While technology in security equipment is always improving, the equipment on its own will not always bring results. To take advantage of the full potential of new cameras and techniques, users must know the advantages and limitations of the equipment and how to set it up to optimize its use accordingly. In this week’s blog, we’ll cover some tips for both Wide Dynamic Range Cameras and how to set up cameras to record over a long distance.
Wide Dynamic Range Tips
Wide dynamic range cameras have the advantage of working will in monitoring areas where brightness in the field of view varies greatly. This includes entryways and exit points, for example, transportation centers like parking garages and train stations where people enter and exit from a well lit outside to low light inside.
In order to maximize the potential of WDR cameras, they should be used for their intended purpose. WDR cameras are not intended for scenes which are either low or high brightness, they work best for the combination of the two. Another issue with WDR cameras is motion blur. WDR cameras that use the multi-imaging technique to record footage restrict the minimum shutter speed, causing longer exposure times which in low light conditions can result in motion blur. Cameras that have the option to turn off WDR recording at night should do so in order to compensate for this. The more uniform the lighting at night, the less likely it is that motion blur will occur.
Long Distance Recording Tips
The biggest challenge with recording over long distances is that the amount of light that reaches the camera decreases exponentially as the distance increases, based on the inverse square law. For example, if the distance between the camera and the field of vision is doubled, the light that reaches the camera is reduced by a factor of four. Tripled, and the light is reduced by a factor of nine.
To compensate, cameras with high zoom lenses are used. However, as distance increases the size of the lens and its light gathering power must increase as well, and it reaches a point where cameras with the required specifications don’t yet exist. Placing a camera closer to the field of view with a portable power source and wireless technology to stream the feed will solve the problem of distance.
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Sources
http://security-today.com/Articles/2013/08/01/Distance-The-Other-Variable.aspx?Page=1
http://security-today.com/Articles/2013/08/01/WDR-is-Everywhere-Lately.aspx?Page=1