What impact does adjusting my camera's gain settings have?

[frank123]

Hi,

If I reduce the Gain settings (in exposure settings) will that reduce the picture quality?

Does a high Gain setting use more bandwidth?

Also, should I set the Gain settings to '0' during daytime or does that setting only come in to play when it's dark/reduced lighting?


Thanks

 

[Kyle]

Hi frank123, it might be something that you're already aware of, but increasing the gain essentially increases the camera's sensitivity to capturing light, allowing you to brighten the whole image for a better picture in low-light. The drawback here is that increased sensitivity to light = increased noise in the image as it amplifies everything. So, increasing gain won't reduce picture quality unless you're doing so when it's not needed in good light or to excess in lower light. Assuming that your camera gives a satisfactory image quality, I'd avoid adjusting this setting too much during daylight hours as you want to avoid increased noise or over-brightening whenever possible. By all means, play around the gain levels during periods of lower light until you get a picture that you're happy with - you'll see what I mean by increased noise as you do this.

Yes, increasing gain will increase bandwidth usage in pretty much any situation - so another reason to avoid increasing it too much when it's not needed.

Hope that helps! Sorry if I've been reiterating information you already had.