Comparisons
DVR or NVR for your recorder
Buy a DVR for four cameras on short runs or where coax already exists; buy an NVR for higher resolution, long runs, or any system you expect to grow. An NVR powers each camera down the same network cable, so every position needs one run instead of two — on a plaza floor that halves the labour.
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The cabling arithmetic
A DVR camera needs a coax run plus a separate power run, or a power supply near the camera. An NVR camera needs one Cat6 run carrying data and power together. In a Blue Area office where every metre of trunking needs building-management sign-off, or a rented shop where the landlord limits drilling, fewer cables is not a small advantage — it is often the deciding one.
Where the DVR still wins
At small scale it is simply cheaper: a 4-camera 2MP analog package lands at PKR 55,000–85,000 installed, while a 4-channel 4MP IP system starts near PKR 110,000. Modern analog also reaches 5MP over sound coax, so an older Rawalpindi building already wired for it can upgrade cameras without a rewire — we test the existing runs first, since buried cable rarely fails visibly.
Growth changes the answer
Adding a fifth camera to an NVR is one cable to a spare switch port. On a DVR it is a coax pull, a power feed and possibly a new supply. Software houses and schools that add rooms every year should start on IP even if the first phase is only four cameras — the second phase is where the saving shows.
Should I buy a DVR or an NVR?
Can one recorder take both camera types?
Hybrid recorders accept analog channels and IP channels together, which is the usual bridge when upgrading a working coax system a few cameras at a time.
Does either type survive power cuts better?
Neither — both stop without power. A small UPS on the recorder rides through IESCO switching and short outages, and matters far more than the recorder technology.
Rather have it done?
IP camera installation runs each camera on a single Cat6 cable that carries both power and video, delivering 4MP or sharper images that hold detail when you zoom. It suits offices, schools and larger Islamabad homes, and grows cheaply once the recorder and switch are in. Four channels installed start around PKR 110,000.
IP camera installation in Islamabad — prices and scope