What are infrared, starlight, blacklight, and full color night vision?

What are infrared, starlight, blacklight, and full color night vision for CCTV cameras?

Infrared camera

1.1 Definition
After the infrared is turned on, the infrared camera will generally turn on when the illumination is lower than 0.1 to 0.01 Lux. The network camera uses CMOS or CCD to sense all light (visible light, infrared and ultraviolet light, etc.), which makes the image taken very different from the image produced by our naked eyes only seeing visible light. In order to solve this problem, the network camera adds an infrared filter between the lens and CMOS or CCD, which blocks infrared rays from entering CMOS or CCD, so that CMOS or CCD can only sense visible light, so that the image taken by the network camera is consistent with the image seen by our naked eyes.

1.1 Infrared function camera at night effect picture

2 Starlight camera

2.1 Definition
Starlight camera refers to a camera that can display clear color images in dim light conditions, usually in starlight environments without any auxiliary light source. The camera that can display color images at night can greatly improve the monitoring effect. At the same time, the starlight level has an ultra-sensitive image sensor and unique electron multiplication and noise control technology, which can greatly improve the sensitivity of the camera, and has a 24-hour full-color real-time effect, effectively avoiding the phenomenon of trailing of ordinary low-light cameras, better meeting the needs of high-quality nighttime monitoring, and low power consumption, real image effect, and no color cast. According to the standardized definition, when the illumination range reaches and exceeds 0.0001Lux, it reaches the “starlight level” ultra-low illumination camera, also known as “super starlight”

2.2 Starlight function camera at night effect picture

3 Blacklight camera

3.1 Definition
“Blacklight camera” is a surveillance camera technology proposed by Hikvision. Compared with traditional starlight cameras, it can provide better night vision effects. This camera adopts a dual sensor architecture, that is, two sensors work at the same time, one is responsible for capturing color information, and the other is responsible for capturing brightness information. This design is based on the principle of human eye bionics, imitating the human eye’s ability to process color and brightness, thereby optimizing the color and brightness of the picture and improving the monitoring effect in low-light environments at night. In short, black light cameras can provide excellent color image visual experience at night or in low-light environments.

3.2 Blacklight function camera at night effect picture

4 Full-color night vision function camera

4.1 Definition
1. At least a large aperture of F1.0 is required; 2. 4-megapixel products must be equipped with at least a 1/1.8″ large-target sensor. ISP image processing technology. In terms of ISP image processing technology, night vision full-color cameras use dynamic color gamut technology and 3D Color enhancement engine to achieve more accurate color restoration. In low illumination, the monitoring screen is still delicate and saturated in color. Generally, soft light fill-in technology is used in the absence of light.

4.2 Effect diagram

5 Illumination requirements for various types of cameras

NO.	Cam type	Lux request
1	Infrared	0.1-0.01Lux
2	Starlight	0.02-0.001Lux
3	Super starlight	0.001-0.0005 Lux
4	Black light	0.001-0.0005 Lux
5	Full color night vision	0 Lux with fill light

6 Popularization of other knowledge

6.1 Illumination of various places in the environment

Lux	Environment
30000-300000 lux	Day outdoor
100~1000 lux	Day indoor
3000~10000 lux	Sunny day
50~500 lux	Cloudy outdoor
5~50 lux	Cloudy indoor
10 lux	Dusk indoor
300 lux	Sunrise and sunset
0.001~0.02 lux	Black night
0.02 ~0.3 lux	moonlit night
0.30-.03 lux	Full moon
0.0002~0.00002 lux	Star light
0.003~0.0007 lux	Dark night
0.1 lux	Street lamp
10~500 lux	Workshop
30~50 lux	Office
10-30 lux	Restaurant
5~10 lux	Corridor
1~5 lux	Car parking

6.2 The difference between warm light and white light
Warm light: The color temperature is generally between 2700K and 3500K, showing a warmer light, similar to the natural light at dusk. ‌12 White light: The color temperature is generally between 4000K and 5000K, showing a cooler light, similar to the natural daytime light.

6.3 Definition of infrared light

The visible light that human eyes can see is arranged from long to short according to wavelength, namely red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue and purple. The wavelength range of red light is 0.62~0.76μm; the wavelength range of purple light is 0.38~0.46μm. Light with a shorter wavelength than purple light is called ultraviolet light, and light with a longer wavelength than red light is called infrared light. Human eyes cannot see infrared light. Because network cameras use CMOS or CCD to sense all light (visible light, infrared light and ultraviolet light, etc.), this causes the image captured to be very different from the image produced by our naked eyes that only sees visible light. In order to solve this problem, network cameras add an infrared filter between the lens and CMOS or CCD. Its function is to block infrared light from entering CMOS or CCD, so that CMOS or CCD can only sense visible light, so that the image captured by the network camera is consistent with the image seen by our naked eyes.

Infrared night vision means that in the night vision state, the network camera will emit infrared light that is invisible to the naked eye to illuminate the object being photographed. Turn off the infrared filter and no longer block the infrared from entering the CCD. The infrared is reflected by the object and enters the lens for imaging. At this time, what we see is the image formed by the reflection of infrared light, not the image formed by the reflection of visible light. That is, images that are invisible to the naked eye in a dark environment can be captured at this time.

The wavelength range of infrared cameras is 0.76 to 1000 microns. Infrared is an electromagnetic wave with a wavelength range of 0.78 to 1000 microns, which is invisible to the human eye. Infrared can be divided into near infrared, mid-infrared and far infrared according to the wavelength:

Near infrared: The wavelength is 0.76 to 3.0 microns, which is often used to enhance the ability to capture images at night.

Mid-infrared: The wavelength is 3.0 to 20 microns.

Far infrared: The wavelength is 20 to 1000 microns.