Night Owl Camera Settings (Don’t Settle for Defaults!)
If you’re looking for the absolute best Night Owl camera settings, you have just found them!
We know how important it is that your Night Owl camera works at its maximum efficiency, but to achieve peak performance, you need to adjust the settings accordingly.
This guide introduces you to each important feature of your Night Owl camera individually and provides helpful tips, tricks, and methods to optimize your camera footage.
The Best Night Owl Camera Settings – [A to Z Configuration]
Each setting in the interface of your Night Owl camera and NVR/DVR plays a major role in improving the output consistently and performance.
Keep in mind that some settings are user-specific and might not apply to all configurations due to the sheer number of Night Owl DVR systems and equipment available.
However, ZontSound will guide you through all the common settings each system has, so let’s get started.
The Best Night Owl Camera Light & Recording Settings:
The motion-activated spotlights on most Night Owl camera models enhance your security by detecting all types of movement and capturing the so-called “motion events”.
This is important to begin with, because misconfiguring the spotlight could be the reason why your Night Owl camera’s night vision is not working.
These are some of the most important settings for your Night Owl camera as they define how your camera recognizes and detects motion 24/7.
How to Access the Light & Recording Settings:
Open the Night Owl app on your smartphone or access the DVR menu via a connected monitor and navigate to the “Camera” section, then select “Recording”.
Recommended Adjustments
If you prefer, you can adjust the NVR/DVR to conduct “Continuous” recording, but keep in mind that this will occupy the SD/HDD space much more quickly.
Hence, setting it to “Motion” instead instructs the system to only start a recording after the Night Owl camera detects any movement.
The Best Night Owl Camera Color Settings:
An easy way to improve the quality of your Night Owl camera broadcast is to take advantage of unique color features such as the L2 Color Boost, gamma regulation, brightness, and contrast.
Each of these settings delivers some color improvement for the Night Owl camera’s broadcast!
As we have mentioned earlier, not all Night Owl cameras have the color settings listed below.
Additionally, there are no strict recommendations for the color settings, as they are adjusted according to personal preferences and specific occasions.
How to Access the Color Settings:
In the Night Owl app or DVR menu, go to “Camera”, select your camera, and navigate to “Image Settings” to access the color options.
Recommended Adjustments:
Feel free to adjust the color settings as you prefer to maximize the exposure of your stream during the night.
Color options are primarily intended for night recording, due to the persistent low-light conditions and external light sources confusing the IR.
The Best Night Owl Camera Storage Settings:
Adjusting the storage options of your Night Owl is crucial because when the HDD or SD card reaches its limit, your camera will no longer store footage until further notice.
Improper storage settings might also disrupt the signal of your Night Owl cameras.
Configuring Overwrite settings, cleaning up unnecessary footage, and monitoring the health of your SD or HDD storage ensures that your system can record without interruptions.
So, keep in mind that most of these adjustments, such as the Overwrite function, automatically manage the storage of your NVR/DVR by removing old recordings to free space for new ones.
How to Access the Storage Settings:
On your Night Owl DVR, click the Main Menu icon, go to “Device”, and select “HDD” to manage storage options.
Recommended Adjustments
If you have a Wi-Fi Night Owl camera instead that relies on the microSD, you can manage the storage settings through the Night Owl mobile application.
Similar to your NVR/DVR’s HDD, you can format, manually clean, and enable “Overwrite” for your camera’s SD.
The Best Night Owl Camera Motion Settings:
The motion settings are one of the most mandatory settings for any surveillance camera, because they enable the device to recognize movement and notify you immediately.
Optimizing motion zones, recording triggers, and detection parameters ensures that your camera accurately detects all movement and starts a recording to capture and store the event.
This detection precision is vital for your Night Camera because it enables maximum recording efficiency and makes sure no movement or event goes undetected.
How to Access the Motion Settings:
Open the Night Owl app or DVR menu, go to “Camera”, and select the “Motion” sub-tab to configure detection settings.
Recommended Adjustments
The motion detection uses unique AI technology enabling the Night Owl camera to tell humans, animals, and other subjects apart.
You can specify which subjects your camera must avoid and which subjects can activate the motion detection of the Night Owl camera.
The Best Night Owl Camera Sensitivity Setting:
The detection sensitivity settings of your Night Owl camera control how much motion is required to activate a recording or an alert.
Misconfiguring the sensitivity of your camera could lead to an abundance of false positives or cause the camera to miss out on events.
Adjusting the sensitivity ensures that your Night Owl cameras only detect the activity you want to, while avoiding all other non-significant subjects, such as cars or birds passing by.
How to Access the Sensitivity Settings:
Open the Night Owl app or DVR menu, go to “Camera”, select your camera, and navigate to “Motion” to adjust sensitivity settings.
Recommended Adjustments
After several tests, try to determine if the current sensitivity adjustment is suitable for you. If not, continue tweaking until you find a setting that works best.
Night Owl Camera Timelapse & Notification Settings:
The notification settings on Night Owl cameras improve the ability to stay informed about recent motion detections and always receive the push alerts on time.
The timelapse settings, on the other hand, are quite important for reviewing footage efficiently without having to go through a 50-hour recording, just to review a several-second event.
The setup below is designed for busy users who do not have the time to play with recordings!
How to Access Notifications & Timelapse Settings:
Open the Night Owl app or DVR menu, go to “Camera”, then select “Motion” and “Notifications” to configure these settings.
Recommended Adjustments
With these Night Owl camera settings, your system will deliver the highest-quality footage it has ever done.
Additionally, our recommendations at ZontSound are designed to help you in managing the storage and efficiency of your Night Owl camera, along with all other options.
Note: If you have any camera-related questions, do not hesitate to contact Night Owl support.
Finn Wheatley, a Master’s graduate in Computer Science from UCL, London, honed his skills at small data science consultancies. There, he helped large corporations enhance their data capabilities by deploying cutting-edge machine learning analytics and resolving technical hurdles.
