they are plagued by several other problems that reduce video quality. Tape suffers from "noise", dropouts (periodic loss in signal level), and image inconsistency (periodic changes in brightness and clarity due to the mechanics of the VCR or the stretching of the tape itself). Expensive, commercial grade VCRs attempt to get around many of these problems with special electronics and high quality mechanisms. Analog tape is not an especially robust medium. Inexpensive consumer-grade VHS cassette tapes start to lose quality after they have been played even a few times. The most expensive VHS cassettes last only a few hundred plays and/or records before noticeable degradation occurs, providing the VCR is in proper working order. In addition, the overall functionality of the standard DVR system, we are currently working on many exciting add-on modules for the DVR. Some of these include integration with access control systems, POS, standard alarm panel status reporting, and web-enabled components which facilitate the incorporation of live images from the DVR system into your web page. Most important, however, is the fact that we are committed to continuously improving our product, based upon the suggestions and comments from our customers. As a result, our customers and end-users are getting the features that they need now. As the Lyon Security DVR product software continues to improve, enhancements are always available for download to our customers from this web site. If you're looking for a digital solution for your video surveillance needs, see for yourself why Lyon Security DVR products are the logical choice.

Understanding what digital video is first requires an understanding of its ancestor - broadcast television or analogue video. The invention of radio demonstrated that sound waves can be converted into electromagnetic waves and transmitted over great distances to radio receivers. Likewise, a television camera converts the color and brightness information of individual optical images into electrical signals to be transmitted through the air or recorded onto video tape. Similar to a movie, television signals are converted into frames of information and projected at a rate fast enough to fool the human eye into perceiving continuous motion. When viewed by an oscilloscope, the un-projected analogue signal looks like a brain wave scan - a continuous landscape of jagged hills and valleys, analogous to the ever-changing brightness and color information. Contrary to popular opinion, digital video is not new. Digital Video Recorders (DVR.s), available to the consumer are relatively new. Companies have been using digital video for years in a number of industries, and for a variety of purposes. From medical imaging to process control, the ability to capture, store and analyze images digitally has become more commonplace. Only recently, with the advancement in new technologies, has digital video become an affordable option for more practical applications, such as surveillance. As the potential market has increased, prices have fallen, and in so doing opened up the possibilities of digital video to an entirely new audience. In the early 1990s, a digital video system capable of capturing full-screen video images would have cost thousands of dollars. The biggest cost element was the compression hardware, needed to reduce the huge files that result from the conversion of an analog video signal into digital data, to a manageable size. Less powerful 'video capture' cards were available, capable of compressing quarter-screen images - 320 x 240 pixels - but even these were far too expensive for the average user. The consumer end of the market was limited to basic cards that could capture video, but which had no dedicated hardware compression features of their own. These low-cost cards relied on the host PC to handle the raw digital video files they produced, and the only way to keep file sizes manageable was to drastically reduce the image size. With the arrival of the Pentium processor in 1993, even the most powerful PCs were limited to capturing images no more than 160 x 120 pixels. For graphics cards running at a resolution of 640 x 480, a 160 x 120 image filled just one-sixteenth of the screen. As a result these low-cost video capture cards were generally dismissed as little more than toys, incapable of performing any worthwhile real-world application. The turning point for digital video systems came as processors finally exceeded 200MHz. At this speed, PCs could handle images up to 320 x 240 without the need for expensive compression hardware. The advent of the Pentium II and ever more processing power made video capture cards which offered less than full-screen capability virtually redundant and by the autumn of 1998 there were several specialized video capture devices on the market which provided full-screen video capture for under a thousand dollars. It is a combination of high-tech hardware and innovative, cutting-edge software which enables digital video to be efficiently utilized in areas which were once reserved for VHS tapes and time-lapse VCRs.

Computer based video recorders, by contrast to the VHS VCR, deal with video information in digits, i.e. ones and zeros, to be precise. To store visual information digitally, the hills and valleys of the analogue video signal have to be translated into the digital equivalent - ones and zeros - by a sophisticated computer-on-a-chip, called an analogue-to-digital converter (ADC). The conversion process is known as sampling, or video capture. Since computers have the capability to deal with digital graphics information, no other special processing of this data is needed to display digital video on a computer monitor. However, to view digital video on a traditional television set, the process has to be reversed. A digital-to-analogue converter (DAC) is required to decode the binary information back into the analog signal. Technically, a digital image is comprised of a series of bits, represented by 1s and 0s. The arrangement and pattern of the bits reveal the necessary and crucial information needed to "reconstruct" the image so that it may be viewed on a monitor or printed on a printer. The viewable image is comprised of tiny pixels, or dots. If the image is a color image, each pixel appears in a specific color. In the case of a black and white image, each pixel is displayed with a certain "brightness" making some appear pale gray and others appear black. The actual number of pixels depends on the size and resolution of the image. Obviously, the larger the image size selected the greater number of pixels. In the DVR, digital video recording of images (frames) from a camera, are "captured" and stored to hard disk in binary form (as described above). Because the digital system is not mechanical like a VCR, such factors as frame speed and video quality are software adjustable. Most digital systems on the market today allow users to adjust these settings as they see fit. Most video capture devices employ some sort of compression scheme to compress the captured images so they occupy less space on the storage media. Inversely, this means that the images must be decompressed before they can be viewed. In the digital video world, this dual functionality is encapsulated in a "CODEC"; short for compressor / de-compressor. A codec is any technology for compressing and decompressing data. Codec.s can be implemented in software, hardware, or a combination of both. Because compression and decompression are "processor-intensive" operations, the hardware-based codec is generally considered to be more efficient.

First make sure that a new CDR or CDRW is in the CD Burner. DO NOT use DVD media type disks. Click on the "Search" button and locate the date and time of the video that you want to save. Click on the camera that you want to burn. You can ONLY burn ONE camera at a time. Once you have saved each camera and each incident one at a time you will be able to burn all of them to the CD at once. This will create seperate AVI video files for each camera on the CD. Click on the gray rectangle with the white triangle (Located below the Calander) to open the window that contains the AVI button. Click on the AVI button. Click on "Save File" Select the CD drive from the drop down box. On most systems the CD drive will be the E: drive. Click on "Save" Then click on "Go" Once you have saved all of the video that you need click on the "Stop Saving AVI" button. Repeat the steps above for each camera and incident that you want to save. Once you have all of the video that you need click on the "Burning CD" button. * Note: You can only save about 2 1/2 hours of video on a CDR or CDRW.

Ensure the UPS, and the DVR power supply switches are turned on (position I). Ensure all power cables are plugged in to the DVR, Monitor, cameras and the UPS.

Check the Video cable for the monitor. Ensure none of the pins on the connector has been bent during installation. If pins are straight then press and hold the power button in front of the DVR for 5 seconds to power the DVR down. Unplug and reconnect the video and power cables and try again.

The cameras are not receiving power. Ensure the camera power supplies are connected and you have voltage at the camera end.

Ensure that the DVR and the monitor are connected to the battery side of the UPS and not the surge side.

The UPS is intended to provide power for the DVR and the monitor only. Ensure there are no other devices attached to the battery side of the UPS.

The UPS is intended to provide power for the DVR for about 10 minutes. After 10 minutes it will shut down if it was not turned off manually. However once the power is restored the DVR will detect that and restarts itself.

The electricity provided to the UPS may not be stable or clean. The UPS detects and adjusts itself for power fluctuations and surges. The beep represents power source problems at the outlet or the breaker box that may need to be looked at by a certified electrician.

It is off by 6 hours. This is an embedded DVR unit. Click on Setup and under Standard tab, click on Time Setup. Click on Time Zone and ensure that the option "Automatically adjust clock...." is unchecked. Change the time to the correct time and Save and Apply. If the option is Checked, then unprotect the DVR and reboot the DVR, click on Setup and Time Setup, uncheck the option, correct the time, Save and Apply, re-protect the DVR and reboot.

Power down the DVR. Ensure the Keyboard and mouse are plugged in to the correct ports and are plugged in all the way. Restart the DVR.

The problem may be the camera signals to the DVR. Shut the DVR down. Check the power source to the cameras for proper polarity. Restart the DVR. Once the camera input windows are displayed, turn on the power to the cameras.

This could be caused by: 1- Wrong power voltage to the cameras. 2- Bad BNC cable ends. 3- The camera switch settings are wrong (BLC, DC vs. Video Iris, etc.)

Using the instructions in the manual for Color Control, adjust the Brightness, Contrast, Hue and Saturation to get the desired signal.

The video signal strength is very low at the DVR input. 1- Make sure the signal is not split. 2- Shorten the cable runs. 3- Remove any other devices attached to the cameras before the DVR (i.e. TVS, Multiplexer, etc.). In some cases if the signal is below 1V P-P, a signal booster must be used to compensate for signal loss.

The software is set to detect camera failure due to lowered input signal, voltage drops, or distorted images. When that happens it will shut the camera down and will not record until the camera has returned to proper operation. This could sometimes be caused by heat or power fluctuations at the camera side.

The DVR may be infected by a virus from a remote PC. Disconnect the DVR from the Internet. Restore the DVR to original software. Clean the remote PC from any virus before accessing the DVR. Why are some of the images frozen for a while when playing back multiple cameras in search mode? The DVR plays back all camera images of the same time frame at the same time. The cameras that are frozen must be ahead of the rest in time. Once the other cameras reach the same exact time, then they will start playing again.

If this is happening where the camera is placed directly under Fluorescent lighting, either move the camera away from the light or check the ballast for proper operation.

The motion sensitivity is set too high. Refer to the manual and adjust it to three to four notches below maximum. Use the motion area setting and select only the areas needed for motion detections (i.e. Doors, Windows, etc.).

Lighting effects recording frame rate and storage capacity. If the area is dark then it uses more hard drive to record the darker area as well as dropping frame rate to compensate for the excessive amount of information being recorded. If the area is too dark for a color camera to properly see, it is suggested to use black and white or appropriate night vision cameras instead.

The DVR is equipped with a Digital zoom. The number of pixels contained in a picture is constant. As the picture is getting bigger so do the pixels. Therefore what is being looked at is the actual pixel within the picture. Higher resolution cameras will yield better quality zoom factor than lower resolution cameras.

The DVR is designed to fill up the entire storage area before erasing the oldest video. The 3-7% that may be showing is the buffer zone. Once it reaches that, it will start erasing the oldest video and will remain at that % unless the storage is manually formatted.

Ensure the quality setting is set to 1 or 2 below the maximum if MPEG4+ is being used.

The clock is setup incorrectly. Use the time setup and correct the clock setting.

That is part of the watchdog feature. The DVR is set to shut down and reboot at a specified time set within Standard Setup screen for an optimized operations. The time can be set to any other time if desired or completely disabled. However it is recommended to restart the DVR at least once a week manually.

Make sure that the second drive letter D is shown in the Standard setup section under Managing Disk. If it is only showing drive letter C, then there is an issue with the hard disk and the technical support should be contacted.

The recording based on motion is dependent on several factors. Frame rate, lighting, detection, and traffic. If all the settings are constant then the reason for the varying recording days is due to environment changes such is lighting or amount of traffic in front of the camera and it is a normal phenomenon. Creating detection zones and adjusting the lighting will help the situation but will not eliminate the varying recording process.

The database may not have had time to update the index file before Search was activated. Refer to the Maintenance section of the manual and refresh the database.

The .record after delete. option in the standard setup is unchecked. Access setup and check the box next to Record after delete in Standard setup section.

The last person using the DVR has changed the network workgroup or user profile. Try and enter the DVR by typing . password . in the password. Exit the DVR software to Windows and change the workgroup to WORKGROUP and restart (Contact technical support for more detail).

This is caused by changes made in the DVR setting without saving and rebooting. Double click the icon for the DVR software and try again. If not successful restart the DVR and let it redetect the changes.

The Pre and Post is set to a number other than 0 in the recording type part of the setup. Reset the pre and post to 0 and then Save and Apply.

The TV out is not available on ED400 and ED800 DVRs as a standard option. However a device such as scan converter can be attached to the DVR to provide TV out for displaying the images on the TV.

The resolution of a standard TV is only 525 lines. The DVR is displaying at 768 lines. In order for the images to properly display on a standard TV some of the graphic information must be removed from the original image through scan converter electronics. Therefore the images are not as crisp as the images on the DVR monitor. The bigger the TV the grainier the images will appear.

The DVR only records when it detects motion. It may have only detected 2 ½ minutes of video during the ten- minute segment.

Some CDROM drives are not able to read all the CD medias currently in the market. Try a different media or upgrade your CDROM driver software utility.

There is software available In the market that allows you to edit and enhance the quality of an AVI video file. CSI does not promote or support any third party software.

The media is not a high speed or ultra speed media or the CDROM drive cannot read high speed or ultra speed CD media.

The DVR is equipped with either a High-speed or Ultra speed CDRW drive. An Ultra-speed CDRW media cannot be formatted in a high-speed drive. The CDRW media must match the speed of the DVR CDRW drive.

The speed of the drive is written vertically on the side of the CDRW Disk emblem in front of the drive.

You can use a CDR media instead. However it too needs to be preformatted before use. If no media is available at the time of the incident, then record the AVI onto the . C . drive My Document directory and then copy it onto the CDR media when one becomes available.

Your CDRW media can be used over and over again. However the CDR media can only be used again if the session was not closed and the CD was not locked after the last recording.

That information is available from your Internet Service Provider.

Your connection to the ISP is not established or the settings are not entered correctly in the Windows network environment of the DVR.

The IP address assigned to the DVR must be a public IP address and accessible through the Internet. The router must be programmed to allow the DVR to be accessible on the Internet. Contact your network (router) administrator (installer) for support. CSI will not have That information.

CSI embedded the direct browser access SW starting with version 408 of the server software. If your DVR has version 408 or newer, then you can access the DVR from any computer without Remote software by using Internet Explorer. Bring up IE and type only the DVR IP address in the Address filed and press enter (It may have to install the Active X drivers on the PC).

The browser software is only capable of displaying 4 cameras at a time through IE due to IE limitations.

That is due to lack of overlay support from your PC video card or loss of information in transmission of live data.

The DVR software may have been upgraded without the matching remote software. Contact the dealer for the updated remote software.

Make sure the instruction described in the manual for remote access is followed in entirety for proper remote access operation.

The DVR requires a dedicated telephone line for proper operation. If the line is being shared with another device it may cause the DVR to lock up the modem relay closed and keep the line busy or open and not answering. The solution is to disconnect the DVR from telephone line for a couple of minutes or restart the DVR in order to release the line.

Telephone connection is the slowest means of communicating with the DVR. If your connection is faster than 36000 bps then the images will change at a rate of 2 to 3 FPS. If not, then, the video information is above the capability of the telephone lines and could be as little as ½ FPS.

The telephone connection is not always stable. Static on the telephone lines, very slow connection, call waiting are some of the causes for losing connection with the DVR.

The DVR is set to motion detection. Once the motion is not detected at the DVR, the last image that was detected is broadcasted (displayed on remote) until the camera detects motion again.

The remote PC display adapter must be set to a resolution of 1024 x 768 and 24-bit color for proper display.

Your PC video card is not able to display 24-bit color overlays in windows. Try and upgrade the display drivers for it or replace your video card.

The remote PC display adapter must be set to a resolution of 1024 x 768 and 24-bit color for proper display.

When the passwords are setup for the Search within the DVR setup, the access to the search is denied while using IE.

Click HERE to download the user manual for programming instructions on how to add and or delete user codes