Why you may need a Wide Dynamic Range CCTV camera?
One of the most common complaints about CCTV cameras is their inability to capture high quality video in areas where bright lights from the sun or passing car headlights are present. A security camera is really a lot like our own human eyes when it pertains to how they react to bright lights. Like a security camera, the human eye does not see very well when the sunlight is in our way or if someone points a flashlight or even car headlights right in our direction. Security cameras react the same way and in most cases bright lights will render them useless or blind. It is not uncommon for security cameras to be installed in areas where light from the sun, passing cars, or even reflections off of windows or other buildings will cause the security camera to fail. The effects of bright lights will render any dome camera, bullet camera, or CCTV PTZ camera useless. The end result will be missed video that can end up being critical if there is a crime or event that needed to be clearly viewed.
To combat all bright light issues many people are moving to cameras that feature the new Wide Dynamic Range (WDR) technology. Using a camera with WDR may be your only option to getting clear 24/7 video from your outdoor security cameras. Wide Dynamic Range (WDR) technology allows the camera to filter any overly intense back light surrounding an area or object that you trying to secure. The end result is the WDR camera is able to view both bright and dark areas in the same video frame. This will basically disallow the bright areas to saturate the dark areas and make them even darker. A good analogy of WDR is that once it is activated it is a lot like putting sunglasses on a security camera. Like sunglasses, all the surrounding light is filtered so the camera can accurately view and deliver quality video. Not only does WDR work great in the day time against sunlight, but it is just as effective at night when it is necessary to filter the headlights of a passing car. In both instances bright light would absolutely hinder the performance of the camera. Another common application for a WDR security camera is in an installation in a home or business where the camera is facing a glass door or large windows. Again, the Wide Dynamic Range technology will filter the sunlight coming through the windows and ensure the light does not hinder the surveillance video that is being captured.
Although cameras with the WDR technology are becoming more and more popular, they do not come without a price. Most surveillance cameras with Wide Dynamic Range are considerably more expensive then the cameras without. But depending on the how critical the areas are you are trying to secure, you may not have a choice. Paying a little extra money for a camera that will work at all times may be a small price to pay for having constant view able surveillance video.
