swampguinnie 0 Posted November 19, 2009 Hi, I have an acti 7411, installed for its low level lighting ability and megapixel quality but it is black & white all the time. It is housed in a 15m long, 8m wide & 2.6m tall pool room with only wall lights when tables are not in use. There are no windows or natural light. I was wondering if a separate IR illumination would be the best method of obtaining 24/7 color. If so, what models are suggested? I need a fairly wide angle of spread as the viewing area required is 3m away from the camera mounting position to 10m away. Also, i was going to mount a camera on the opposite wall but will the IR lights to help the original camera wash out the view if a camera was opposite it? [edit by mod-store link removed] I was looking at this, is it good for the purpose do you think? Regards Swamp. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cglaeser 0 Posted November 20, 2009 I was wondering if a separate IR illumination would be the best method of obtaining 24/7 color. Do you mean IR or white LED? IR does not render color the same as the visible spectrum (e.g. dark blue can appear white on camera). Best, Christopher Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hardwired 0 Posted November 20, 2009 If you add IR lighting, you will get better image quality, but still in B/W. The only way to get color images with that camera is to raise the white light level above its switching threshold (4 Lux). Having said that, the 7411 still may be a good choice in that environment (good resolution), if you can live with B/W images, and maybe combine it with a good CCD cam at the entrance / exit for clothing / skin color descriptions. About the best megapixel cam for color low light I've come across is the Panasonic WV-NP502, which has a CCD imager, but it's a pricey critter. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cglaeser 0 Posted November 20, 2009 About the best megapixel cam for color low light I've come across is the Panasonic WV-NP502, which has a CCD imager, but it's a pricey critter. A couple indoor 502 images were posted to this forum about a month ago. Do you have any additional images? I placed an order for a 502 on Monday and I eagerly await the arrival and install. Best, Christopher Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hardwired 0 Posted November 20, 2009 About the best megapixel cam for color low light I've come across is the Panasonic WV-NP502, which has a CCD imager, but it's a pricey critter. A couple indoor 502 images were posted to this forum about a month ago. Do you have any additional images? I placed an order for a 502 on Monday and I eagerly await the arrival and install. Best, Christopher Just put a few up in the sample megapixel images sticky.... I'll get more when I can. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
swampguinnie 0 Posted November 20, 2009 If you add IR lighting, you will get better image quality, but still in B/W. The only way to get color images with that camera is to raise the white light level above its switching threshold (4 Lux). Please can you explain how i could do such a thing please? There is a light hanging close to my camera, if i tilt it so the light points slightly towards the camera (not directly into it) I do obtain colour even though the light only hits the camera and none of the room. This is useful as it makes the people playing on a table show clearly even if there is only 1 table on. I believe I am just below the colour threshhold! 1)I was going to update my light fitting to some low light led , but might not have to if I can raise the point at which the camera switches to black & white 2)Having said that, there is still some colour bleed when i obtain colour by pointing the light towards it. Would an IR light such as the one in my above post clear this bleed up? Would 1 & 2 combined do the trick do we think? All help greatly appreciated Swamp Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hardwired 0 Posted November 20, 2009 The camera has a sensor (little lens next to the main lens) which detects the overall level of WHITE light in the area. When the cam is in color mode, there is an infrared cutfilter that is moved into place between the lens and imager. This filter is necessary for a true day/ night camera operation, to eliminate the effects of infrared light on a color day image. In night mode, when the white light level drops below 4 Lux in this case, the cut filter moves out of the way, enabling infrared sensitivity to the imager, but the color rendition would be horrible at this point (lots of horrible looking aqua colors, usually), so the camera changes its output to B/W at that point. As you've seen, you can "fool" the camera into thinking there is enough light available by pointing additional white light at the sensor, it does not even need to be in the actual field of view of the lens, as long as it is hitting the sensor. A few manufacturers allow you to change that switching threshold value, but Acti is not one of them. I've thought about adding a potentiometer to the circuit to "fool" the sensor into switching at different values, but have not done it yet. Gotta go back and refresh myself on CdS sensor values..... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
