Welcome to the
"Technical Section"
of
Doktor Jons
Guide to Closed Circuit TV (CCTV)

Making light of a dark place ...
the inside track on Infra Red.

Types of Infra Red Illuminator - continued

The LED based illuminators which are mostly lower power outputs, are usually used over much shorter distances; with 'true' IR output ratings of 20Watts, 50W, 60W & 75W (there are now a very limited number of higher output LED lamps available)

The diodes generally emit at frequencies of either 850nM, 940nM and 950nM,

Most high output illuminators work at normal mains voltages (e.g. 240v AC in the UK), and run very hot. You should never ever ever attempt to change a bulb unless it has cooled for absolutely ages! Ignore this advice, and you won't do it again in a hurry!

The lower wattage lamps may well use 12v capsule type tungsten halogen bulbs (possibly with a special gold backcoating on the reflector to direct more of the Infra Red light forward, whilst allowing the excess heat to pass out backwards).

The bulbs themselves will have a variable life expectancy depending on their type and the way they have been used. Some illuminators use a ‘soft start’ power supply which gently conditions the bulb up to operating temperature.

Although these power supplies can be quite expensive, the additional bulb life can more than compensate for this. Even a simple technique like using a night operating photocell can virtually triple the life of a bulb, simply by turning the lamp off during daylight hours.

Whilst the bulbs themselves are not cripplingly expensive, the same cannot be said for repeated site visits by a CCTV maintenance engineer, so the fewer the service calls, the more cost efficient the set up.

LED illuminators differ significantly in that being 'solid state', depending on the quality of design and components, their operating life expectancy can be up to 10 years.

Using lenses with Infra Red >>

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