Swann H.264 manual Alarm: Motion Detection Notes, English, Advanced Configuration, False Triggers

English

Alarm: Motion Detection Notes

Advanced Configuration

Motion Detection Compatibility

You’ll be able to use the DVR’s motion detection with almost all static, wired cameras.

PTZ systems are fundamentally incompatible with motion detection. Avoid enabling motion detection on a channel which has a PTZ system attached to it - especially when the PTZ system is set to Cruise Mode.

Wireless cameras are not recommended for use with the motion detection - the visual distortion and dropped frames caused by wireless transmission of video data give numerous false triggers.

False Triggers

Setting the motion detection at high sensitivity levels (4 or lower) increases the frequency of false alarms. On the other hand, low sensitivity levels (20 or higher) increase the risk that a significant motion event (such as an intruder) will not trigger the motion detection to record.

Check the Motion Detection settings both during the day and at night. In low-light conditions (or when your cameras are using infrared night vision) the DVR may be more or less sensitive to motion, depending on your unique circumstances. The difference might be very dramatic!

Image Sensors: CMOS and CCD

There are two kinds of CCTV cameras out there: CMOS and CCD. Neither technology is inherently “better” but they’re quite different and you may need to adjust your motion detection sensitivity to suit the kind of cameras you have.

CCD: A Charged-Coupled Device outputs a clear, stable image. It’s the best kind of sensor to use with motion detection, and typically requires lower settings (that is: lower number, more sensitive).

CMOS: A Complementary Metal–Oxide–Semiconductor is a different kind of image sensor, producing bold, vibrant images. It tends to have more noise than CCD, and typically requires a higher setting (that is, a higher number, which is less sensitive).

Weather

The weather conditions are going to affect your motion detection. Dramatic weather phenomenon such as heavy rain, strong winds, lightning and so on, may trigger the motion detection with surprising frequency.

On the other hand, things like fog, mist and other obscuring kinds of weather might mask or obscure something moving to the point that the DVR fails to detect them.

Here are a few steps you can take to minimize the amount of noise in your images.

•Try adjusting the Image Settings (see “Display: Camera” on page 28 for details) to fine-tune the brightness and contrast to get a more stable image.

•Limit the motion sensitive area to only the areas in view that a target could be. In particular, large featureless areas in the camera’s view are the ones most likely to give false triggers - turning off the motion sensitivity to any area a target cannot move in front of will help reduce false triggers.

Note: The motion detection feature will seem more sensitive at night, particularly when using low-light or active infrared cameras. We recommend that you test your motion detection sensitivity both during the day and at night to ensure your sensitivity setting is suitable for either lighting condition.

Some tips to customizing your motion detection

sensitivity and actions:

• Consider how important it is to be notified of motion events as they happen.

Using the email alerts is a great way to be kept up-to-speed on what’s happening, but may quickly become annoying if something occurs which will generate a number of false triggers. As a rule, we suggest employing the email alert only on interior cameras during times that no one should be moving about in front of them.

•It can be important to have a complete record of a subject’s movements and actions for legal reasons.

If your cameras capture an illegal event (typically an intruder, but we’re continually surprised by stories from our users) it is important to have as much information as possible.

For example, images of someone in your home may not actually prove that they broke in - but footage of them breaking a window does. If you use a camera inside the home to trigger all exterior cameras with pre-record enabled, then you will have a record of how they entered in addition to what they did.

•Always consider what’s really important.

Which is the bigger problem - a dozen false triggers per day, or missing one critical event?

There’s no magic setting which will make motion detection work perfectly. There will always be some events that it’s not sensitive enough to catch, or minor happenings that will trigger an overly sensitive camera to record. Typically, the best motion detection settings are one’s that give few false triggers but don’t miss anything.

Even motion detection which false triggers a few times per hour will still save a significant amount of hard drive space compared with a constant recording schedule for the same duration.

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