Security Camera Reports

There are a lot of offers and how do you know what to choose from? For those who don’t know much about an infrared security camera, here is some information that may help you find out what to look for.

What is an Infrared Security Camera?

This kind of camera has infrared lighting which is light from a different region than we normally use to see of the electromagnetic spectrum. The infrared lighting is installed outside of the camera’s lens and allows it to capture a good image in total darkness. In low light the picture captured by infrared cameras looks just like one captured in the day time.

People usually use an infrared security camera for outside, nighttime viewing or for businesses that at night have the lights out. One thing you should remember is that even at nighttime there is some light from the stars, moon or street lights so total darkness situations are rare. Infrared cameras are often referred to as “Night Vision” cameras because at night they can “see”. However Night Vision and Day/ Night Cameras are not the same thing; Day/ Night cameras unlike Night Vision don’t have infrared lights built in.

Outdoor

Infrared security cameras don’t do well in outdoor housing because the glass of the housing is reflected off by the infrared light. You can get acceptable results through reducing the glare by absolutely flushing up the camera to the glass. In this situation you can use a day/ night camera with an extra sensitive imaging chip that can capture a good picture without using infrared lighting. This works well if you have an exterior light that you leave on at night or there are street lights outside.

Lux and Resolution

No camera without infrared lighting will capture an image with zero light. Camera’s lux refers to the level of light required for a good picture to be captured, a low lux means the camera can see very well in the dark. If a camera has 0.003 lux and another one 0.2 lux, the first camera is better than the second. Taking into account how far the camera can see in total darkness you can compare an infrared security camera. If you have an 80 ft. infrared day/ night color high resolution CS-Mount camera it means you can see with no light at all up to 80 ft.