Recording Modes: Motion Detection vs. Continuous Recording Leave a comment

When setting up your video surveillance system, one thing that you should consider is what recording mode you want your security cameras to be in. Most cameras allow you to configure them to record continuously (nonstop recording) or to only record when motion is detected. In this post, we will compare the two different recording modes so you can decide which one would be best for your system.

Motion Detection

Motion detection can also be referred to as event-based recording because an event is usually triggered by motion. The biggest advantage that this recording mode has over continuous recording is that it only records relevant events. With continuous recording, it can be tedious to review hours of footage or to find a specific event to playback.

Since motion detection only records when an event occurs, there is less footage to be stored. This means that there will be more storage space available on the video recorder so you will be less likely to run out of storage. Running out of storage means that the camera will stop recording or it will record over important past footage.

Continuous Recording

In comparison to motion detection, it may seem like continuous recording has too many disadvantages because it takes up more storage capacity and makes playback difficult. However, continuous recording has the advantage that it is always recording so you can be sure that you are not going to miss anything.

When you set up motion detection, there are different settings that you have to adjust in order for the system to recognize motion as an event. The issue with this recording mode is that certain events may not get recorded or the system might trigger false alarms. Motion detection is convenient, but it is not always the most accurate determinant of suspicious activity. Continuous recording does not alert you of activity, but it is a reliable source of evidence in case something were to happen.

Which Recording Mode is Better?

The question you might be asking is, “which recording mode is better?” The answer is, it really depends on your situation and your needs. If you are wanting to monitor your house or a small business, motion detection might be the best option. The reason for this is that these places usually don’t have situations that would need recording so constant recording would just result in hours of irrelevant footage.

Places with high foot traffic are more likely to have events and activity that would require continuous recording. Not only that, using motion detection might be useless anyway because the system will be constantly triggered by people coming and going. Since the constant recording will take up large amounts of storage, it might be helpful to use a cloud server to store your recordings. That way, you will be able to expand your storage capacity if needed in the future.

As always, don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any more questions. You can call us at 877-926-2288 or connect with us on social media
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