The facility to record pictures is now an essential part of any CCTV system. Without a reliable recording facility, vital evidence may be lost, hampering the detection and prosecution of criminals.

Standard VHS video recorders can run only for a limited period of time before the tape has to be rewound or changed. This may be acceptable for occasional use, but it is not very practical if you need continuous recording or coverage outside office hours. Halon Bank offers a recorder that records for up to 24 hours on conventional VHS, which is particularly suitable for sites where staff are present for only part of the day. Alternatively the 168 hour or the 960 hour version enables the coverage of weekends, bank holidays or unmanned sites.

Standard VHS recording is adequate for most installations but there may be a need for images with greater detail. The Halon Bank Super-VHS video recorder provides this improved resolution.

All machines feature alarm inputs which can switch their recording between timelapse and 'real time', maximising the amount of data gathered when an alarm is triggered. The alarm signals are encoded onto the tape. In playback mode, the machine can search for these alarms, allowing an incident to be viewed quickly and simply.

Electronic control of the tape ensures that precise frame by frame playback is possible in both directions. This makes it much easier to identify an individual and extract important details from the recording. All machines feature full time, day of the week and date stamping. Clear, informative on-screen menus are used to help the user set the times and recording functions.