Installing Outdoor Cameras

Installing Outdoor Cameras

If you want to install a camera outdoors, you need to equip it with an outdoor housing. Many manufacturers of surveillance products produce outdoor housings. Their sizes and materials vary. Some housings have built-in fans for cooling and heaters for warmth.

This is a universal outdoor housing for cameras made by Pelco.

Outdoor cameras generally use auto-focus lenses. Auto-focus lenses can adjust the amount of light reaching the image sensor. This will enhance the camera's dynamics and protect the image sensor from damage due to bright light.

If the camera is installed behind glass, ensure that the lens is pressed against the glass. If the lens is too far from the glass, reflections and backgrounds will appear in the image.

Lighting

When using cameras at night, lighting may be needed. Installing lighting is to avoid reflections and shadows. Users can replace regular bulbs with infrared lighting. Since the human eye cannot see infrared light, it is more suitable for security conversion, but it must be noted that users must use black-and-white cameras sensitive to infrared light and network image servers equipped with infrared lighting. Infrared is ineffective for color cameras.

Avoid Direct Sunlight

Avoid direct sunlight appearing in the image as much as possible. Direct light will prevent the camera from capturing images and may permanently discolor the small color filters on the sensor chip, resulting in stripes in the image. If possible, when positioning the camera, keep it aligned with the direction of sunlight.

When using cameras outdoors, avoid excessive aiming at the sky. Due to the high contrast, the camera will automatically adjust to achieve a lighting level more suitable for the sky, which may cause objects to appear too dark. One way to avoid this situation is to install the camera above ground level; if necessary, support it with brackets. Generally, sturdy mounting equipment should be used to prevent shaking due to strong winds.

Image captured when the camera sensor filter is damaged by sunlight.

Amplifier Gain

In advanced computers, the gain level of the image sensor can be adjusted. The higher the gain, the better the performance in low light. However, interference will also be amplified. Users can use high gain to achieve good performance in low light, while low gain can also provide high-quality images in good lighting conditions.

Shutter Speed

In advanced cameras, the shutter speed can be controlled. Usually, the shutter speed should be set to 1/50 or 1/60 seconds; longer exposure times in low light can achieve good performance. If capturing fast-moving images, a shutter speed like 1/10000 seconds should be selected.

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