[committee] Infra Red Webcams

[Andrew Williams]

Matt Johnston wrote:
> On Mon, Apr 10, 2006 at 09:49:52PM +0800, David Basden wrote:
>> On Mon, Apr 10, 2006 at 11:37:05AM +0800, Alex Dawson wrote:
>>> My pledge of $50 may be redeemed against the purchase by UCC of any IR
>>> boosted camera, not just that auction.
>> Most cheap CCDs are only around 400x400, even if you don't have a crappy
>> lens. Something with better resolution would be really good if we end
>> up buying camera gear.
> 
> How cheap are ~1-2 megapixel lowend digital still cameras?

All CCD's are intrinsically IR sensitive - if they're being used in a color 
camera, they put an IR blocking filter on the front so that the color balance 
isn't thrown off by IR light (or IR 'colored' objects'). The existing B&W webcam 
  will see fine in the dark, all you need is a bank of high-brightness IR LED's...

Movement activated floodlights are probably a better idea though, since they are 
cheap, and would mean all four webcams would give a nice picture from lots of 
different angles (and security would see the lights through the windows).

The idea is to prevent theft, not impress everyone with UCC's neat anti-theft 
gadgets. Go for cheap and simple...

That said, I do like Matt's idea of triggering a normal digital camera (with 
flash) from a motion sensor. It's got a much better chance of a recognisable 
picture, although the burglar will probably take it or smash it after the flash 
goes off for the first time.

Andrew