This is my long-promised review of the Kodicom KSR516. This is my first CCTV DVR, so I can’t comment on how the unit compares to anything but the Lorex timelapse VCR it replaces.

I’ve focused on the shortcomings in this review, but that’s because when I research a product I want to understand where it falls short. What it does right, unless it’s exceptional, is taken for granted. Overall I’m more than very happy with this DVR! It’s very solid and its basic operations are reliable.

My setup:

• 12 cameras at various locations outdoors.

• 4 monitors: one VGA and three standard TVs. Each TV location has a Xantech IR receiver that relays remote-control commands to an IR emitter on the DVR. The remote control is an important feature in my system. There are actually two versions of this DVR. The version with the black front panel and the big knob in the middle does not have a remote control; my version is the one with the silver front panel with the knob on the right.

• Communication between the DVR and my PC client is over a wireless network, so I can monitor and playback from any location on my laptop.


Highlights:

• Solid, reliable operation
• Linux OS
• Remote control (necessary for my home installation)
• Mouse (accelerates admin tasks in setup menu)
• Monitoring outputs: 1 VGA, 1 BNC composite, 1 S-Video
• 112 fps recording (NTSC)
• Resolution: 352 X 240 or 740 X 240 (NTSC)
• Compression: Proprietary ‘Engine-X’
• CD-RW backup or remote USB device


Documentation:

What looks like a good user guide turns out to be a disappointment when you try to figure out how to set and use certain features. It appears that Kodicom was really serious about trying to produce a good document. The presentation is really very professional, but the writer was unable to effectively communicate how configure and use the DVR. Specifics below.


Setup:

Truly plug-and-play. Connecting the cameras and setting the basic recording features is easy and intuitive. However, configuring some of the motion-detection features and getting the unit to talk to the PC client over the network is another story (see “Recordingâ€

Thanks for the review bud. Anything more to add?

What more would you like to know?

Have you hit it with a hammer yet?

Thanks for the review kaysadeya,

Would you consider scoring marks out of ten for various features?
It might be useful for anyone wanting to do a quick comparison if in the future, others do the same.

Just a thought.

what we need to do is set up a list of common features, 2 seperate ones, 1 for PC DVRs and another for stand alones ... maybe should start a new thread on this ..?

once we get a list then we can use it to rate the DVRs ..

Great idea Rory. If we can compile all of the feature information into one place, that would be very useful. The problem is how can different users with different needs and experiences rate the features?

Cooperman, I'm not qualified to score the features because I haven’t had experiences with any other DVRs (only a lowly Lorex VCR).

Yeah, Im thinking more of just a feature list, not personal opinions, then if that DVR has that feature or doesnt, that could make the difference from someone buying it or not . ..

things like, does it have MPEG4, USB, Movie or Image only to USB/CDRW, etc etc etc ...

My Kodicom is still going strong. No long-term problems.

where you beed bud ? welcome back

GOOD TO HEAR! OUR KSR(DVW)816 is even better than the 516.

Thanks Rory. I went through some major career/life challenges, but now finally have some free time to focus on more interesting topics.

Hi kaysadeya,

Long time no hear - welcome back!

If you do have "...free time to focus on more interesting topics", we won't be discussing CCTV then!

Good review.

More information. (Used this DVR as I've carry it as well).

Dual Monitor
You can choose to use either 1 monitor or 2 monitor setup with this DVR.
(3 Monitor also can, but 3rd monitor's a call/spot out monitor, so no point mentioning it).
In Dual monitor mode, you'll need a VGA monitor and a BNC/SVideo Monitor. One monitor will just display the cameras in split screen mode. The other monitor (VGA) will enable user to enlarge any of the camera, do setting, playback. This will enable users to review setting/recording while keeping an eyes on the current live video feed.

Multisite.
It does have multisite capabilities. I.e. connect to multiple dvr over network and view them on a single remote client. But it's not a single click things. Got do a few click before you can get the multisite up. And if a site loss connection, it doesn't reconnect back automatically. You gotta do that manually. Used to think it is ok till i used another dvr. It'll just connect auto to all sites and try reconnecting if any site loss connection.

Remote Client
It doesn't comes with Mac/Unix Client. Nor does it have IE/Java based Browser Player. The only way you can get it to work in network is to install the Wintel's Client.
Software does crash sometimes. But it's only the client. But it could be because of the windows pc it was used on is not stable.

Backup to CDRW.
Backuping up can be done in 2 format.
1. Kodicom's own format. Viewable in it's own player.
Backing up in the CDR also include the player in. So you can basically just pass around the CD and the person would be able to playback from it with the accompanied software.
2. AVI file.
Backup to avi file. But the minus part is that encoding to AVI files takes quite a long time. The last time i tried, it's much longer than real time. I gotta check again, but from what i remember, it's about 1 hr to backup ard 5-10mins of video to avi format. I thought it hang and went on doing something else, only to come back much latter to discover that it is actually backing up and almost completing after a long time.

PocketPC.
It does support remote viewing on Pocket PC Client as well. You didn't mention it.

FYI, the one i carried and implemented was the black one with the knob in the center. with CDRW drive.

Yup. Major difference.

1. Support up to LIVE recording on all 16 Cameras.
2. Nicer front panal.
3. Support 16 Audio Recording.
4. Support 7 Monitor Mode.
a. 1 for LIVE 16 Channel Display
b. 1 for Setting/Playback/Review/PTZ Control.
c. 1 for Call/Spot Monitor
d. 4 Monitor to split the 16 Channels Display to 4 x 4 Quad Display.
e. Support Firewire and SCSI ( Haven't try this feature yet)