Applied to: All Zosi cameras.

8 Tips to Improve a Security Camera’s Night Vision

Description of the phenomenon: The night live stream image is dark or blurry, but the daytime image is good.

How can you improve a security camera’s night vision? The best way to improve a security camera’s night vision is to provide additional lighting to brighten up the area.

1. Provide additional lighting to brighten up the area.

2. Clean the camera’s lens or glass dome regularly to prevent light reflections.

3. Choose the right camera for the area being viewed.

4. Don’t try to view a large area with just one camera.

5. Don’t install the security camera too close to tall shrubs.

6. Do not install the camera too close to a light.

7. Make sure your camera is switching to night mode.

8. Add external infrared lighting.

 

How does night vision work on a security camera?

Security cameras have infrared bulbs around the lens that shine a light in the field of view of the camera. Infrared light cannot be seen by the human eye but it is seen by the camera’s lens.

A Camera’s night vision capability is measured by the distance the infrared light can shine into the field of view. A typical security camera has a night vision distance of about 50-65 feet while other cameras can view up to 300 feet at night.

Important note: Even though a camera’s night vision is rated for 50-65 feet, it doesn’t mean you can see an object that’s 50 to 65 feet away clearly.

Example: If you’re viewing an area that is very dark you’ll notice the first 20-30 feet in front of the camera will be lit up by the cameras infrared lights but the image will get gradually darker the further you get from the camera.

Most security cameras do not perform well at night, in fact, most cameras need additional lighting to provide a clear image in the dark.

1. Provide additional lighting to brighten up the area.

Even though I am providing you with several ways to improve the night vision of your security cameras, the most effective and easiest way for improving night vision is to provide additional lighting to make the area as bright as possible.

There are different ways to supplement the lighting based on the existing lighting available around your house without having to install new light fixtures.

Leave the lights on all night

If you have outdoor lighting in the area, leave the lights on all night. This is what I do in my back yard, I installed a timer to turn on the lights at dusk and turn them of at dawn. This not only helps the cameras see better at night, but I feel that having the lights on improves the overall security.

I replaced the two 90 watt light bulbs in the floodlight with two high efficient 15 watt LED bulbs. The new LED bulbs use very little electricity so I don’t mind paying a few more dollars a month to keep the lights on all night to have added security.

Use motion activated Lights

You can either leave lights on all night to brighten up the area or install motion activated lights to come on whenever there is movement.

Some homes might already have motion activated lights, but if you don’t, there is an inexpensive way of turning your existing lights to motion activated lights.

By using an attachment that screws into the existing light socket, you can turn a regular light fixture into a motion activated light. These devices have settings that will keep the lights on for a selected time whenever motion is detected, usually from 30 seconds to five minutes.

One of the benefits of using a motion activated light is that you can use a high wattage bulb to brighten up the area without worrying about your electric bill.

Install solar lights

One of my favorite things about solar lights is that you don’t need to hire an electrician to install them. In fact, there is no wiring involved for most of them.

Solar lights are not as bright a regular electric lights but sometimes you only need a little bit of extra lighting to improve your cameras night vision.

There are a couple of different types of solar lights:

Solar lights that you can install around your walkways, and all you have to do is just stick them in the ground and you’re done.

Solar lights that you can mount on a wall. These lights get attached to the wall with only a couple of screws.

2. Clean the camera’s lens or glass dome regularly to prevent light reflections.

Spider webs, dust, and water stains can cause a huge problem for all outdoor cameras, some are worst than others depending on where the camera is mounted and the angle of the camera.

Spiders love hanging out in front of security cameras for some reason, maybe it’s the heat emitted from the camera that keeps them warm and cozy at night, but they are a big pain in the neck because the spider webs block the cameras lens.

Dust and water drops on the lens cause the camera’s infrared lights to reflect into the lens to create a blurry image.

Cameras that are point to look downward are not effected by dust and water drops sitting on the lens as much as cameras that are pointed straight or level.

Over the years I have had to clean thousands of security cameras so I created an easy way of doing it to save a lot of time. This method works great for homeowners that don’t have tall ladders or just not comfortable climbing tall ladders.

You will need a paintbrush, a small towel, a bottle of glass cleaner and a broomstick or an extension pole.

• I tape the paintbrush on one end of the stick and roll up the towel into a ball and tape it to the other end of the stick.

• First I wipe the lens clean of any spider webs and dust with the paint brush.

• I then use the towel to wipe the camera and lens clean. If the camera is not too dirty then your done, just check the video from the camera to see if it cleared up.
• If the lens is very dirty I spray some glass cleaner on the towel and clean the lens again.

3. Choose the right camera for the area being viewed.

If the night vision on your security cameras is dark and grainy, the most likely problem is that the camera’s night vision capability is not sufficient for the area being viewed.

This problem can be easily solved by providing additional outdoor lighting as explained a little further in this article, but in the case where additional lighting is not available the only remedy is to replace the camera with one that is appropriately designed for the area being viewed.

The average security camera has an IR distance of about 50-65 feet. This means that the infrared Bulbs that are built into the camera can shine up to 50-65 feet away from the camera.

And based on my experience, a 50 foot IR range will give a viewable image of only about 20-30 feet, after that the image starts getting dark and you really can’t make out any details in the image.

The height that the camera is mounted also makes a big difference in how the area being viewed will light up.

For example, the cameras in the front of my house are mounted only about nine feet off the ground, while the cameras in my back yard are mounted about 22 feet off the ground.

The image of the cameras in my front yard is much brighter than the image of my back yard cameras because the camera’s lights are closer to the ground and the objects in the field of view.

A camera that is mounted higher will lose some of its ability to brighten up the area being viewed because the light that is emitted from the camera is much higher off the ground.

Choose the camera’s IR range based on the area be viewed

Check out the article I wrote about where to install security cameras to get an idea of how many cameras you will need to install around your home for best coverage.

Designing a security camera system doesn’t have to be complicated. In fact, I typically use only two types of cameras for residential installations.

I install cameras with a short IR range of about 50 feet to cover small spaces such as entrances and doorways and a medium range camera of about 130 feet for all the other areas.

A camera with a short IR range is perfect to be positioned above your front door because it is intended to view a person that’s standing just a few feet away from it.

If a homeowner has a large property, I might use a camera with a 175 to 300-foot IR range. These long-range cameras are good for getting a general view of the property.

Even though we can light up a more substantial area with these cameras, there is absolutely no detail when trying to view an object that’s 150 feet away at night because the person or object will appear too dark and too small at that distance.

4. Don’t try to cover a large area with just one camera.

Before you go through the trouble of installing security cameras, you first need to decide on what exactly it is that you want to see. If all you need is to get a general view of the property, then one camera might do the job.

For example, if you have a large property, you can install one camera on one corner of your house and get a general view of your entire back yard.

• With one camera you will be able to see if someone is on your property but you will not be able to identify them if they are more than 50 feet away from the camera.

• Keep in mind that what you are able to see during the day is not the same as what you can see at night.

• During the day you might be able to see to the end of your property, but at night the viewable distance is limited to the cameras night vision rating which is about 50 feet for most cameras.
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If your goal is to identify the people that are walking onto the property then you must install more cameras. As a general rule, I don’t expect to be able to identify a persons face at night if they are more than 20 to 30 feet away from the camera.

5. Don’t install the security camera to close to tall shrubs.

Installing the camera too close to tall shrubs and bushes will create a bright spot in the foreground. In the above picture, the camera’s infrared light is shining on the bush in front of the camera, causing the camera to adjust its lens based on the brightest part of the image and making the background very dark.

Some cameras have a setting called wide dynamic range (WDR) that compensates for contrasting brightness but it doesn’t always work if the object is too close.

I used the wide dynamic range setting on this camera but it didn’t make much of a difference. This bush just needs to be cut down a few feet and then the camera will be able to view the entire front yard.

6. Do not install the camera too close to a light.

Installing a security camera too close to a light fixture can cause light to reflect into the lens at night and distort the image.

• Too much light in the field of view of the camera, especially if it’s very close to the camera will cause the camera’s light sensor to overcompensate and close its iris, causing the background to be dark.

• The camera might not switch to night mode when a light is shining directly into the camera’s lens. The camera’s infrared lights do not come on if the camera is not switching to night mode resulting in a dark and blurry image.

A quick fix to this problem:

• Replace the light with a lower wattage bulb.

• Rotate the camera slightly so that the light fixture is not in the view of the camera.

• Turn on Wide Dynamic Range (WDR) in the camera’s settings. WDR setting automatically compensates for overexposure and balances the bright and dark areas to create a more balanced image.
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• To turn on the WDR setting, you will need to go into the cameras OSD (on-screen display). This setting can sometimes be accessed through the digital recorder.

7. Make sure your camera is switching to night mode

Inside the security camera, there is something that’s called an IR cut filter, and this filter blocks infrared light waves from entering through the lens during the day.

During the day IR filters are necessary for the camera to produce realistic colors, but at night the IR filter needs to be moved out of the way of the lens in order for the camera to be able to see its own built-in infrared lights needed for night vision.

When a camera switches to night mode, the image switches from being in color to a black and white image and the IR filter is moved away from the lens. When this happens you will hear a clicking noise from inside of the camera.

If the camera does not switch to night mode, it might mean that there is enough ambient lighting available for the camera to stay in color/day mode or the camera is defective.

To test whether a camera is switching to night mode, you can place your finger over the light sensor. The light sensor is a small circle usually found below the lens.

If the camera switches to night mode, you will hear a click inside the camera and see a series of red infrared bulbs turn on around the lens.

If the camera does not switch to night mode when you place your finger over the light sensor, you can reboot the camera by powering it down for 10 seconds and then powering it back up.

To power down the camera, it’s best to find the power supply for the camera inside the house. The power supply will usually be located near the DVR (Digital Video Recorder) and it will be either inside a box where all of the other cameras are being powered or a transformer that is plugged into an electrical outlet.

Some times this resets the camera, but if that doesn’t work, then the camera must be replaced.

8. Add external infrared lighting.

Even though a security camera has its own built in infrared light source, there might be times where you will need to be supplement it with an external IR light.

These IR lights are small enough that they can be installed next to the camera or away from the camera to brighten up dark spots that can’t be reached from the camera’s internal lighting.

These lights require power, so you can tap into the cameras power source if you are installing them next to the camera, or plug them into an available electrical outlet if they are installed away from the camera, and having an available power source will dictate where they are mounted.

 

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