"The use of H.264, the new standard in video compression, gives us the perfect tool to put even more focus on image quality, with the additional benefit that H.264 requires less bandwidth and subsequently less storage," says Bosch's Vincent Bos, product manager of Digital Recording products.

As well as the considerable image quality improvements, the new Divar XF firmware offers improved operation through low bandwidth networks, runs more smoothly on low performance PCs and has optimized support for Windows Vista.

The Divar XF is intended primarily for medium- to large-scale or growing surveillance systems in, for example, shopping centres, banks and financial institutions, city centres, casinos and hotel complexes.