The Shutter Speed of IP Camera

In my career in the CCTV industry, I frequently encounter clients who are unfamiliar with the shutter settings of IP cameras. After the installation of the cameras, the resulting video recordings often appear blurry. This article aims to provide an explanation of the camera shutter settings to address this issue.

1. License plate recognition application, license plate is blurry and unreadable.
2. ATM camera, faces are blurry.
3. Nighttime shots of people and cars, targets are unclear.

In general, camera manufacturers preset the camera’s shutter for general day-to-night surveillance applications, aiming to capture clear images under various lighting conditions — bright during the day and low-noise at night. However, when the camera captures fast-moving objects like license plates or swiftly moving people or vehicles, adjusting the camera’s shutter according to the application environment becomes necessary.

The factory settings for IP cameras typically range from 1/20,000 second (high-speed shutter) to 1/30 second (low-speed shutter). For dynamic moving targets like people and vehicles, it’s advisable for regular users to opt for higher-end camera models that offer adjustable day-to-night shutter settings.

High-end camera models often come equipped with a built-in ambient light sensor at the front end. This sensor reads the ambient light levels and automatically switches the image quality settings for nighttime conditions. The nighttime image quality settings may include adjustments to the shutter speed, infrared switching, and other parameters.

In recent years, camera manufacturers have aimed for the use of color images during nighttime, abandoning high-energy-consuming infrared black-and-white imaging. An IP camera consuming around 17 watts can result in considerable electricity costs over a year.

So, what’s the optimal shutter speed setting?

For dynamic subjects like moving people or vehicles, it’s recommended to set the shutter speed between 1/240 to 1/480 seconds. But why set the nighttime shutter at the highest speed available on the camera? The current camera designs allow for a shutter speed of up to 1/20,000 seconds under suitable lighting conditions, but it should not fall below the lowest shutter speed setting. Therefore, users can prioritize achieving the sharpest, clearest (non-blurry) images for dynamic subjects and gradually adjust the low-speed shutter settings for day and night conditions accordingly.

Epilogue: If capturing moving people or vehicles is the target of your shots, it’s advisable to disable the camera’s 2D Wide Dynamic Range (WDR) or 3D High Dynamic Range (HDR) settings. These settings can cause motion blur in the footage, hindering the attainment of sharp and clear images. However, in cases of intense backlighting, it might still be worth trying to enable 2D WDR or 3D HDR settings without causing motion blur in the footage.