About a month ago both of my V3 cameras started showing four red IR dots while in NEAR mode, not just in far mode. Pics attached. I’ve reset to factory settings, flashed back multiple firmware updates all the way back to May, and get this - bought a BRAND NEW V3 cam on amazon and it is showing the dots straight out of the box (in both near and far mode like my photos show) - with and without firmware updates. Meanwhile my friend just tried his and he doesn’t see the dots!
Wyze support is aware and passing everything along to the engineers. In the meantime my toddler keeps freaking out about these lights suddenly appearing in his life and I’m waiting on a third party external IR light to arrive from amazon (i’m going to point it at the ceiling so he can’t see the lights).
About a month ago, something in the room probably physically changed or moved. Both the near and far IR LEDs are adaptive (variable) intensity (brightness). If the room has a small amount of light (nightlight, moonlight through window, etc.) or something nearby that reflects IR (window covering, bedspread, boxes, glass/mirror parallel to cam, etc.), the IR intensity will be minimal to prevent oversaturation. Absence of ambient light and reflective surfaces will result in full LED intensity and the near LEDs may be slightly visible to some people.
Interesting, thanks for the info. Shouldn’t they however be dimmer than 940 nm at their brightest point? The whole point of Wyze offering two levels of IR is so that their Near-IR light is 940 nm and invisible to human eyes.
Yes, if you switch back and forth between far (850nm) and near (940nm) you should see a considerable difference between the two. If you are looking directly at the 940nm LEDs, you may notice a faint glow because typical commercial LEDs emit a bell curve of wavelengths with the spec’d wavelength at the curve’s intensity peak spreading out appx 100-200nm in both directions at lower intensities.
I’ve recently noticed the same, IR is visible in near mode. It’s advertised as invisible to the naked eye. I didn’t see any light when initially installed and the cameras haven’t been moved, no changes in light in the room. Haven’t reached out to support yet but going to. Came across this post and figure I’d check and see if there was any update or fix. Thanks.
Yeah it doesn’t seem to cause any issues but they do advertise as not visible. I don’t recall seeing the lights previously but it’s possible I just assumed they weren’t. Have one as a baby monitor and noticed that the baby kept looking directly at it where previously there was no interest in it. That’s when I checked and noticed the IRs were visible in near mode.
Yep. Unfortunately, there’s a misnomer and a misunderstanding about “invisible”. The 940nm light emission from the LEDs cast into the viewing space isn’t visible to humans, but the IR LEDs themselves are slightly visible if a human looks closely.
Nothing has changed recently. Wavelengths are what they are.
Wyze says 940nm is invisible because intruders need to be CLOSE to see them. And even then, your eyes need to be capable of seeing 940nm. Toddlers may be able to see both wavelengths, like me. But toddlers are not your typical intruders, lol.
So most people should definitely see at least a difference between far (more visible) and near (less visible). I can see both, but 940nm less so. YMMV.
IMO, there is no ‘invisible’ on this. On this issue, I agree Wyze needs to change their marketing info. Just say ‘more invisible’ or something… They are NOT totally invisible to most.
Seapup and Johnsmith - I know it sounds crazy, and I know that the most likely scenario here is to say that this is operator error and that nothing changed, but I swear - the entire reason I bought v3 cams to replace my v2 was because of the invisible claim, and when we received them, they were indeed invisible and fantastic. My 2 year old didn’t care about them, and all was well. Something changed, even though nothing in our room changed. And I know that my own test flies in the face of this (where I bought a brand new one on amazon and it had the same visible IR light issue), but I’m 100% positive that those lights were invisible. That was the entire reason we bought it, and kept it! I swear I’m not crazy. I’m a professional videographer and I care deeply about lighting and cameras.
Furthermore, both of your explanations seem logical and super reasonable to me. Seapup, your explanation of the bell curve makes total sense. If I hadn’t seen that they were invisible originally, I would 100% say that makes sense, and that they should change their advertising. Regardless of your feelings about this response - thank you both for your knowledge and insight. I still think there is something else going on here, but thanks to you I’ve learned a lot about how they normally work!
For anyone looking for another option - Last week I bought an $18 IR light on amazon and have it sitting on a high shelf and pointed at the ceiling. I then turned off all the IR lights on the cameras themselves. The kid can’t see it from his crib, and the IR light bounces beautifully off the walls and ceiling. It’s SO much brighter than the little IR lights on the wyze cams can provide (understandably, given that it’s just as big as an entire wyze cam!). It also doesn’t create shadows of the cribs’ walls because the light is pointed up and bouncing down as opposed to shining right into the crib. This before and after shot doesn’t do it justice. It is truly so much brighter and it has boosted the quality especially when we zoom in on my son sleeping in the crib. It’s way brighter and more beautiful than this one little example frame shows.
So for $18 I’ve solved my problem, and dramatically increased the quality and brightness of my night shot. Just search “infrared light oculus” on amazon and you’ll find a good option.
Here’s the IR light I purchased. Seapup - if this isn’t allowed please message me and I’ll take it down. Or delete this post and I’ll repost without the link.
We allow posting links to third party products if they are relevant to an ongoing discussion. Links and testimonials such as yours are particularly welcome when they help other Wyze users fill a supplemental need or solve a problem. Great to see you’ve come up with a solution and thank you for sharing!
Im not sure what youre saying. Are you asking if I pointed a flashlight at the camera? No I didnt. The ir lights are in the camera and shine out. I can see them on all my cameras in the dark. So can my family.
