Security cameras - 7 tips for the right lighting

We often find that blurry video footage is often the result of poor or incorrect lighting. In this blog post, we'll give you 7 tips on how to fix the problem or what to keep in mind when installing or setting up surveillance cameras.

1. image quality

If you want to achieve clear images, you need a lot of light to illuminate the area clearly. Lighting is essentially based on what we call the inverse square rule: When you double the distance to a certain subject, you need 4x the original light.

2. Think vertical lighting

Most people design surveillance camera lighting with vertical illumination. Horizontal lighting creates dark shadows, for example, making it difficult to clearly recognize people and faces. You may consider installing additional luminaires at face height - typically around 1.6 meters.

3. Installation

Fixtures should be mounted behind the camera and point roughly in the same direction. In addition, you should use lights to create even lighting in the camera's field of view to avoid images consisting of dark or indistinct areas. If you choose to buy cameras with built-in lighting, which is typically mounted around the lens, avoid the cheap versions.

4. Get a handle on camera and light placement

One mistake we often see is pointing the camera towards the direction of the sun or towards an illuminated shop window or street light. If you do this, you risk getting images where the subject is too dark to distinguish the different details. Therefore, you need to think carefully about the placement and number of cameras to achieve good lighting.

5. The right color reproduction

It is recommended that you should aim for a minimum color rendering of 80. Furthermore, many CCTV manufacturers advise using cool color temperatures of typically 5000K.

6. Measure the light on the subject

We often talk about light levels, but in this case you need to measure the light that actually hits the subject's face. You should aim to reach 30 LUX from floor level when measuring at a vertical angle. This may be difficult to achieve in practice, but 20-30 LUX will be acceptable depending on the circumstances.

7. Flickering and blurred images when moving

There are many different types of cameras, so make sure you are aware of the challenges associated with each one. Some cameras may indicate that they work in low light conditions but only produce monochrome footage, but if you want to "capture" a moving car or person, you're unlikely to get a clear image.