Infrared Camera Buying Advice
An infrared camera has infrared LED lighting installed around the outside of the lens of the camera. This lighting enables the camera to capture a good image in little or no light condition at all. With a little bit of light (usually called low light) the infrared camera can capture a picture that looks just like bright daytime. People use infrared security cameras for businesses property that have the lights out at night (in case of break-ins). Or people could use it for the exterior side of a house for nighttime security viewing. At night, there is still some light from the moon, star, or streetlight. With an infrared security camera, you will stay safe at home.
Infrared cameras are sometimes called "Night Vision" cameras because they can see things at night. However, do not mix night vision camera up with day / night cameras. Day / Night cameras do not have infrared lights built in. Infrared security cameras will provide a color picture while the light is good. When it gets dark, the camera will switch to infrared mode and illuminate its built-in infrared LEDs. In infrared mode, the image is captured in black and white - this is true of all infrared cameras. The level of light required to capture a good picture is referred to as a camera's lux, the lower the lux the better the camera can see in low light. For example a camera with 0.003 lux is better than a camera with 0.2 lux. Infrared cameras are considered to be 0.0 lux in infrared mode - in other words they can 'see' in total darkness. Infrared cameras are also compared by how far they can see in total darkness. This is generally a result of how many infrared LEDs are built into the camera.
If you are going to install an infrared camera outdoors for your property, its best to use an outdoor weatherproof bullet style camera. This is because if you use an indoor infrared camera and then you need to put it in an outdoor housing, sometimes the infrared light reflects off the glass of the housing. Some people get acceptable results if the camera is absolutely flush up to the glass thereby reducing the glare. An alternative solution is to use a day / night camera that has an extra sensitive imaging chip that allows it to capture a good picture in low light situations without using infrared lighting. This works well for example if there are streetlights outside or an exterior light that can be left on at night. Please be reminded that cameras without infrared lighting will not capture an image in total darkness. The other issue to consider is that infrared cameras require more power (more amperage). The power requirements are provided in the specs for each camera.
Buying Tips:
When there is no security lighting system around your house, infrared camera system could be very important to your house security. Some devices capture images in color, which is best for daytime lighting. For nighttime viewing choosing an infrared camera, which captures images in black and white is better. Many of the products will display color during the day and automatically switch to black and white infrared viewing when light levels are low. Resolution levels for black and white are usually about 400 lines, do not expect any higher resolution cause the benefits you could get from this is minimal. For color cameras, the higher resolution the better the picture you can get.
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