A BASIC SECURITY SURVEILLANCE SYSTEM CONSISTS OF A HUMAN OPERATOR, ELECTRONIC INTRUSION SENSORS, AND A CCTV SYSTEM. ALTHOUGH THE THEORY OF SECURITY SURVEILLANCE AND ASSESSMENT MAY BE SIMPLE, THE ACTUAL IMPLEMENTATION OF A SECURITY SYSTEM FACES SEVERAL OBSTACLES. SUCH OBSTACLES INCLUDE THE NATURE OF ALARM ASSESSMENT, THE ELEMENTS OF TIME AND PERISHABLE INFORMATION, AND THE FACT THAT MULTIPLE SENSOR ALARMS CAN OCCUR SIMULTANEOUSLY. BECAUSE REAL-TIME CCTV SURVEILLANCE INFORMATION PERISHES RAPIDLY FROM OPERATORS' DISPLAY MONITORS, THE SURVEILLANCE TASK OF OPERATORS CAN BE SIMPLIFIED BY THE USE OF VIDEO STORAGE FOR EVENTUAL OPERATOR REVIEW. CHARGE-COUPLED STORAGE TECHNOLOGY IS ATTRACTIVE FROM THE STANDPOINT OF RELIABILITY BUT LACKS LOW COST AND HIGH DENSITY NECESSARY IN SECURITY SYSTEM IMAGE STORAGE. DIGITAL MEMORY TECHNOLOGY IS WELL-DEVELOPED AND LOW IN COST. DIFFICULTIES CENTER AROUND THE LARGE QUANTITY OF INFORMATION IN A SIMPLE ANALOG IMAGE. COMPUTER DISK DRIVES OFFER AN ALTERNATIVE MEANS OF DIGITAL IMAGE STORAGE. THE TECHNOLOGY IS WELL-ESTABLISHED AND RELIABLE, CAPACITIES ARE HIGH, THE COST PER BIT STORED IS LOW, AND ADAPTATIONS FOR VIDEO STORAGE DRIVES ARE COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE. UNFORTUNATELY, DIGITAL VIDEO STORAGE DRIVES ARE POORLY SUITED TO SECURITY SYSTEM UTILIZATION BECAUSE OF COST. IMAGE STORAGE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SCAN CONVERTER ARE ACCEPTABLE, BUT POWER AND SPACE REQUIREMENTS AND COST MAKE THE FEASIBILITY OF THE TECHNIQUE QUESTIONABLE. THE LEAST EXPENSIVE IMAGE STORAGE MEDIUM IS THE VIDEO TAPE RECORDER. DIFFICULTIES PRIMARILY INVOLVE LOW TAPE LIFE, THE NEED FOR PERIODIC HEAD MAINTENANCE, AND THE PROBLEM OF SYNCHRONIZING MULTICAMERA PRESENTATIONS. THE MOST PROMISING IMAGE STORAGE TECHNOLOGY FOR SECURITY SYSTEM UTILIZATION IS THE ANALOG VIDEO DISK. IT IS AVAILABLE AND RELATIVELY INEXPENSIVE AND HAS A HIGH CAPACITY. VIDEO DISK RECORDER EQUIPMENT CONFIGURATIONS ARE DESCRIBED. FIGURES AND TABLES ARE INCLUDED. (DEP)