Understanding Wide Dynamic Range

Wide Dynamic Range (WDR) is a feature that allows clear viewing of both bright and low light areas in a scene. Use this feature if you need to view both indoor and outdoor lighting conditions simultaneously.

For example, a dome is installed in the loading dock area of a building. When the door to the loading dock area is closed, the light level remains constant and the interior can be scene can be viewed clearly without iris adjustments.

Figure 3–1: Example scene of a loading dock with the door closed.

When the door is open, additional light from outside enters the room and distortion occurs. Without WDR, you could adjust the iris of the camera to compensate for the lighting change, however you cannot clearly see both activities inside and outside of the loading dock area simultaneously.

For example, if you close the iris, the outside scene will improve, but the interior scene will become too dark to view clearly. In Figure 3–2,the car near the loading dock door can be seen clearly, but the interior of the room appears too dark

Figure 3–2: Example scene of loading dock with door open and iris close adjustment.

If you want to view the interior scene, open the iris to make the dark scene appear brighter. However, this causes the outdoor scene to appear too bright. In Figure 3–3,it is difficult to see the car near the loading dock door.

Configuring Camera Features

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