ZoneMinder Forums

Sorry guys, total newbie here.

I installed ZoneMinder and purchased a single Wansview W3 camera for monitoring our backyard. Thanks to various postings on this site I have been able to install the server and get my camera working. What I am struggling with now is getting the IR working for this camera, specifically trying to schedule the IR to come on at night. I can use the WansView APP on my cell phone to toggle it off and on and view the results in ZoneMinder but ideally I would like to schedule this.

Is this something you can schedule with ZoneMinder, or do people just leave IR on all the time?

Most cameras, the IR turns on when a light sensor on the front of the camera detects light going below a certain threshold. It can't be scheduled. The feed will then go to black and white as the IR cut filter is removed on the image sensor.

The change on the camera feed from colour to black and white often causes false motion detect alerts. This can be avoided with external motion sensors. Some new cameras have PIR included. You can also use microwave, a laser... Anything. That is what ZMTrigger or the ZM API is for.

The IR Scheduling you are asking for, I don't recall seeing, though it may exist. Some cameras let you disable IR or run in IR only mode (e.g. DCS-932). They call it day / night mode.That sounds like what you have.

If the Wansview doesn't auto turn on IR, It's up to you to devise a solution that communicates with the WansView APP, telling it to turn or turn off IR. Try curl or python? Maybe it has an API? Read the user manual, and the SDK, if it has one. Make sure the light is dark enough. If you have a spot light near the camera, that may be keeping it from turning to IR. You could also use external IR. You may find, that IR attracts spiders and external IR is better.