Tricky motion detection scenario

[bconrey]

Struggling to resolve a high false-positive rate for motion detection on my driveway cam and could use some tips from the pros.

Our front yard has tall palm trees which cast long shadows in the morning and big shadows mid-day. Our area is breezy and the movement of the trees trips the motion detector often. I have increased the object size, increased make time, and tried several zone configs. Most recently I drew three bands across the driveway with gaps in between, added another all-encompassing zone to cover the gaps, and set object detection to 1>2>3. Still lots of false positives. Ideas?

Pic of the driveway and a midday shadow:

 

[Fastb]

image didn't come through.

MD for outdoors doesn't perform well. Too many false alerts: Moving branches, shadows, leaves, bugs, etc. Well covered here, in other threads (research)

IVS (Smart Detect) is much better. Virtual trip wire and intrusion zone features result in far fewer false alarms.

PIR connected to the cam's "external alarm input" or to the NVR's external local alarm is better.

Better yet is using a PIR + Radar sensor (eg: Bosch MD850) or a real laser line connected as mentioned above for PIR.

Or use driveway sensors - lotta them on the market.

Fastb

 

[tangent]

image didn't come through.

Image is there it just didn't embed right:

Cam is pretty high with a harsh downward angle

 

[bconrey]

Thanks, lots of good info and ideas. Much appreciated. I'll research further and may have follow-up questions.

Regarding the location and position of the camera, it's not perfect but what I had to work with. Combination of the coverage I was trying to accomplish plus minimizing the bleed from the IR light at night limited my positioning options.

 

[Fastb]

That looks like a good application for PIR + Radar