Someone explain IR Illuminators plz + questions

S

sharpharp

Getting the hang of it
Nov 26, 2014
100
5
Couple of questions on IR illuminators

1) Do they need to be near the IP Camera and pointing in the same direction and angle as the camera?
Or can I have the camera on a high wall and the IR illuminator at ground level?

2) I have a spare Ethernet-ended Cat cable line going outside which is connected to a POE injector on the internal side, I want to use that external POE powered Ethernet Cable to power an IR Illuminator, but all the illuminators I've seen have a 12v round power input and not an Ethernet connector. Can you buy a converter from Ethernet to the round 12v cable?

Here is an example of the cable type the illuminators use:
DSHA New Hot UK 48 LED illuminator light CCTV IR Infrared Night Vision Lamp for Security Came-in Street Lights from Lights & Lighting on Aliexpress.com | Alibaba Group
 
An IR Illuminator is just like any other light, except it happens to be infrared. So it's harder to see with your eye, but it works for the camera (when camera is in "night" mode). Think about a regular flashlight, can you put the light on the ground and sit on the high wall and still see things? Yes- wherever the flashlight is pointing- but you'll see lots of strange shadows also, with the light from below. Normally people put the illuminators near the camera, but a few feet to the side, to reduce the number of insects and spiders in the field of view of the camera. With just one light you have a pretty harsh scene that may have blown-out highlights if someone gets too close to the light; you can get more even lighting if you use more than one illuminator spaced some distance apart.

Yes you can get an adaptor from ethernet to 12V, look for "PoE active splitter 12V" like
Active PoE Splitter Power Over Ethernet 48V to 12V Compliant IEEE802.3af 15.4W | eBay
 
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cam235 said:
An IR Illuminator is just like any other light, except it happens to be infrared. So it's harder to see with your eye, but it works for the camera (when camera is in "night" mode). Think about a regular flashlight, can you put the light on the ground and sit on the high wall and still see things? Yes- wherever the flashlight is pointing- but you'll see lots of strange shadows also, with the light from below. Normally people put the illuminators near the camera, but a few feet to the side, to reduce the number of insects and spiders in the field of view of the camera. With just one light you have a pretty harsh scene that may have blown-out highlights if someone gets too close to the light; you can get more even lighting if you use more than one illuminator spaced some distance apart.

Yes you can get an adaptor from ethernet to 12V, look for "PoE active splitter 12V" like
Active PoE Splitter Power Over Ethernet 48V to 12V Compliant IEEE802.3af 15.4W | eBay
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info Cam.

What frequency IR Illuminator should I buy? Some are 850nm, others are different? I have Hikvision 3mp an 4mp Turrets
 
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850nm has a visible red glow @ the illuminator; but the illumination is invisible to the naked eye.
940nm has no visible red glow @ the illuminator; but the illumination the camera can see is about 1/3rd as much as 850nm given the same power.. so everything else equal it takes 3x 940nm's to lightup as well as a single 850nm.. these are generally discouraged unless your paying dearly for covert surveillance.
 
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For a given power, you will have a brighter image with 850nm. That is what most people here use. The 850nm light is visible as a dim red if you look directly at the illuminator; for that reason some people prefer 940 nm which is much harder to see by eye, but the camera is also much less sensitive there so you need much more power to get a good image.

If you have an "IR Compensated" lens with a tighter field of view, it can give a focused image with both daytime (visible light) and 850 at night, but using 940nm it would need to be refocused. If it's a wide-angle lens, it may not matter.

By the way, if you want "covert" you can still use 850nm. If that dim red glow is right next to a visible light (porch light, walkway light, holiday light string, etc) it is barely noticeable.
 
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Which IR illuminator would you guys recommend from ali express? I have a Hikvision turret 4mp

Am I right in thinking the Array ones (the bigger IR LEDs types) are better?
Also, if I am using a splitter to power the illuminator, does the Wattage of the Illuminator have any bearing of the power supplied to it.

I hope to use my spare injector, will it work with Illuminators which are 36w etc?

Thanks again for your replies guys, really appreciate it
 
I use this one High Lighting Waterproof 50m DC 12V 2A illuminator Fill Assist Night Vision infrared 8 LED IR Lights for CCTV Security Camera-in CCTV Accessories from Security & Protection on Aliexpress.com | Alibaba Group

It lights up really good and switches automatically on and off when it gets dark and it´s actually tuned perfectly acceptable.
you only need some 12 V supply I Think it was. but hey rip out an old computer power supply if you don´t have anything else laying around =)

one downside I guess is that the screws are not in stainless steel so I sealed all screws and stuff with silicon and it works good
 
badmannen said:
I use this one High Lighting Waterproof 50m DC 12V 2A illuminator Fill Assist Night Vision infrared 8 LED IR Lights for CCTV Security Camera-in CCTV Accessories from Security & Protection on Aliexpress.com | Alibaba Group

It lights up really good and switches automatically on and off when it gets dark and it´s actually tuned perfectly acceptable.
you only need some 12 V supply I Think it was. but hey rip out an old computer power supply if you don´t have anything else laying around =)

one downside I guess is that the screws are not in stainless steel so I sealed all screws and stuff with silicon and it works good
Click to expand...

Do you need a dedicated 12v supply for this, or will a POE splittered input work?
 
it just depends on how much power you got there in the POE connection . but normally I would say no . I think it is 12V 3A for the IR lamp I I remember correctly
 
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badmannen said:
it just depends on how much power you got there in the POE connection . but normally I would say no . I think it is 12V 3A for the IR lamp I I remember correctly
Click to expand...

Thanks, I'm 100% after one I can use with an existing spare POE injector -> CAT cable -> POE Splitter -> 12v Power -> Array style IR illuminator
 
Hopefully its ok to piggyback my question here, because I had an IR related one.

Is there any advantage of IR over motion sensor lights?
I already have a motion sensor floodlight for the side gate, and with two floods it's almost like daytime lol.
I was thinking about putting a motion sensor floodlight by the backdoor too, which is probably the darkest area around my house.

So, any reason to use IR instead?

Thanks
Randy
 
motion lights are not all they are cracked up to be; they are not intimidating to criminals on the premisis.. infact you may be just providing them more light to work with instead of foring them do break out a flashlight and really drawing attention to them selves.. you and your neighbors wont look outside to see what kicked the motion lights on, but if you saw a flashlight moving about you sure in the fuck would.

IR Illuminators can be left on constantly all night and they wont light up the area; if you look at the 4MP vs 2MP Starlight video I posted up the other day.. I am stumbling arround like a drunk if you pay attention.. thats because that area is pitch black and only illuminated by IR.. I was going slow and steady to keep from busting my shins on my trailer top or hitch dock.. which were practically invisible to my eyes but the camera's saw everything.
 
nayr said:
motion lights are not all they are cracked up to be; they are not intimidating to criminals on the premisis.. infact you may be just providing them more light to work with instead of foring them do break out a flashlight and really drawing attention to them selves.. you and your neighbors wont look outside to see what kicked the motion lights on, but if you saw a flashlight moving about you sure in the fuck would.

IR Illuminators can be left on constantly all night and they wont light up the area; if you look at the 4MP vs 2MP Starlight video I posted up the other day.. I am stumbling arround like a drunk if you pay attention.. thats because that area is pitch black and only illuminated by IR.. I was going slow and steady to keep from busting my shins on my trailer top or hitch dock.. which were practically invisible to my eyes but the camera's saw everything.
Click to expand...

So an IR keeps the bad guys in the dark (sorry about that).
The motion detectors are not really meant for security, they are meant for convenience when someone (like me) is one side of the house at night, and doesn't want to kill himself in the dark. I'm probably going to change to a motion detection light by the front door too, we have stairs leading to the door and it will make it safer. For years, we have turned on the light at night when expecting someone.
I expect with the light from this, I won't need IR too. But I'll see when I get my cams installed in front.

Thanks
Randy
 
Hi all,

Need some quick advice..

My POE Splitter is a TP-Link TL-POE200B, which is rated at 12v (1.0A) 9V (1.0A) 5V (2.0A)

Can you please recommend the best IR Illuminator that will work with this please?

Thanks
 
sharpharp said:
Hi all,

Need some quick advice..

My POE Splitter is a TP-Link TL-POE200B, which is rated at 12v (1.0A) 9V (1.0A) 5V (2.0A)

Can you please recommend the best IR Illuminator that will work with this please?

Thanks
Click to expand...

Amazon.com : Univivi U03R WideAngle 90 Degree 4pcs High Power LED IR Array Illuminator : Camera & Photo

Probably this. One review says it only uses 4 watts (0.3 amps) which should leave enough for a fixed position camera if you are sharing the power between a camera and illuminator.
 
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