There are several different methods commonly used when recovering video evidence from DVRs. DVR Examiner is a useful tool because it allows you to recover the video fast – usually much faster than traditional methods – and in a forensically sound manner. Still, there is no one solution for every case, and it’s important to know what to do when DVR Examiner doesn’t work as you might hope.
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Depending on the file system of the DVR hard drive you are scanning, you may come across a distorted split frame video clip when previewing. At first glance, it appears the same video frame is displayed twice, however, what you are seeing is half of the frame displayed on the top and half of the frame displayed on the bottom.
We want to help make your video recovery process as seamless as possible, which is why we’ve included so many different ways to filter and review the clip list. In understanding how this filtering process works, you can save even more time when recovering valuable video evidence.
The “aspect ratio” button in DVR Examiner 2.5 is designed to detect cases where the frame appears to be significantly too short, and will adjust the frame so that it appears much closer to the correct size and aspect ratio. Learn more in our latest blog.
Within the DVR Examiner Clip List Grid there is a field for the “clip status”. If the filesystem you are processing with DVR Examiner has support for inaccessible/deleted files, the information on these files will be provided here. This field will provide insight into how the clip was stored on the hard drive, and whether or not you will be able to recover it with DVR Examiner by determining if the clip is available, accessible, inaccessible, partially inaccessible, or a clip fragment.
As technology continues to advance, home surveillance systems have become commonplace among commercial and residential properties alike.
Whether you are a Crime Scene Investigator, a Detective, or a Digital Forensics Specialist… knowing how to properly and safely recover video from DVR surveillance is vital to the success of your investigation. There are four main ways to recover DVR surveillance footage, both on-scene and back in your crime lab.
With the release of DVR Examiner 2.4 we made significant improvements to the way reports are viewed and exported. With the new Report Viewer, you can view the clip list report directly within DVR Examiner, allowing the user to search the report, print the report, or export the report in various formats.
Although we have designed DVR Examiner to work directly from the hard drive, bypassing the need for the DVR itself, it may sometimes be necessary for you to work directly with the DVR to export video or determine DVR settings. Use these tips to help turn on a nonworking DVR.
This case study on a waterlogged DVR comes from William Stumme, Senior Forensic Examiner at Atlantic Data Forensics, Inc.
