Looking answers for.....

[JT_Singh]

Helpful lot - two questions which are bugging me for a while.
Question1:
Currently I have two 4 MP IP cameras with NV capabilities. I also have PIR floodlights installed - one next to it and the other way above the camera. During the night, when the PIR sensor activates the floodlight, the camera switches from NV to normal mode because of the presence of the external light. However this transition last around 10-15 seconds and during which one can't see anything due to the flash of the light. This of course doesn't help if someone is walking through the detection area as by the time the camera regain its senses, it's too late.
Is this expected / normal behaviour? Is there any solution to fix this? One option is to get rid of the external floodlights, but external lights do help with a better view of the camera in the night, as oppose to a NV view. And keeping the floodlights permanently ON isn't viable too!
Question 2:
Most of my cameras are at vantage points which aren't too easily accessible. And repeatedly I have cobwebs forming on them which again distort the view and at times completely blinds it - rendering it useless for any security.
I read somewhere that this is because insects - food for spiders - are attracted to the IR light in the camera. So spiders build a web around it to enjoy the feast. Is this true?! If yes, what's the best possible solution?
BTW, do have any IP cameras which have in built microwave sensor instead of IR sensors?

 

[TonyR]

1. The camera being blinded for a time when a flood light is switched on for ANY reason is normal behavior.
If positioning the floodlight further away from the camera does not help, the you have a decision: live with it, disable the floodlight's motion sensor or turn the floodlights on all night.

2. Turret cameras are the best form factor; they are affected the least by spider webs because the IR's are not in a ring around the lens and they don't have a dome that gets dirty from fog & dust or hazy due to UV fogging of dome.

If spiders are a constant issue (as they are with bullet cameras), some forum members suggest regular cleaning of the lens and the periodic application of insect poison around the IR LED ring to help deter the spiders.

 

[catcamstar]

Haai!
It would help if you tell us the brand of your camera's, but for topic 1: on Dahua it has an "automatic" day/night detection (based on the amound of (ambient) light. If you have flood lights, it will indeed "take some time" to adjust everything to that amount of light. And eventually you loose some footage. Which means you have to mess around with the settings (eg "automatic" change day/night profile or "scheduled change"-only).
Question 2: Indeed, IR light is important, but formfactor too. Turning off IR is already a good start.
Hope ths helps!
CC

Edit: ninja'ed by TonyR ;-)

 

[TonyR]

BTW, do have any IP cameras which have in built microwave sensor instead of IR sensors?

I forgot that one...

In typical surveillance cameras, the sensor that switches on the IR (infrared) LED's is a sensor that detects visible light (about 380 to 740 nm in wavelength for humans).
When the ambient light falls below a certain threshold that allows the camera to "see" as a human would, the sensor turns on the IR LED's.

BTW, you might want to read this recent post by @sparker1 : Security Light sensor switch and Security Camera are Fighting!

 

[JT_Singh]

1. The camera being blinded for a time when a flood light is switched on for ANY reason is normal behavior.
If positioning the floodlight further away from the camera does not help, the you have a decision: live with it, disable the floodlight's motion sensor or turn the floodlights on all night.

2. Turret cameras are the best form factor; they are affected the least by spider webs because the IR's are not in a ring around the lens and they don't have a dome that gets dirty from fog & dust or hazy due to UV fogging of dome.

If spiders are a constant issue (as they are with bullet cameras), some forum members suggest regular cleaning of the lens and the periodic application of insect poison around the IR LED ring to help deter the spiders.

Thanks for the reply.

On (1) - If this is an expected behaviour, then I think one option would be to have a floodlight with a longer/wider sensor range which allows it come ON earlier for the camera to regain its sense. Will this actually help?

 

[JT_Singh]

Question 2: Indeed, IR light is important, but formfactor too. Turning off IR is already a good start.

What do you mean? If it is important how turning it off is a good start? Sorry, maybe I getting all mixed up here...!

 

[catcamstar]

What do you mean? If it is important how turning it off is a good start? Sorry, maybe I getting all mixed up here...!

Well, it's all about frequency of the light. We don't see IR light. But bugs and beast do see it wonderfully well. It's like broad daylight for them. Turning of IR (on the cam at least) does help disattract these monsters from your cam, but if you don't have enough ambient nightlight (eg streets/moon), you might still want (need?) to install an external flood light / ir light to "compensate". Hopefully that draws away the monsters from your camera, but then you'll need to instrument your camera to tackle the first question: how to "teach" the camera to "stay" in one mode that it doesn't switch.

Hence my suggestion above to specify which cam you have.

Thanks!
CC

 

[JT_Singh]

Hence my suggestion above to specify which cam you have.

I currently got this

http://videoteknika.com/product/vd7674w/

But I am planning to replace them with Hikvisio, potentially this one DS-2CD2386G2-IU Hikvision 8MP Acusense turret IP camera with Audio

 

[TonyR]

Thanks for the reply.

On (1) - If this is an expected behaviour, then I think one option would be to have a floodlight with a longer/wider sensor range which allows it come ON earlier for the camera to regain its sense. Will this actually help?

It depends on how the floodlight is turned on:

If it's a dusk-to-dawn sensor, you could get it turn on sooner (when brighter) by partially obscuring the sensor with black electrical tape to make the sensor "think" it's darker than it really is.
The intent would be for the flood to be on long before the camera IR.

None of that applies if the flood is motion-activated, of course .

 

[JT_Singh]

BTW - does Hikvision has an IP camera which has a mic/speaker to have a two way audio? I came across this DS-2CD2443G0-IW Hikvision CCTV cube camera with microphone but was wondering if there's any other from them?