IR camera picture bad at night

[adam1982 0]

I have 2 dome IR's and 2 bullet IR's installed on my parents house for them and the picture is great during the day. At night the picture is good on all of them except for one. It does face a street corner light a little and was wondering how this affects the IR. Could it be causing a glare? I have attached a day time image and a night time image from yesterday. The camera in question is #3 Sidewalk. This is a bullet style IR camera.

[ilkevinli 0]

The reason why #3 has a bad night picture is because there is no light. The IRs need some light for them to work properly. I bet if you put some kind of light near that area, youll get a picture like the rest of the cameras. The other cameras are picking up the street light or your neighbors house lights.

[scorpion 0]

Turn the camera 90 degrees then post a screen shot.

 

Also: what is the IR distance rating for the camera? You can only use have of the rating.

 

It appears that the sidewalk is about 15 from where the camera is mounted, but then I am only guessing. If this is the case then it should be working better. The camera is pointed in a downwards angle, and the sidewalk should be lit up from the IR. If the street light was shining in that area, and the street light illumination was enough then the camera may come out of the black, and white mode, and become color. The screen shot shows B/W so that means it may be in the night time mode.

 

Perhaps you need a 60 foot IR throw is needed.

http://scorpiontheater.com/irlab.aspx

[adam1982 0]

Here is a link to the exact camera that I have mounted. You are correct with the sidewalk being approx 15ft away. I will go by my parents tonight and turn the camera in different positions and see what happens. I have the same cameras on my house and no light and do not have this problem. Here are the specs from the camera I have since it will not let me post a link.

 

Features

Varifocal 4 to 9 mm lens

1/3 inch Sony Super HAD CCD Sensor

420 TV Lines

125ft. IR view distance

Built in 48 IR LED

Exterior adjustments for focus & zoom (no need to remove housing)

Wall mount only

Cable management bracket

 

 

 

 

Specifications

TV System: NTSC

Image Sensor: 1/3-inch Sony Super HAD CCD sensor

Resolution: 420 Lines

Video Output: 1.0 Vp-p 75 Ohms

Min. Illumination: 1 LUX (0.2 LUX with IR)

Shutter Speed: 1/60~1/100,000 sec. for NTSC

Backlight Compensation: Auto

White Balance: Auto

Gamma Correction: > 0.45

S/N Ratio: Over 50dB at AGC off

Waterproof Rating: IP55

Power Supply: DC12V 1 amp

Operating Temperatures: -4°F ~ 122°F (-20°C + 50°C)

Dimensions: 85mm (diameter) X 124mm (length) [3.35in(D) X 4.9in(L)]

Weight: 680g (1.5 lbs.)

[scorpion 0]

Something is not right! If that is truely a 125 foot IR throw then the sidewalk should show an intensity spot. Imagine a hunting million candle spot light, and shine it at a wall from 15 feet away. The light would be to bright.

 

I do not see a "high beam" shining on your sidewalk. Perhaps you can take some electrical tape, and put it over the photo cell. This will test to see if external light is causing the IR to not turn on, or it will tell you that the IR is not working.

 

If the IR are coming on then you should see a slight reddish glow.

 

Do this first before you turn the camera. Once we know these answers, then turn the camera, and lets see what we get.

[adam1982 0]

I have the same cameras ad I do have a light ring at night. THere may be something wrong with that camera but I will check it with the ways you have stated. I will report the results back tonight or in the morning.

[vin2install 0]

Is camera #3 a dome?

[Sawbones 0]

Your IR is either not coming on, or something is seriously wrong with that camera. It looks like it's in B&W mode, so it's gone to the "night" setting, but I see no visible IR.

 

A 125ft IR camera should be good to at least 60-70ft or so... you can basically cut the "effective" distance in half compared to the manufacturer's specs. Even so, there should be a large bloom of IR light on that sidewalk, and I'm not seeing it.

 

If it's using the common CCTV near-IR spectrum of light, it'll be visible to the naked eye when it comes on... a dull reddish glow will be seen to be coming from the LEDs. If not, then that's your problem; it's either not coming on, or the IR is broken in that camera. If it's the latter, then you could leave the camera in place, and simply add an external illuminator, and that would be my recommendation. I've personally gone away from integrated IR for my cameras, and strictly use external illuminators... you just get better results.

[Sam007 0]

I know this might sound rather silly and simple but hey, I had a problem similar to this on an outdoor bullet camera at my old mans shop and it ended up being a dirty camera lens/front glass! Grab some windex and paper towel and clean the camera glass. I believe the dirty glass (water marks/dirt) especially where the LED's are caused the IR's to reflect back into the lens causing the foggy/bad picture.

[rory 0]

its too dark in a far wide area in front of the camera, the camera has very little IR output, there are no reflective surfaces within the max IR distance of the camera, and well, it looks like a very inexpensive color/IR camera just by seeing the color in the day time image and going by the specs.

 

I would start by totally ignoring this:

125ft. IR view distance

 

Also, check for settings to turn the IR power up higher.

Additionally all Infrared applications require setup at night.

You should see the IR LEDs, just dont stare at them for any length of time.

[Sawbones 0]

its too dark in a far wide area in front of the camera, the camera has very little IR output, there are no reflective surfaces within the max IR distance of the camera, and well, it looks like a very inexpensive color/IR camera just by seeing the color in the day time image and going by the specs.

 

I would start by totally ignoring this:

125ft. IR view distance

 

Also, check for settings to turn the IR power up higher.

Additionally all Infrared applications require setup at night.

You should see the IR LEDs, just dont stare at them for any length of time.

 

That's actually quite an important point. I have some military-grade IR illuminators that require mounting, such that nobody's face can be within 3-4 feet of the illuminator when operating. Your eye's iris will not constrict in reaction to the IR spectrum, and you can damage your retinas with very strong IR sources.

 

It's a safety issue that's sometimes overlooked.