Hot Swap: Change Hard Drives on the Fly

This NVR has Hot Swap, which means that it has the ability to remove a hard drive while it is running and install another one.

This is useful if you need to archive footage long-term, to create backups on external media, or to replace a failed drive without turning off your recording. Normal hard drive setups require you to power off the device, take off the case, and connect cables. This NVR has an eject button for removing the hard drive.

RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks)

This NVR has RAID.

RAID stands for Redundant Array of Independent Drives/Disks. RAID is a feature that turns a set of independent disks into a single array, in basic terms sharing data between the disks. RAID is primarily used as a form of gaining redundancy in the event of hard drive failures. There are many levels of RAID which dictate how much storage is available and how much hard drive redundancy protection you have. The most common RAID setup is RAID5, which allows a single drive to fail without losing footage. To learn more please visit our knowledge base article on RAID for surveillance.

Motion Detection, Alerts, and VCA

This Admiral NVR is a motion detection NVR. Feel free to read more about these features by clicking on the link, but here's a quick synopsis:

Alerts and Notifications:

Get email alerts with snapshot images of motion detection alerts or VCA events

Set a schedule to get emails only on the hours of the day you want.

Get Push Notifications to the SCW Go Application for Android and iPhone.

Automatically upload snapshot images via FTP

Recording:

Create your own customizable record schedule, including recording based on the day of the week, hours of the day, or even choose not to record for periods of time. Set constant recording during business hours and only motion during closed hours.

Motion, VCA, or 24/7 Recording - Record based on motion detection, VCA (video content analysis), or set the system to record 24/7. You can even record based on alarm inputs!

Motion Detection You Can Use in Court - If your system is set to record based on motion or VCA events, you can have a 60 second pre-event buffer to grab footage prior to the detection. You can also set the system to record up to 10 minutes after an incident is detected. Motion detection footage does not "time out" and stop recording mid scene. Motion Clips cannot be deleted by employees or other users.

Customizable Motion Detection Recording through VCA events:

VCA features vary by camera model, and can include:

Intrusion Detection - Monitor areas with precision, define zones, set time thresholds, and sensitivity.

Line Crossing - Create virtual lines to detect people or objects crossing doors, entrances, and more.

People Counting - Determine how many people are entering and exiting. Keep and review daily logs.

Audio Detection - Listens for Rises or falls in volume, and sudden loud noises.

Vandal Detection - Get alerts based on tampering detection, defocusing, or any dramatic scene changes.

Analysis:

Smart Search - Quickly review footage by filtering by motion detected in specific areas of the screen, by the face captured, by intrusion into certain areas, or by line crossing

People Counting Statistics - view traffic stats on your NVR or download a CSV file

Commercial Grade Features

This Imperial 256 Channel NVR is part of our commercial grade NVR line. Feel free to read more about these features and what commercial grade means to us, but here's a quick synopsis, as to how it relates to NVRs:

Surveillance Rated Hard Drive - NVRs need Surveillance Rated Hard Drives, as PC drives will overheat and fail.

Store 40% more data with H.265 video compression or switch back to H.264, if you need H.264 third-party integration support.

Passes vibration and surge testing up to 6,0000 volts - SCW NVRs can withstand vibration and surges up to 6,000 volts.

Cyber Security Protections - hackers can't easily see SCW cameras because they run on a special, isolated network created by the NVR. (For more information and a history of some of the larger cyber security attacks that have affected the industry, please see our guide on best practices for preventing IOT hacks.)

4K at 30 FPS Capable - Sufficient Bitrate (processing power) to Record Smooth Video

Easy 1 Click Firmware Update Process - Maintenance made easy.

No Recording Delay - Even when recording on motion.

ONVIF compliant - this NVR complies with the open industry standard ONVIF Profile S (video & audio streaming).

NAS backup - this NVR can extend its storage or mirror its contents onto a second location on a NAS (networked attached storage) device

3 or 5 Year Warranty

The Imperial 256 NVR comes with a 3 year warranty. This warranty can also be upgraded to a 5 years. We recommend doing so for enterprise clients.

SCW view station PC/Mac Software

Our Windows/Mac application is a full featured, easy to use, desktop video management software. You can combine multiple Admiral or Imperial systems, even at multiple locations and seamlessly view, control, and manage them as if they were one system. Just about anything you can do on your NVR you can do on our free SCW ViewStation.

SCW View Station is both Mac and PC compatible and is 100% free.

Browser Plugin

Although you can edit most settings and live stream a camera feed in any of the major browsers, to take full advantage of our software features you will need to install our browser plugin or viewstation software.

Our browser plugin supports Chrome, Firefox, Edge on Window

SCWGo Smartphone and Tablet Apps

SCWGo is availible for both Android and iPhone/iPad.

You download these apps from your phone's app store. Just look for the SCWGo app.

VGA Out

This recording device has VGA Out.

You can plug this recording device into any VGA enabled monitor.

Q: Do I have to use a monitor?

A. No, you can use either a monitor or a TV, as explained below. But, you don't actually have to use either. You can manage nearly all your settings remotely via our PC or Mac apps or via the web-interface. Quite a few of our customers hide their recorders or put them in a safe with a cable pass-through, to prevent them from potential theft. This is a perfectly fine solution. You will probably want to plug a monitor in to make your initial setup easier.

Redundant NAS Support

NAS supports allows you to add an NFS compatible NAS to your NVR for redundant recording. This NAS will record in real time with your NVR to help limit the lost footage in the event of hard drive failure. SCW offers a 2 bay NAS and a 4 bay NAS option.

To learn more about setting up a NAS and functionality check out our guide.

HDMI Out

This recording device has HDMI Out.

You can plug this recording device into any HDMI enabled television. This means that you don't need to purchase a monitor unless you want to; you can connect a monitor with either HDMI or VGA cable.

Q: What if I plug in both the HDMI and VGA? Can I watch on two screens?

A. The IMP256 unit has 2 HDMI outputs and one VGA output. All 3 outputs support independent screens for multiple views.

Please note that although our NVRs can all do 1080P and 4K output, all of them ship with 720P as the default. This is to prevent display issues for people who have older TVs or monitors that don't support 1080P or 4K. To change the output right click and then go to configuration.

UL Listed and FCC Certified

This product is UL Listed and FCC certified

UL is a safety consulting and certification company headquartered in Northbrook, Illinois and provides safety-related certification, validation, testing, inspection, and auditing of SCW products.

The Federal Communications Commission has certified that the electromagnetic interference from the device is under limits approved by the FCC.