Subscriber Discussion

How Do I Get Rid Of A Red Glow On My IR Domes?

MG
Martin Griffin
Nov 29, 2013

We have a number of IR 2MP Domes deployed in horse pins that have heat lamps during night time.

The issue is that when the heat lamps are on, the cameras produce a very strange image

when the heat lamps are off the cameras are perfect during night time.

I haven’t had the pleasure of being in front of the setting pages directly as the customer has sent the images to me for review in advance of going on site.

Does anyone have any recommendations in setting changes?

TM
Timothy Mc Pheron
Nov 29, 2013

I would suspect that the heat lamps are putting out infrared, some of which is in the wave length the IR cameras are capable of picking up. Can you turn off the camera IR LEDs independently to see what kind of image you get when the heat lamps are on without the built in camera illumination? Is the image acceptable that way? If it was you might be able to tie into the same power circuit via relay and I/O port to automatically accomplish this switching.

HL
Horace Lasell
Nov 29, 2013

I should preface this with the fact that I'm just some dude with a theory but with no experience or professional knowledge in this area.

The presence of color is interesting. We know that heat lamps provide both IR and a significant amount of visible red illumination.

I began with the theory that you might actually have a day/night camera with an IR cutout filter. If this is not the case, then this message isn't worth the time you've already spent reading it :)

I wondered if there might be enough visible red illumination from the heat lamp to activate the IR cutout filter, returning you to the functionality of a color camera dominated by the visible red illumination.

I dug out my Arecont AV5155DN and put it in a dark room. I heard the "click" of the IR filter cutting out. Without external IR illumination, I could barely see the outlines of things in black and white. I don't have a heat lamp, but I figured I would try using faint red illumination by shining a flashlight through a stack of two semi-transparent red cups.

Perhaps this poor man's red illuminator doesn't put out enough visible red, because I never heard the "click" of the IR cutout filter cutting in. As I moved the illumination, I could see a bright spot roving about the B&W image.

So, I wanted to report my negative results but suggest this experiment was flawed because I had no heat lamp. An alternative approach is to have the customer stand near the camera after dark and click the heat lamp on & off. Does the customer hear the distinct "click" of the IR cutout filter engaging and disengaging? If yes, that could the issue.

Only if this is the issue, it leaves you with a challenge because you probably want to benefit of the IR illumination, which is now being excluded by the cutout filter, so that all you are benefitting from is the dim visible red illumination. If that's the case, you need to hear from a professional who understands camera settings and might be able to suggest how to keep the cutout filter from kicking in when you "know" that you want to be able to see the IR illumination.

JH
John Honovich
Nov 29, 2013
IPVM

The fact that the image is red means it is in color mode.

Is this a hikvision camera? What's the model?

The heat lamp might generate enough light that the camera is cutting back to color mode. One solution, if the model supports it, is to force night mode on a schedule.

MG
Martin Griffin
Nov 29, 2013

Thanks John, will try the DN schedule to see does it correct it or might just switch to full B&W mode.

UM
Undisclosed Manufacturer #2
Dec 02, 2013

John, that is a Dahua camera, probably HDBW3202, dome with motorized lens.

This camera does not have a LDR, it makes the D/N verification by signal processing, so when an high IR source lights in it, it will change to Day (Colour).

I could say that the best approach here is to use the Schedule, to hold it in B&W for the night time.

HL
Horace Lasell
Nov 29, 2013

If this is a cheap camera with no cutout filter, that implies that it's capturing all the illumination, making this mostly a cosmetic preference issue. Does the customer mind that it's pink as long as the scene is visible and they know that nothing is malfunctioning?

MG
Martin Griffin
Nov 29, 2013

Horace, the camera has a IR cut filter so will try the DN schedule to see if we can get B&W to kick in.

JE
Jim Elder
Nov 30, 2013
IPVMU Certified

This is a very interesting problem since i am in horse country (Kentucky). Please let us know how this turns out. I was wondering if --assuming it exists-- you could check the Spectral Power Distribution Curves (SPDC) for the the heating units. Then match same with the response of the camera. It would be interesting to see where these lamps are on the SPDC.

UM
Undisclosed Manufacturer #1
Dec 01, 2013

Maybe you need to confirm your heat lamps infrared wavelengths and check your camera specifications again .

Some camera did not put an infrared filters , Mechanical IR Cut ,

When light Sensor senses the ambient light conditions enough ,

So do not switch to black and white mode , You'll see the red scene

You can look the current camera spec. , day and night mode may can be selected via external switch

Try to do a heater relay switch and camera together

When the heater starts, the camera switches to black and white mode

Or choose Mechanical IR Cut filters camera ??

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Sean Nelson
Dec 03, 2013
Nelly's Security

As others have said, simply force it to B/W mode to alleviate the issue. This can definetely be done with this camera.

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