How To Decide Between A Night Vision Or Infrared Security Camera

When you are looking to set up a home security system or surveillance system for your business, one of the main decisions you’ll make is exactly what kind of cameras to make use of. We have all heard about ‘night vision’ cameras. It’s a common term that hides a lot of technology. Understanding the difference between the two major kinds of video security cameras can help you make the right choice once you finally decide to go with a particular system.


Day/Night Security Cameras:

A persons eye sees visible light. When we say it’s ‘dark’ outside, what we mean is the fact that there isn’t enough visible light for us to see. However, it’s rarely the case where there is actually no visible light whatsoever. At night there are numerous light sources that give off some light, it’s just usually too dim for us to use using the eye.

But there is natural light from the moon and stars and artificial light from street lamps, security lights and other sources. This light might be too dim for our eyes to use, however the CCD chips in a night vision video camera can be made to be extremely responsive to these types of visible light.

Day/Night security cameras (and many of your high end night vision devices which the military uses) contain this type of sensor that is sensitive to visible light.

There are some advantages to this. Because the camera needs only regular light, you are able to improve the cameras range and recording potential simply by adding additional normal lighting to areas you want to cover. And because of the camera’s sensitivity, a small amount goes a long way. Also, you will normally record a color picture right down to very low light levels until it is necessary for the camera to change to monochrome mode.

The main drawback to Day/Night cameras is the fact that high quality units also usually come at a higher price.

Infrared Security Cameras :

Infrared light can not be seen by the human eye. However detectors in infrared security cameras can use infrared light to show you what’s happening after dark. An infrared security systems uses light waves from this portion of the spectrum to provide you with an image.

Part of the infrared image is captured from the heat radiated by an object. So even in total darkness, such as a closed warehouse or garage, an image can nonetheless be recorded.

An advantage to infrared is that you need not have visible light to record a picture. There are many cases where you may not want security or other visible lighting in the area or in a building. By using an infrared camera, you are able to still monitor the area easily.

The main problem with using infrared cameras is they do not provide a color picture in low light situations. The image is converted in the infrared wavelengths to a visible picture shown in either black and white or the common black and green images most of us have seen.

Image Quality or Best Surveillance?

Making your decision for which type of business or home security camera to make use of comes down mainly to these two items. If you wish to use your system to record the very best image night or day and you don’t mind adding any necessary lighting to areas that might need it for quality coverage, then a Day/Night type camera system is the best way that you can go.

If, on the other hand, you don’t want to have visible lights on all night, or you want to monitor places that adding lighting will be a problem, then you definitely should think about using an infrared security camera wherever necessary.

The choice between the two types of outdoor security camera systems is much easier when you know how surveillance and security cameras work.