For a video recorder to shoot efficiently and “carefully” record all events, it is not enough that it has cool characteristics. It is also important to buy a suitable USB flash drive. The article will help you figure out which memory card is best for such a device. From it you can also find out how the recording in the recorder is carried out and how to select the correct memory card.
See also: What are DVRs for: 4 main differences from a video camera
How does the recording in DVRs take place?
Before choosing a flash drive for a DVR, it is worth understanding how such devices record information. DVRs write in two modes: continuous or cyclic.
- In continuous mode,information is written all the time until the memory card runs out of space. If there is not enough memory, the DVR simply stops saving information and resumes saving only if the drive is cleaned or replaced with a new one. Minus – in an emergency, the recording may simply not be saved if the drive is full.
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- Cyclic modediffers in that the data is displayed partially and saved as several separate files. One cycle can last an average of 3-15 minutes. When the flash drive is full, the device will erase old files from it to keep the new ones. For example, AT160 writes in this way . It can record FullHD video and has a wide viewing angle. The disadvantage is that the cycle needed by the driver can be overwritten (deleted).
Note : Some manufacturers have hybrid models that can record data in both modes.
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Which USB flash drive is better to choose?
Regardless of the mode in which the DVR writes information, you need to buy a good USB flash drive for it. The fact is that even cool devices with superpowers for high-definition video shooting can slow down due to a low-quality memory card. Therefore, the question of which flash drive to choose for such a device should be approached with full responsibility.
How to choose:
- Format ( CompactFlash , MicroSD , SD , SXS). With this criterion, everything is simple: you need to buy an option that the DVR supports.
- Volume. Here, more is better. Most DVRs can shoot in FHD , many even in 4K. FHD video for 3 minutes weighs about 350 MB at 30 FPS. So if you take a 16 GB flash drive, for example, it will quickly fill up.
- Reading speed. The higher, the faster the information is read from the card. It should be noted that this indicator is not as important for a DVR as the next one.
- The speed classdetermines how quickly information can be written to the USB flash drive. Which is better and for what purpose, you can find out in the table below.
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| Class | Recording speed | Suitable for recording in |
| 2nd (obsolete) | 16Mb / s | VGA |
| 4th | 32Mb / s | HD |
| 6th (like this micro SD) | 48Mb / s | HD |
| 10th | 80Mb / s | FHD |
| UHS-I (as Extreme) | 60-80Mb / s | from FHD and above |
| UHS-II (as Extreme Pro) | 100Mb / s | 4K |
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The higher the class and the larger the volume of the card, the faster it reads the information, the more expensive it is. But if you want to squeeze the capabilities of the DVR to the maximum, and at least just be able to record video in normal quality and save it, you should not skimp. So, for recording in FHD format, it is better to choose class 10 flash drives with at least 32 gigabytes of memory, and for a DVR capable of shooting in 4K, you will have to buy the fastest drive – UHS-II, and it is better to take the volume with a margin.
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