Sensor - how does it work

[HomeMakerMommy]

I just setup a new cam today for the very first time. I can't seem to get the sensor working the way i expected. The cam is set on the top of a tall furniture, i waved my hand in front of it and i expect to receive a snapshot to email or text. Nothing happens. Any suggestion please?

[Hotrod53]

I'm with ya..... I'm having a heck of a time with motion detect. It's been driving me nuts lately, and only been installed for a week. Every time a bug flies past the lense, I get an email. I've been getting 20 emails a night! Today, after reading a lot about sensitivity and threshold, I decided to start tuning. It seems sometimes it works, sometimes not. I can stand under the camera and trip it, and sometimes not.

My storage barn is probably 40-50' away and that's my main concern. We live on the edge of the woods and it was broken into last year. $2,000 worth of stolen equipment later, I'm installing cameras. I've also run into another issue, my 92% furnace is emitting a plume of steam and it's tripping that camera. I'll probably have to relocate. I'm not sure if I'll be able to get proper tripping at the distance to my barn.

So here's what I've learned so far.
* Sensitivity, 1 is low and makes it so it takes more to trip the camera.
* Threshold, 1 is low and makes the camera trip easier.
* When you set up your zones and you want to exclude an area such as a tree with leaves blowing in the wind, you want sensitivity at 1 and threshold at 100.
* When you set up your camera, Explorer would not allow the IP program to load the needed plugin, I had to use Firefox. I was told that Chrome won't work either.
* many of the setup parameters can only be setup using a laptop and Firefox, you cannot access many settings using an IPad of smartphone.

Hope some of this info helps..... I'm learning too.

[i2ichal2d]

Most important thing is to understand how adjusting sensitivity affects motion, and how threshold affects motion. I was told to think of sensitivity as how big or small of an object do you want your camera able to detect. Threshold refers to how much movement is needed to trigger the alarm, so these two settings work together. Every environment is different so fine tuning to your environment is key. The best way I did this was to have my laptop with me on the motion screen and walk around and watch as I trigger the alarm on the trigger chart. Play with the settings and you can see that threshold reducing will lower or raise the trigger bar. As you adjust the sensitivity your movements are also triggered with a shorter or taller "mark" on the chart.

I currently have my sensitivity at 75, threshold 20. I think its a good setting to start with, and adjust to your environment. Once you get a hang of it, start looking at the area you're covering and start thinking of zones and how you can fine tune your settings even more with multiple zones settings to avoid false alarms (more sensitive on walkway/driveway, less sensitive where shadow is always cast or a bush that waves with wind)

[tonester]

I too have wondered about how exactly the sensor works--my camera is situated indoors (sitting on a window sill) pointed out towards the front porch area (i.e., monitoring the area right outside my front door)--I have found that at night time when it's dark both outside and inside, then when I turn on the light in the room where the camera is located, it triggers the motion sensor--I know it does because almost immediately afterward I get a notification from the Amcrest phone app. Note--I have the infrared turned off because my camera is directly facing the window and having IR turned on in such a location is not a good thing; also, I know the motion sensor was not triggered due to the camera detecting actual motion--I can replicate this issue at will, regardless of whether there is anything actually moving in front of the camera.

This tells me that the sensor apparently detects motion based on pixel change--specifically, change in color...or is it something else that may explain as to how turning on a light can trigger the camera's motion sensor?

[Melvin]

Hello tonester,

Yes the motion sensing is based on pixel changes and so prone to some false alarms.