IR illuminator glare

[PSWired 0]

I have a turret camera installed under the eave at my house looking into the back yard. The camera has separate lens and IR illuminator glass, with black plastic in between. Here's the camera:

 

http://www.ltsecurityinc.com/en_us/product/979.html

 

At night when the illuminator is on, I get some image washout due to what appears to be reflected light into the lens from the white paint on the eave above the camera. If I hold the camera by hand away from the eave, the glare disappears.

 

 

 

Picture of installation:

 

 

 

Any tips for reducing this glare?

[Kawboy12R 0]

Moving the camera is probably the best one, but you might try painting (or black magic markering) the inside lip of the fascia board that sticks down a bit in front of the camera with something that doesn't reflect IR. Some dark materials show up white (means they are reflective) under IR so it's not always obvious. There are three obvious reflection sources. Wooden soffit, fascia board, and downspout. Mounting the camera lower (with a spacer or on the wall), closer to the gutter, and farther away from the downspout would help keep the IRs away from reflecting surfaces. I assume that you don't want to point the camera down more or away from the downspout.

[D&C_ELECTRONICS 1]

This camera use 1/3" PixelPlus CMOS Sensor.

Even If It's 600TVL, the sencitivity is not good. This sensor is the Cheapest in the Market

 

Better Buy a Camera with SONY CCD Sensor.

[aibudo 0]

Everyone has an opinion, but what I do in this type of installation is to use a camera similar (just as an example) to the graphic that I have attached. Slide the shield forward enough to eliminate the reflection back into the lens. I have also used the technique of painting the rear of the facia board that helps in some cases. I also agree into using a CCD instead of the CMOS.

 

Dennis

[PSWired 0]

Thanks for the suggestions so far. I did try putting a piece of black vinyl electrical tape on the back of the fascia board, and then a piece of blue painter's tape. Neither seemed to make a difference.

 

I got out a Sony camcorder with a selectable IR cut filter and used it to see where the light is reflecting. It's definitely the underside of the eave and the fascia board. Downspout isn't being illuminated.

 

I could build a bracket to lower the camera, but it'd have to go down a fair amount and I think the aesthetics would suffer.

 

How do those shields on the cameras work without having the same problem as the light reflecting from the underside of the eave? Is there some sort of paint that I can use that won't mess up the look of the eave? Black paint on the back of the fascia I might be okay with, but black paint on the underside of the eave will look like crap.

[shockwave199 0]

You'll probably need to move the camera forward- try all the way to the fascia. Also, a versital tape to try is gaffers tape. It comes in black or white and it's used a lot on stage because it doesn't leave residue when you pull it off equipment and wires. That's where I use it. It's a cloth type of tape and it because it's a mat finish to the tape, it may be less shiny and reflective than the paint on your eave/fascia. You can find it on amazon. But I'm betting you'll have to move that camera forward. And since you might have to do that, the next question is- is that really a good spot at all? Doesn't look like you're getting much of a useful FOV regardless, but it's hard to tell without a person in the shot.

[PSWired 0]

I have some gaffers tape somewhere, I'll try to dig that up and cover the back of the fascia board to see if that helps.

 

I moved the camera forward by hand, and even with it right up against the fascia, the gutter causes glare.

 

Here's a daytime view. The wall would be an ideal spot for it, but I don't want it there for aesthetics.

 

 

 

Do you think painting the area the IR is hitting with flat white paint instead of the semi-gloss that's there would make a difference?

[shockwave199 0]

And yet you have a clunky spot light that looks aesthetically nasty. Consider getting rid of the beehive right next to the brick in the corner there and placing the camera there, down some on the wall. Trade a beehive for a camera. Soon enough you won't notice the camera and it'll likely cure the problem and might even give a better fov. You can try painting and stuff to help your current position- you'll only know if you try. And maybe consider bringing down the saturation on that channel too. It'll dull down the colors a bit and make for a more natural picture. Good luck.

 

Btw- you might want to consider trying right at the corner of the eave, just in front of the spot light. See what that does. Perhaps angle the camera down a bit to avoid any glare from the gutter.

[Kawboy12R 0]

Maybe replace that floodlight bulb with, say, an LED bulb with built-in motion sensing? That should give you a good picture when needed and solve the bad picture problem without relocating the cam or replacing it with a bullet cam that has a proper visor on it. You'd be better off with motion lighting anyway, so why not try and kill two birds with one bulb?