No color night vision

Bought the newer Wyze Cam with color night vision, it does not show any color at night. Have this on a snake habitat and also have the regular Wyze without color. They both do IR just fine, but the new one with color night vision looks no different than the older one? I do not see settings in the app for anything related to color settings.

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Try looking under Advanced Settings > Night Vision Mode - set it to Auto

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You would need some light near the location if you want the “color night vision” to work.
It’s not a magic that could create color in the dark.

If you want a true color night vision camera, ask the 3 letter agencies government.

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I know it seems wrong, but disable “night vision mode”. IMO the color night vision feature should have been named color at night to make it differentiate itself from the actual night vision mode which turns your picture black and white and enables the IR lights.

“Color night vision” in this cameras context is to have a very good, low light seeing ability. These cameras have a starlight sensor which picks up minimal allowance of light. If your night vision mode is disabled, then it will see a very low level of visible light and the picture will be in color, whereas if your night vision mode is enabled The picture will be black and white and you’ll be able to see both visible and IR lights illuminate your scene.

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Yes. Lighting makes a world of difference. Even just a little.

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Thanks, I think the 3 letter organizations, at least don’t advertise they can do night color when they cannot. If you need light it really isn’t night vision, its normal vision with light. I get it, but why have two models if they both require a bit of light either way? Pretty shabby advertising, I will return it, if I knew I needed some light I would just stick with the regular camera, why pay for what you don’t get.

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Yes, exactly – it is normal vision with light. It is simply a more sensitive daylight image sensor. So in moonlight it can show color, where a camera without the enhanced sensor only shows black. So yes, it requires some light. I agree it is a confusing marketing phrase, but so well worth the upgrade IMO.

No light then let the IR lights illuminate, in which case the invisible IR gets mapped to B&W; if light, then turn off IR mode, and get natural color. You will never get color without natural light on any camera anywhere. The closest you might get is heat mapping, which is the same as the B&W mapping of near infrared, but a further off wavelength.

Every camera needs some light to work and that can be visible light, or ir illumination in Wyze’s case.

I understand your frustration but I would argue that it isn’t shabby advertising at all.

The Colour Night Vision can be very useful compared to B&W vision.

Consider it is dark. Your camera is monitoring an area that is dark. The IR mode will produce B&W footage. But if the camera detects motion and a motion sensor also triggers a visible light source, the camera can then record colour footage of the scene. Colour footage will provide more information than B&W footage. For example, colour footage can show colours of clothing etc.

Now you might say … well you need to have a light source for this to work. With a starlight sensor even a small amount of light will permit the camera to record colour footage. And that extra information could be of great value. But it does depend on how you want to use your cameras.

A camera that could record full colour vision in total darkness would be fantastic. But you are going to have to pay a lot more than $30 USD to get one.

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Everything you say is accurate, but how hard is it to add a light, they already have the motion sensor. Other products like Nest, Ring and many others sell color night cameras and they are smart enough to add a motion sensor light.

I still say the camera definitely does NOT do color at night without me supply a light source. Nowhere in any documents does it even hint towards this flaw, I would pay a $100 for one that works, but I am not wasting $30 on one that does not.

Correct, so Wyze knows that as well, yet sells a camera with “color night vision” without a light? Tells you a lot about a " camera " company that does not kn.ow the basics of how a camera works,!

The V3 Pro does have a light? What exactly are you complaining about? When they initially introduced the StarLight sensor on the V3 camera… it didn’t have a light (they sold an add-on later). Then, with the release of the V3 Pro and Battery Cam Pro… both cameras have lights in them.

So, would you be willing to retract your statement?

Nailed it, my concern is why does Wyze not know that a camera needs light for color. How much cost does a small LED cost these days. Junk, others are smart enough to add motion sensor light. Wyze has no business being in the camera industry if they do not know basic camera operations.

I think you have your settings wrong. My v3 has an amazing night time colour vision as seen from this screen shot. Tis is at a remote location where there are no artificial lights within miles. The only light source is the moon. It’s hard to beat v3 StarLight sensor even on more expensive models.
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I don’t think OP knows what they bought as compared to what is available:

image

Or he has the night vision ON instead of OFF.

They may have bought the Wyze Cam V3 (no-Pro), since those are on-sale everywhere… but that is NOT the newer one since it was introduced in the Fall of 2020. The V3 Pro was introduced in February of 2023 so I am presuming that is what OP bought (they tagged it with that too).

The plot thickens :rofl:

Newer to her, not newer to you. Read between the lines.

I am sure they know how it works, in my personal opinion I wish they would of named the “feature” differently as to not conflict with the regular “night vision mode”. If you search the forums, this issue
or misunderstanding has come up before, and the community here provides some education and knowledge about the functions to clear it up.

I also wish the WCO or “Wyze Cam Outdoor” was named something else because many Wyze cams are outdoor rated. But that’s a whole another topic…:slight_smile:

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