I have an indoor camera positioned to record visitors approaching via the walkway. The camera has operated trouble free, 24x7 for roughly 2 years. A few nights ago the camera began operating in B&W. I supposed there had been a change in lighting levels and, being busy, did not investigate. About half an hour ago, roughly noon local time, the camera began sending in B&W during the day. Weather is bright and sunlit. The change is NOT due to low ambient lighting.
I examined all the device settings–first time I’ve even done that in many months–but noticed no irregularities. I checked a similarly installed camera facing the backyard. It’s sending color. No obvious issues. I restarted the camera, cycled power,
What should I suspect and investigate as a possible cause? I’ve never experienced anything of this sort and so don’t know where to begin.
Google’s AI Mode suggested the problem could be due to a stuck IR filter. Does this model even have an IR filter that could become stuck? Is that cause even remotely plausible? If so, I need to investigate ways of (gently) freeing a stuck filter. The AI suggested a magnet. Anyone had luck with that? Given that the camera is beyond warranty, I’m inclined to replace it and be done. Any strong argument to the contrary?
Thanks!
Many thanks for any ideas, suggestions, hypotheses, etc.
Yes. It’s not uncommon. If manually toggling the IR settings doesn’t change anything, consider turning the camera upside down and firmly tapping it on the top of the camera to jostle the IR filters. Don’t hit it too hard.
Thanks! You’re confirming what the AI told me. I am already wondering how I lived so many years without the abundance of great help I’ve gotten just from this AI. I still tend not to trust their information without confirmation but I have yet to find a case where I’ve been steered the wrong way. I HIGHLY recommend Google’s AI Mode in particular, especially since–like Google search–it’s freely available.
Thanks! That’s a key confirmation of what the AI told me. I understand that hitting the camera too hard could cause damage. But, if a love tap doesn’t do it, I seem to have nothing to lose by tapping somewhat more vigorously. In any case, I’ve already ordered a replacement so if the camera knows what’s good for it, it will comply readily! The AI also suggested using a magnet if taps (the gentle knock, not the bugle call) fail.
Usually just toggling night mode off/on a few times will do it. Once it clicks out of the way, set it back to what you want (auto, off, etc).
If it starts doing it regularly, unfortunately you either have to take the camera apart and grease it up, replace the cam, or leave night mode “off”.
You can also try unplugging the power, waiting a minute or so and then plugging it back in. I’ve had that alone fix one of my cameras when it did this.
Watch out if AI begins to Hallucinate. Here is an excerpt from an interesting article I was reading.
“As another example, suppose a language model is asked for someone’s birthday but doesn’t know. If it guesses “September 10,” it has a 1-in-365 chance of being right. Saying “I don’t know” guarantees zero points. Over thousands of test questions, the guessing model ends up looking better on scoreboards than a careful model that admits uncertainty.”