Considerations for outdoor use

When placing a Blink camera outdoors, keep in mind that random objects, like cars or blowing leaves, and even moving shadows can trigger a motion alert. To reduce unwanted alerts, adjust the Sensitivity setting or use Motion Zones‍ to block off certain areas of the view.

To preserve the privacy of others, you can use Privacy Zones‍ that stop the camera from sending anything within the two areas you set.

When your camera has adjusted the white balance for darkness and motion has occurred, the scene may have an area of bright light. This image may be sent to you before the camera has adjusted itself. In this case, there may be a blue tint to the image; however, the next clip will have a corrected white balance. You can adjust the camera view to avoid areas of high contrast (morning sun on a dark walkway).

Considerations for indoor use

When placing your camera indoors, or in a garage, some surfaces can affect what you see. Flat surfaces reflect light and create glare. Momentary reflections, or a strong source of light aimed at the camera lens can also create a glare.

The appearance of glare will appear as fog or bright area of the image. Glare can also make the background appear darker. This image is from a camera sitting directly on a shelf.

Moving the camera a short distance away from a reflective surface can make a big difference. Using a Blink Camera Mount or Blink Camera Stand lifts the camera off of flat surfaces and improves image clarity. The image below is from the same camera on a mount.

In some cases, switching the infra red (IR) light Setting to Off can help reduce glare. If the area is lit when motion occurs, as with some garage doors or our floodlight products, your camera will provide a picture using visible light instead of IR, as shown below.

Considerations for motion detection

To detect motion, cameras other than the Mini are sensitive to the size of an object's heat as it appears in the view. The Blink Mini detects visual differences between one moment and the next. For both types of camera however, a small object close to the camera would trigger a detection equal to a larger object farther away because their appearance is similar in the camera view. The best range of detection is within 5 to 20 feet (about 1.5 to 6m) from the camera. By placing your camera higher off of the ground, you can avoid smaller animals causing motion alerts.

Mini cameras have been used to detect motion through glass. Remember, this is not the most accurate way to detect motion. When using your Mini through glass, be sure to turn off the Recording LED and the Night Vision IR LED to prevent glare from reflected light.

Because motion is detected by difference in the view, a person walking toward the camera is harder to detect than when they walk across the scene.

If you want to see arriving visitors and package deliveries, it may be useful to mount the camera looking towards the doorway, so random pedestrians or stray animals do not appear in the background and cause motion alerts that you are not interested in.

Where you place your Blink devices can affect your audio

Placing your camera near hard surfaces may produce unwanted sounds. Placing the camera on a shelf, near a wall, or set back from the edge, may create a "boxed-in" environment. Because a hard surface reflects sound, the camera microphone may pick up the original sound and the reflected sound.

For ideal placement, please avoid placing your camera:

• Near dense materials like brick, stone, concrete, metals
• Near other electronic devices
• In confined spaces