IR Illuminator options and experience?

[Dave Howard]

I'm (again) looking at IR Illuminator options. Thinking about GJD Clarius or Raytech. Interested to get experience of these or the installation of IR Illuminators additional to CCTV IR.

1. What's the experience of this forum on the benefits of this higher-end product for home/residential applications?
2. Has anyone used these at 90degrees to the CCTV direction of view acting as an additional IR 'flood' on the scene rather than mounted in line with the camera and what was result?
3. If installed inline with CCTV viewing or as a flood above+right angles to camera is it better to turn off the CCTV integral IR's to allow the illuminator to do the work?

Situation:

• HIK vision cameras/NVR G2 or newer.
• Environment has no artificial white light (street or otherwise) as rural area with few nearby houses.
• Whilst HIK IR's pretty good on the G2 particularly I'm looking to improve the night vision/viewing.
• I've tried a number of the Amazon cheaper IR devices with not much luck. Little power, hot spots in centre, narrow angle.

Thanks in advance for any experience shared.

 

[Phil]

Hello Dave,

Raytec are the go to Pro choice.
They provide a good flat light across the whole scene IR illumination - with no hotspots.
Make sure that you buy a lamp that is appropriate for the distance and angle of light coverage that you need.
Typically you would mount the lamp on the same axis as the camera (more below).

However, they are relatively rarely used, because nowadays they cost as much as a Hikvision camera.

It should not matter where you position the lamp to achieve good illumination within the scene, but be very sure that the light source / lamp itself is not within the camera's field of view.
And, bear in mind that, like the camera's effectively conical field of view, the lamp emits a similar cone of light - a triangle if you like (on the ground, when viewed from above) - from the light source outwards. So, if your camera is at 90° to your lamp, you will be triangle across triangle ...

I think it would be a matter of trial and error to determine whether the camera's built-in IR LEDs helped or hindered the scene / night-time performance.

Most people tend to opt for a cheap & cheerful white light PIR LED floodlight, and accept that the camera might squint for a couple of seconds when the lamp comes on, but will then get colour images with white light, and detection, and deterrent, and a form of notification (as in - "what triggered that light?").

 

[Dave Howard]

Hello Dave,

Raytec are the go to Pro choice.
They provide a good flat light across the whole scene IR illumination - with no hotspots.
Make sure that you buy a lamp that is appropriate for the distance and angle of light coverage that you need.
Typically you would mount the lamp on the same axis as the camera (more below).

However, they are relatively rarely used, because nowadays they cost as much as a Hikvision camera.

It should not matter where you position the lamp to achieve good illumination within the scene, but be very sure that the light source / lamp itself is not within the camera's field of view.
And, bear in mind that, like the camera's effectively conical field of view, the lamp emits a similar cone of light - a triangle if you like (on the ground, when viewed from above) - from the light source outwards. So, if your camera is at 90° to your lamp, you will be triangle across triangle ...

I think it would be a matter of trial and error to determine whether the camera's built-in IR LEDs helped or hindered the scene / night-time performance.

Most people tend to opt for a cheap & cheerful white light PIR LED floodlight, and accept that the camera might squint for a couple of seconds when the lamp comes on, but will then get colour images with white light, and detection, and deterrent, and a form of notification (as in - "what triggered that light?").

Thanks Phil really helpful. It’s made me think I may be as well now looking at anpr as one of the main needs is capturing vehicles on road day/night and getting reg numbers. Currently have two HIK cameras as highlighted in attached pic. Both G2 / 8mp and whilst spotting vehicles, they aren’t getting the registrations. My initial thought was raytec under the alarm box on front covering across the road.

vehicles max speed around 30mph.

if anpr then would you replace the higher (front of house) or lower (on pole in hedge) camera. I’m thinking higher as that would also give more ir helping other camera.

thanks in advance.

 

[Dan]

Hi @Dave Howard

ANPR is a tricky thing, numberplates are very reflective and bounce IR light back into the camera sensor (as you show in your above screenshot). To get around this reflection ANPR cameras have their sensors configured in a very specific way so they are less sensitive to bright reflection, the low sensitivity removes the reflection but also makes the surrounding image much darker to the point where you won't be able to make out much useful detail other than the plate. (see this demo video for a rough example of the kind of night image an ANPR camera will produce)

If you want to use ANPR you would probably be best off using it in conjunction with a standard IR camera like the one you already have installed because that will capture more of the scene detail (shape/make of car and maybe even driver if close enough), while the ANPR will clearly capture the plate information.

 

[Dan]

Just so you are aware, the camera in the demo video is the slightly older version of this model which is a top-spec ANPR model. This is why you can see advanced features like car brand and colour, but not all ANPR models will support this feature. Also, this demo is filmed on an urban street with some strong street lighting and so in your more rural scenario, the image would likely be darker than the demo video.