Infrared cameras see what normal cameras cannot.
Surveillance cameras improve your home's security in a number of ways. The mere sight of a surveillance camera can dissuade burglars or vandals from bothering you and your property at all, and camera systems let you see what's happening outside your home without actually going outside. Infrared cameras overcome the primary obstacle faced by security cameras: darkness.
Infrared Light
Light waves span what is referred to as the electromagnetic spectrum. Light with wavelengths that fall within a particular range are classified as a particular kind of light. Humans, and regular cameras, see what is called the "visible" light range. The range below the visible range is called the infrared range, and its waves are commonly referred to as infrared light. These waves have longer wavelengths, and are correspondingly of lower energy than the human eye can detect. However, cameras equipped with infrared sensors can record these waves.
Night Vision
Darkness is not the lack of any light waves, just the lack of light waves of sufficiently high energy that the human eye can detect them. When a burglar is moving around in the dark outside, there are still low-energy light waves bouncing off his figure. While the human eye, and regular surveillance cameras cannot detect these, infrared sensors can record these waves as an image. This effectively gives infrared surveillance cameras night vision.
Saving Power
Because normal surveillance cameras require visible light to record images, the owner of a property with surveillance cameras has to choose one of two options: he can either pay to keep his property well illuminated all night, or he can let the property go dark and let the camera become useless. Because infrared cameras can record images in the dark, their owners can use them to save on the utility bill. The one downside of being able to see in the dark is that because criminals either cannot see the cameras, or think that the cameras cannot see them in the dark, the cameras lose their power of deterrence.
Murky Conditions
Darkened areas are not the only environments in which the ability to record infrared light makes infrared surveillance cameras useful. They can also record images in situations which those with human vision would describe as murky or foggy. These can include opaque waters, and areas afflicted with particularly bad air pollution. While these conditions interfere with seeing in the visible light spectrum, these conditions do not interfere with infrared light. Consequently, infrared surveillance cameras can still be used with great efficacy in areas with these kinds of poor conditions.
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