How do I fix bad night vision, IR glare or a noisy image at night on an Axis camera

Updated Source: T10173221 Rev Source: T10173221 Rev
Quick answer

On an Axis camera such as the P3265-LVE, set Video > Image > Day-night mode with the IR-cut filter on Auto, move the Threshold slider to choose when it switches to black-and-white night mode, and turn on Allow illumination and Synchronize illumination to use the built-in IR. If the night image is noisy, move the Blur-noise trade-off toward Low noise, lower max gain and reduce sharpness. For bright lights in the scene, turn on WDR.

Steps

From: P3265-LVE Dome Camera manual, pp. 8-9, 22

  1. Set the IR-cut filter to Auto
    Go to Video > Image > Day-night mode and make sure the IR-cut filter is set to Auto, so the camera switches to night mode as light drops.
  2. Choose when night mode starts
    Move the Threshold slider toward Bright or Dark. Switching when it's brighter keeps the image sharper with less low-light noise; switching when it's darker keeps color longer but adds blur.
  3. Turn on the built-in IR
    Turn on Allow illumination and Synchronize illumination so the IR LED lights when the camera is in night mode.
  4. Reduce low-light noise
    In Video > Image > Exposure move the Blur-noise trade-off slider toward Low noise and keep the exposure mode on automatic.
  5. Balance shutter and gain
    A higher max shutter brightens the image but can cause motion blur. A lower max gain cuts noise but darkens the image. If there is an Aperture slider, move it toward Open.
  6. Reduce sharpness
    Under Video > Image > Appearance to lower visible noise at night.
  7. Handle headlights and bright lights
    Go to Video > Image > Wide dynamic range, turn on WDR, and use the Local contrast and Tone mapping sliders. If needed, set the Exposure zone to cover the area you care about.

Specs & limits

From: P3265-LVE Dome Camera manual, pp. 8-9, 22

Day-night menuVideo > Image > Day-night mode
IR settingsAllow illumination, Synchronize illumination
Noise sliderVideo > Image > Exposure, Blur-noise trade-off
Fluorescent lightingFlicker-free, set to the power line frequency
WDRVideo > Image > Wide dynamic range
IR LEDItem 9 in the P3265-LV product overview

Common mistakes

From: P3265-LVE Dome Camera manual, pp. 8-9

  • Leaving the IR-cut filter forced to day. The camera never switches to night mode and the image goes dark and noisy.
  • Setting max shutter very high to brighten the scene. Moving people and cars smear; balance it with gain instead.
  • Using WDR everywhere. WDR can cause artifacts and may not be available in every capture mode.

Applies to

P3265-LVE · AXIS OSP3265-LV · AXIS OS

Sources

  1. AXIS P3265-LVE Dome Camera User Manual, p. 8 (T10173221 Rev )
  2. AXIS P3265-LVE Dome Camera User Manual, p. 9 (T10173221 Rev )
  3. AXIS P3265-LVE Dome Camera User Manual, p. 22 (T10173221 Rev )
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