| About |
| Web camera connection |
| Program controls |
| Motion detection |
| Video settings & properties |
| Configuration |
| Motion detection settings |
| Alarm sounds |
| Capturing images |
| Email alerts |
| FAQ |
MonitorCam can allow the customisation of a number of motion detection settings in order to optimise the program to particular user needs.
Sensitivity determines the level of variation in the brightness of each pixel that is considered to be caused by motion. A high sensitivity makes MonitorCam flag even a very small variation as being caused by motion; while by setting a lower sensitivity a pixel's brightness needs to vary by quite a lot before that pixel is flagged as motion. Normally, every pixel exhibits some variation in brightness even when there is nothing moving in the camera's field of view. This is normal and caused by electronic noise in the camera's sensor. One has to find a balance between setting the sensitivity so high that noise starts being detected as motion and so low that real motion is missed.
Detection threshold, simply speaking, specifies the minimum percentage of the area of the frame that needs to be detected as moving before an event is generated. For example, setting this threshold to 0.25, means that moving objects within the camera's field of view need to appear to occupy a quarter of the video frame or more to be detected.
Detection block size specifies the size of the detection grid in pixels. This detection grid is used to improve efficiency.
Detection start delay specifies the time interval that elapses between pressing the motion detection button and when motion detection actually occurs. This is used to give the user enough time to leave the scene or to exit the camera's field of view.
Alarm start delay specifies the time interval from when motion is first detected to when the first alarm is generated.
Alarm repeat delay specifies the delay in between generating alarms. This is useful for when a moving object stays in the scene for a long time, not to generate an alarm for each and every frame.
Finally, one can reset the motion detection settings by pressing the Restore default settings button.
Sensitivity determines the level of variation in the brightness of each pixel that is considered to be caused by motion. A high sensitivity makes MonitorCam flag even a very small variation as being caused by motion; while by setting a lower sensitivity a pixel's brightness needs to vary by quite a lot before that pixel is flagged as motion. Normally, every pixel exhibits some variation in brightness even when there is nothing moving in the camera's field of view. This is normal and caused by electronic noise in the camera's sensor. One has to find a balance between setting the sensitivity so high that noise starts being detected as motion and so low that real motion is missed.
Detection threshold, simply speaking, specifies the minimum percentage of the area of the frame that needs to be detected as moving before an event is generated. For example, setting this threshold to 0.25, means that moving objects within the camera's field of view need to appear to occupy a quarter of the video frame or more to be detected.
Detection block size specifies the size of the detection grid in pixels. This detection grid is used to improve efficiency.
Detection start delay specifies the time interval that elapses between pressing the motion detection button and when motion detection actually occurs. This is used to give the user enough time to leave the scene or to exit the camera's field of view.
Alarm start delay specifies the time interval from when motion is first detected to when the first alarm is generated.
Alarm repeat delay specifies the delay in between generating alarms. This is useful for when a moving object stays in the scene for a long time, not to generate an alarm for each and every frame.
Finally, one can reset the motion detection settings by pressing the Restore default settings button.