This page is about Samsung's high end lines of DVRs (Digital Video Recorders), used in professional CCTV installations.

Samsung SHR-2xxx Family

These models are now being surpassed by the SHR-5xxx series. However, these DVRs still sport very high picture quality and an abundance of features, and I believe they come in 4,8 or 16 Channel flavours. Also, they all run an embedded Linux kernel, for good reliability and a strong feature set (e.g. Reliable IP Stack). Criticisms of the product include the fact that the firmware was obviously written by somebody who can't speak English properly, particularly because of poor grammar. Also, the remote access feature requires huge amounts of bandwidth which can only really be satisfied with a fast ethernet connection (100Mbps), streaming over ADSL is quite a no go area.

You can download the Microsoft Windows based remote access software entitled "SmartViewer" by following the following link: Click Here

Above: Back view of an 8 channel variant

Above: Front view of an 8 channel variant

Above: A 16 channel variant performing a backup to my USB flash disk

Above: DVR with the cover off

Samsung SHR-5xxx Family

I personally prefer this family to the SHR-2xxx series. Not only is the actual unit smaller, it is actually designed for remote access, and so it is more bandwidth conservative (works great over an ADSL connection). Also, this series have built in support for access via a Web Browser, so no longer do you have to install the software on every computer you want to view it from. Of course, there is one drawback, and that is that the Web browser you are connecting from must be Microsoft Internet Explorer on Microsoft Windows x86 platform, the reason for this being that Samsung chose to use a silly ActiveX control for video streaming, instead of a good cross platform compatible Java applet.

Software download coming soon