Surveillance cameras and wireless security cameras are a great way to make sure that your family is safe no matter what’s going on in the world around you.
These types of cameras make sure that your house is always being monitored and that you know what’s going on around you at all times. After all, a security camera is designed to keep you safe, right? But not all security cameras are designed to work at their optimum level even when the conditions are less than ideal.
That’s why you want to make sure you have a night vision security camera to help you protect your own home from someone who might want to do you harm.
What Is A Night Vision Security Camera?
If you’re in the surveillance camera market, the first thing you need to know is what this type of camera is and how it’s different from a regular surveillance camera. A night vision IR camera uses one of three different types of technology that improve the night vision.
With a regular camera, you probably know how it works in low light. Try taking a picture of something in the dark and you’ll see very little that can actually help you discern just what that object is supposed to be.
That’s what happens with a regular security camera and since a large portion of your potential problems is going to occur under the cover of darkness—it’s not going to do you a whole lot of good.
With a night vision IR camera or similar, you use either low-light imaging (most don’t work in complete darkness), thermal imaging, or infrared imaging to help create a picture via video surveillance that will help you to identify what’s going on and possibly even who’s doing it even when it’s happening at night.
With low-light imaging, there are specially created image ‘intensifiers’ that will use whatever light there is available (from a streetlight or the moon or anything else) and make it as bright as possible to get a better image or picture of what’s going on in the immediate area.
This requires at least a little bit of light for it to be able to work. Thermal imaging uses infrared energy, which is a heat signature, to create a picture. Every object around you (including you) omits some level of heat.
With this type of camera and video link up on your laptop or similar, you’re going to be focusing on that heat signature to create an image. You don’t need light for this type of image and you’ll be able to use it even at longer distances, but you’re not going to get a whole lot of detail because it’s only going to give you a silhouette of the figure that you find or the object that you’re taking a picture of.
It’s also going to be colored only based on the differences of heat in a specific object compared to those around it. Finally, infrared imaging uses motion detection to create fairly high-quality video surveillance images.
You need lighting for them to work and they actually only work when they detect motion, rather than being on at all times. The image you get will be black and white, but if there’s something moving around, the camera will immediately go off or start filming and will create that high-quality video for you.
It may not be as high quality, but it’s also not going to waste as much because you’re not using it when nothing is going on. There has to be movement within the field of vision of the camera however for it to be able to start recording or pick up anything that might be happening.
What It Does
So, what will happen if you have a night vision camera? Well, the first thing is that you’re less likely to be broken into in the first place. Any kind of security system is going to be a deterrent when it comes to break-ins or burglars.
They don’t want to be caught at what they’re doing, after all. They want to be able to continue breaking into houses and getting the things that they want, right? So, why would they break into a house that has a security camera and may catch them if there’s another house nearby that doesn’t have that kind of security? They’re not.
Just having the security camera in the first place can be a great option and that’s why a number of people like to have at least one visible camera somewhere outside their home so that would-be burglars know that they would be on camera and are more likely to change their mind and go somewhere else for their trouble.
Having that camera is going to cost you a little bit of money at the moment but it’s also going to save you a whole lot of money in the long run because you’ll be a higher risk for the burglar to take on your house.
If someone does break into your home or vandalizes your property or even someone else’s and you have footage you’ll be able to turn that in to the police to make a report.
The images can be helpful in proving what happened and they may even be able to help you pinpoint who it was and work with the court system if someone is arrested later on.
This is definitely important and it can help you feel more protected if you always know what’s going on in your area or around your house. You can feel comfortable staying there alone at night or even going away for extended periods of time because you know your house is protected.
You also have the ability to monitor anything else that might be happening in your area. For example, if there are a lot of stray cats or other wildlife walking through your yard you may be able to tell with a night vision camera.
This can also be important in your community and may be something that you want to report so that animal control can be made aware and stay on the lookout.
How To Set It Up
So, how are you going to set up your night vision camera? Well, whether it is a wireless camera or not, the best thing that you can do is make sure that you put it in the most direct areas that face your house or even your garage.
You want a camera that has a somewhat wide angle lens so if someone comes from any direction the camera will be able to pick them up and get at a good image of what is going on and what they are doing. This will help in the process of stopping a would-be criminal or even one that is already attacking your home.
You may want your camera to be somewhere that it’s actually visible because this can help to deter someone, but some don’t like this option. If your camera is visible it is also more susceptible to damage from someone that may want to cause harm to you or your family.
If someone can see the camera, they may break it or try to cover it in some way to make sure that no one can identify them. There are different types of criminals just as there are different types of anything else, which means your camera may be safer visible or not visible.
Make sure the camera is always on and monitoring. A monitored system is going to be the best option for you and you want to make sure that it’s always going to be on so that if something happens you don’t have to try to turn the system on at a later point and possibly miss what’s going on.
Keeping the camera on and making sure that it’s always recording is going to help you identify any problems that might be happening that you may not even know about as well.
Get an audible alarm as well. This is great because even though it notifies whoever is breaking into your home or your property that they’ve been spotted it’s going to scare them as well.
No criminal wants to be caught doing something illegal and if your alarm system immediately notifies them with a loud buzzer or ringing or even flashing lights it’s going to signal that they should get out of there.
If you only have a silent alarm you could find yourself in trouble while the burglar continues whatever they were doing until the cops get there. No matter what’s going on in your area and even if you think you live in a safe area, it’s going to be a much better idea to have a security system that you don’t need than to not have one if you ever do happen to need it.
You want something that you can trust to take care of your family and that you can rely on in case of an emergency. A night vision security system is definitely going to be a great way to get started and make sure you’re prepared for whatever may (or may not) come your way.
Sources
- https://www.securitycameraking.com/securityinfo/how-night-vision-security-cameras-work/
- https://www.quora.com/Do-security-cameras-typically-deter-burglars-Why
- https://www.safety.com/8-burglar-deterrents-to-consider-and-5-to-avoid/#gref
- https://www.safewise.com/blog/a-guide-to-porch-light-safety-leave-it-on-or-turn-it-off/
- https://www.onlinespyshop.co.uk/blog/surveillance-in-the-dead-of-night-how-night-vision-cctv-cameras-work/