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When you’re planning to set up a home security system or surveillance system for a business, one of the main decisions you’ll make is what kind of cameras to use. We have all heard about ‘night vision’ cameras. It is a common term that hides a lot of technology. Knowing the distinction between two of the main kinds of video security cameras will help you make the right choice when you finally decide to go with a particular system.

Day/Night Security Cameras:

The human eye sees visible light. When we say it is ‘dark’ outside, what we mean is the fact that there isn’t enough visible light for us to see. However, it is rarely the case where there is actually no visible light at all. At night there are many light sources that give off some light, it is just usually too dim for us to make use of using the eye.

But there’s natural light from the moon and stars and artificial light from street lamps, security lights as well as other sources. This light may be too dim for the eyes to use, however the CCD chips in a night vision video camera can be produced to be incredibly sensitive to these types of visible light.

Day/Night security cameras (and many of your high quality night vision devices that the military uses) contain this type of sensing unit that is sensitive to visible light.

You will find some advantages to this. Because the camera needs only regular light, you are able to improve the cameras range and recording potential by simply adding extra normal lighting to areas you would like to cover. And because of the camera’s sensitivity, a small amount goes a long way. Also, you will normally record a color picture right down to suprisingly low light levels until it is necessary for the camera to change to monochrome mode.

The main drawback to Day/Night cameras is the fact that top quality units also usually come with a higher price.

Infrared Security Cameras:

Infrared light cannot be seen with the human eye. However sensors in infrared security cameras can use infrared light to show you what’s happening in the dark. An infrared security system uses light waves from this portion of the spectrum to give you a picture.

The main infrared image is captured from the heat radiated by an object. So even in total darkness, like a closed warehouse or garage, a picture can nonetheless be recorded.

One of the advantages to infrared is you do not need to have visible light to record an image. There are lots of cases where you may not want security or other visible lighting in the area or in a building. By using an infrared camera, you are able to still monitor the location easily.

The main disadvantage to using infrared cameras is that they don’t give a color picture in low light situations. The image is converted from the infrared wavelengths to a visible picture shown either in black and white or the familiar black and green images we have all seen.

Image Quality or Best Surveillance?

Making your decision for which type of business or home security camera to make use of boils down mainly to these two items. If you wish to use your system to record the very best image night or day and you don’t mind adding any necessary lighting to areas that might need it for quality coverage, then a Day/Night type camera system is the best way that you can go.

If, however, you don’t want to have visible lights on all night, or you need to monitor areas where adding lighting might be a problem, then you should consider using an infrared security camera wherever necessary.

The choice between the two types of outdoor security camera systems is much easier when you know how surveillance and security cameras work.