Should Your Business Install Night Vision/Infrared Cameras?

Night vision can effectively protect areas from crime at night, identifying criminal suspects and preventing suspicious behavior on your property

While regular and IP security cameras are getting better at creating excellent images in low-light conditions, if you’re trying to secure a large area at night, standard versions might not be enough. Instead, you may need to choose night vision, or infrared cameras, devices that can help you see much further, more clearly, and in much greater detail than their daytime counterparts.

Luckily, night vision technology, which was originally developed for military purposes, is also getting higher quality, less expensive, and easier to get than ever before. In fact, the IR capability is becoming so common that having them is essentially a best practice. So, whether you want to deck out your business with all infrared cameras for a completely new level of security, or you simply want to add a few to detect threats you might have missed, installing them could make a huge difference in your security strategy. Here’s how:

How night vision/infrared security cameras actually work

When it comes to night vision security cameras, the technology used on cameras is similar, but not the same as the tech used on military devices such as night-vision goggles. Night vision security cameras usually have several small LED bulbs surrounding the lens of the camera. These provide infrared light –and when it becomes dark outside, these infrared bulbs flood the camera’s field of view with IR light, making the image easier to see.

Unlike visible light, infrared light can’t be seen. So, while you can see the effects of infrared in the camera’s image, you won’t notice any light coming from the infrared bulbs themselves, no matter how dark it gets. In addition, most night vision cameras produce footage that looks black and white or shades of green because it’s less difficult for the human eye to see the differences in comparison to other colors.

Additionally, it’s important to note that most cameras with night vision capabilities also work during the day as full color cameras. They usually use something called an IR cut filter – a piece of technology that uses a filter to block infrared light whenever it detects daylight, helping the camera to preserve an accurate color image during the day.

Night vision cameras have a variety of benefits for business and organizations

Most crime happens at night, and much of the reason is the sense of concealment that darkness brings. While you may not be able to change the position of the sun in the sky, you can change the sensitivity of your cameras. And doing so can make it much easier for both your company and local law enforcement to identify the perpetrators of crimes after the fact or head off suspicious activities on or near your property.

Color night vision cameras are an emerging technology

While traditional technology demands that users choose between an easy to see monochrome images and a much more difficult to see color picture for night-vision imaging, new technology is allowing security cameras to produce high quality color vision at night. Full color night vision imaging can provide more details and better contrast, both of which can make it much easier to identify potential criminals and other bad actors. This is still an emerging technology that is not yet commonplace – but the trend toward wider adoption is moving forward.

Additional considerations for night vision cameras

When considering whether to employ night vision cameras for your business, there are variety of other considerations that you might want to take into account. First, you may want to look into a camera’s light sensitivity, or lux rating. The closer a camera’s lux rating is to zero, the better it can capture images in low-light situations. In many cases, camera-owners may want to pair a motion-detection system with their camera in order to save recording space; the system only begins to record when motion has been detected. In addition, a motion-sensors can trip lights to warn away intruders or provide a clearer field of vision for cameras, either IR or standard versions.

No matter what kind of camera system you decide upon, adding just a few night vision cameras into your security system could make a huge difference. With IR cameras, you’re back in control of your property, no matter what time of day or night it is – and that capability provides invaluable peace of mind.

To learn more about ways to optimize your business’s security system for better results, contact POM Technologies today at 212.688.2767 or through our convenient online form for a free consultation.