Night Vision vs Color Night Vision

Cameras that work at night are essential for a commercial property, because many incidents happen after dark. There are two main ways a camera sees at night: infrared night vision, which produces a black-and-white image, and color night vision, which produces a color image in low light. This article explains how they differ and which one suits a property.

How Infrared Night Vision Works

Infrared night vision uses light that the human eye cannot see. The camera emits infrared light from LEDs around its lens, and the light bounces off people, vehicles and objects and returns to the camera. The result is a black-and-white image that is clear in complete darkness, out to the range of the infrared LEDs.

Infrared night vision is reliable and widely used. It works in total darkness, it is not affected by the lack of visible light, and it is built into most outdoor cameras. Its limit is detail: the image is black and white, so the color of a vehicle or a person's clothing cannot be seen, and the range is limited to the reach of the infrared light.

How Color Night Vision Works

Color night vision uses a sensitive sensor and a wide aperture to gather the small amount of visible light that is present at night — from street lights, building lights and the moon — and produce a color image. Some cameras add a small white light of their own to illuminate the scene. The result is a color image in low light, which can show the color of a vehicle or clothing.

Color night vision needs some light to work with. In complete darkness, with no light at all, it cannot produce an image. It works best where there is some ambient light — a lit parking lot, a building entrance with a lamp, a yard with floodlights. In a place with no light, infrared is the better choice.

A Practical Comparison

Infrared night vision: works in complete darkness, black-and-white image, range limited by the LEDs, reliable and widely available. Color night vision: color image in low light, needs some ambient light, shows vehicle and clothing colors, works best with the property's lighting.

Neither is universally better. The choice depends on the lighting at the location and on what the camera needs to show. A camera that needs to show the color of a vehicle should use color night vision, where there is enough light. A camera in a dark yard with no lighting should use infrared.

What to Choose for Your Property

Look at the lighting at each camera location at night. If there is a lamp, a floodlight or street lighting, color night vision may work well. If there is no light at all, infrared is the practical choice. Many properties use both: color night vision where there is light, infrared where there is not.

Whichever is chosen, the cameras should be tested at night before handover. A camera that is only tested in daylight may be useless after dark, and night is when the cameras matter most. The test should include people moving through the view, so the image can be judged as it will actually be used.

Lighting and Night Cameras Together

The best night camera system is a camera system and a lighting system that work together. Lighting that covers the areas the cameras watch makes both infrared and color night vision work better. A camera in a dark corner will not help, however good the camera is, and a well-lit area with a modest camera will often give a better image than a dark area with an expensive one.

If the property's lighting is poor, improving the lighting is often a better investment than buying more expensive cameras. The lighting plan and the camera plan should be considered together, during design, not as separate afterthoughts.

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