"i Can See You!" -- Infrared Security Cameras

Nature documentaries - the ones you see on TV - I love them. I have learned SO much from them. Like this fact: compared with other species, human beings have a very restricted sense of vision. We 'see' only a tiny fraction of what can be seen - we are blind as a bat when it comes to seeing in the infrared or ultraviolet range of light.

But the good news is that we human beings have access to technology that allows us to make up for our own natural limitations. And a good example of this type of technology are infrared security cameras. Infrared security cameras, unlike our own eyes, can detect images in the environment using light in the infrared wavelength spectrum.

And what makes infrared security cameras very useful for home security is that with them, we can monitor areas with absolutely no visible light (what the professionals call a Lux 0.0 environment). Business and industry have been big users of infrared security cameras for years - with them they can monitor a darkened warehouse or bank vault area after business hours, when the lights may be turned out.

But increasingly, they have been used in the home as well as in industrial and business environments. People with especially large, darkened back yards, for example, will use infrared security cameras to monitor their property for intruders - whether they be human or animal (stray deer, dogs, rodents, wolves).

Infrared security cameras make use of what has been called the 'stealth factor' -- the camera can be completely surrounded in darkness and yet still be actively monitoring the area. As is well known, most home intruders love to operate under the cloak of darkness. They assume that if there is no light, that they cannot be seen. Professional thieves will purposely choose to enter a home in darkness -- but an infrared security camera can catch them red-handed!

If you are shopping around for a good infrared security camera, make sure that it has an 'auto-scan' feature. With auto-scan, the camera will move back-and-forth, over-and-over the same area, throughout the day. If you have to monitor a large area - one that is too big for one camera to scan, then you can use several infrared security cameras, each one auto-scanning a particular section of the room, hallway, driveway, etc.

Infrared security cameras do not rely on light from things like a light bulb, or the light of the moon or sun. Instead, they generate their own light. Some models shine a beam of infrared light from the camera unit itself - like a James Bond high-tech flashlight. Other infrared camera models use a separate light source to illuminate an area (you can't see that light, of course). When the light is operational it shines in the area to be illuminated, and the infrared camera uses that light to capture images.

Please do NOT confuse infrared security cameras with so-called 'low light' cameras. Low light cameras are capable of capturing images in very low levels of ordinary light - during the early morning hours, or at dusk, for example. Also keep in mind that infrared security cameras work best in monitoring small areas rather than really big lobbies and parking lots. Some models are dual-function cameras: they combine infrared technology with a 'regular' security camera unit - the infrared capability will switch on when the other technology cannot function.

Article Source: http://www.articlemonk.com

About the author: Jennifer Metcalfe discusses home security, video surveillance and home security issues Learn more abouthome security camera systems by visiting his website.
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