Had CCTV installed. Useless at night.

Had CCTV installed. Useless at night.

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rich12

Original Poster:

3,465 posts

155 months

Monday 21st August 2017
quotequote all
I had 3 cameras installed over the weekend and one of my main reasons for getting them was the ability to have night vision so if someone did try to break in/steal a car etc, I may get lucky and have a decent image of their face and also to be able to see reg numbers.

Tried it out on Saturday night and it can't pick up any reg plate as it just bounces the light off them and my face is just a blur.
The one on the front of the house is fixed to the soffit house quite high up but this was recommended as the best place.
Now i'm just thinking it was just the most convenient place for the installer.

Am I expecting too much to be able to make a face out at night or be able to see a reg plate?

Spare tyre

9,595 posts

131 months

Monday 21st August 2017
quotequote all
What's the kit

How much light is around

Try taking a lamp out tonight and experiment

worsy

5,813 posts

176 months

Monday 21st August 2017
quotequote all
Mine are installed around 1st floor electrical socket height. Soffit would be too high surely.

Dr Interceptor

7,801 posts

197 months

Monday 21st August 2017
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I've got cameras at work, and can see up to around 20 metres clearly at night, 10 metres if the weather is poor.

They are also only good at the extreme dead centre straight ahead position, off to the edges of the camera lens you lose clarity.

The ones I have are Sony Starvis cameras.

sjg

7,455 posts

266 months

Monday 21st August 2017
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Some very good tips on positioning here: https://www.cctv42.co.uk/help-advice/video-tutoria...

You need a decent amount of light to read numberplates at night, even the average speed cameras on motorway roadworks have floodlights to assist the cameras.

bigandclever

13,796 posts

239 months

Monday 21st August 2017
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sjg said:
Is thet PHer henry-f's business?

Edited to add a hyphen and say, yes it is smile

dmsims

6,540 posts

268 months

Monday 21st August 2017
quotequote all
rich12 said:
I had 3 cameras installed over the weekend and one of my main reasons for getting them was the ability to have night vision so if someone did try to break in/steal a car etc, I may get lucky and have a decent image of their face and also to be able to see reg numbers.

Tried it out on Saturday night and it can't pick up any reg plate as it just bounces the light off them and my face is just a blur.
The one on the front of the house is fixed to the soffit house quite high up but this was recommended as the best place.
Now i'm just thinking it was just the most convenient place for the installer.

Am I expecting too much to be able to make a face out at night or be able to see a reg plate?
Did you specify what you expected the cameras to do ?

ATM you probably have a combination of IR and a too slow shutter speed

Getting a decent image at night is quite tricky

HantsRat

2,369 posts

109 months

Monday 21st August 2017
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What make are the cameras?

rich12

Original Poster:

3,465 posts

155 months

Monday 21st August 2017
quotequote all
They are Qvis 4mp 1080p.
http://qvisglobal.com/eye-4mp-fg

There is a street light about 10m from the end of my drive.
This is my misses' car.

S11Steve

6,374 posts

185 months

Monday 21st August 2017
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That looks like IR reflection off the plate - I have a similar camera monitoring my reef tank, and at night the IR just reflects back off the glass.

The only way it works for me at night is to switch off the IR and use an external light source - but I'm not a CCTV expert so other options may be available.

Wait Here Until Green Light Shows

15,248 posts

201 months

Monday 21st August 2017
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Mine reflect back off number plates. I'm not sure if there is any cure tbh?

mikeiow

5,385 posts

131 months

Monday 21st August 2017
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Wait Here Until Green Light Shows said:
Mine reflect back off number plates. I'm not sure if there is any cure tbh?
Guess you could remove the plates. Might cause other issues though......

rich12

Original Poster:

3,465 posts

155 months

Monday 21st August 2017
quotequote all
I'll leave our outside light on tonight and see if that makes it any better.
They're going to send an engineer back out to look into it for me.
I'm guessing moving that camera to a better location will help with the facial recognition part.
The link above said to put the camera pretty much the other side of the house and perhaps lower so it will capture it head on rather than from an angle.

Wait Here Until Green Light Shows

15,248 posts

201 months

Monday 21st August 2017
quotequote all
Number plates will reflect back no matter what angle. The floodlight won't help (all in my experience that is)...you may have better luck.