For these people, burglary is the worst thing that could happen to them. Within minutes, a crafty burglar can cart away thousands of dollars worth of money, valuables, appliances, and cash.



That is why many homeowners and businessmen resort to having security systems to safeguard their homes and businesses. This could be as simple as having a dog or building a high fence. This could also be as complicated as having motion sensors or alarms.

One of the most common and reliable surveillance systems that they use is the security camera. Security cameras allow a homeowner or business owner to observe or even record everything in the vicinity of the camera's location. He views this through a monitor.

While there are monitors that are packaged as a system with the cameras, many people opt to install security DVR cards to their personal computers. These cards convert their PCs into monitors, bypassing the need for camera-specific monitors.

If you plan to buy DVR cards, make sure you buy good-quality ones. Bad DVR cards can result to poor recording time, skipping images, and insufficient data storage space. A good DVR card is vital so that you can have the utmost in security.

Here are some tips to help you buy the right DVR cards.

1. Always check the card's frames-per-second display. The frames-per-second designation is the rate at which you can view the video. Makers of DVR cards differ in ways in stating this rate. The difference may be misleading.

Thirty frames per second is the average rate of playback according to the National Television Standard Committee. You should not buy any DVR that has a lesser frames-per-second rate than this number. Below this, the video is choppy or poor in image quality. Also, be sure that this rating is quoted on a per-channel basis.

2. Check the codec processor. Codec is the acronym for compression-decompression. This is a program that allows the DVR to capture videos. This is also the basis for the overall performance of the unit. If at all possible, purchase an MPEG-4 Part 10 Codec. This is the latest and most efficient codec available today, which gives you high-definition images. Stay away from MJPEG codecs, which are still in use but are inefficient and can take a lot of hard-drive space in your PC.

3. When buying a security DVR card, check the file size. Factors such as video-image resolution and compression ratio may have an effect on the file size of the video data. Generally, a DVR card that you should choose should have a large file size. The larger the file size, the sharper the video image. Keep in mind too that the faster the rate of transmission, the less storage space in your hard drive is required.