Infared on but no recordings?

[cad0914]

I noticed the infared lights were on when I was in a somewhat dark room earlier but then I couldn't help notice they remained on after there was no more motion or activity happening. I was curious about what was recorded but when I checked the app - and then my local storage - there was nothing recorded. Nothing of me entering the room and moving around, just a short clip of when I got up and left a couple minutes later.
Is this normal? I am the only one with a login and was not live viewing at the time. Thanks.

[StephenB]

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@cad0914 wrote:
I noticed the infared lights were on when I was in a somewhat dark room earlier but then I couldn't help notice they remained on after there was no more motion or activity happening. I was curious about what was recorded but when I checked the app - and then my local storage - there was nothing recorded.

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Is the camera on the charger or using the battery?

Do you thave activity zones set?

[cad0914]

It was plugged into the charger at the time, no activity zone enabled.

[StephenB]

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@cad0914 wrote:
It was plugged into the charger at the time

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That might explain it.

[cad0914]

Can you tell my why? I've never noticed this before. It's not like the IR lights are on all night when it's dark, they come on when there is motion and then go off when the motion is done, even when plugged in. What am I missing? I have recordings every night from pets walking in and out when it's dark and the camera is plugged in so why would this be any different? Thanks for your help!

[StephenB]

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@cad0914 wrote:
Can you tell my why?

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I believe it is linked to the foresight feature - https://kb.arlo.com/000062053/How-does-the-Foresight-feature-work-on-my-Arlo-camera

That requires the IR lights to be always on when it is dark (because the camera is always capturing video, so it can be added to the beginning of the video when motion is detected). 

[cad0914]

Hmm I don't think this applies to my bade station as it's not listed in the article. Thank you anyway.

[StephenB]

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@cad0914 wrote:
Hmm I don't think this applies to my base station as it's not listed in the article. Thank you anyway.

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Foresight is a camera feature, not a base station feature (and there are no base stations listed in that article).

It is in the Pro 2 camera - but not the Pro,

[cad0914]

Ok then, so this feature prevents recordings from happening when plugged in? Sorry I just dont understand since I have other recordings from when it was plugged in at night. If the IR lights are on I am assuming a motion triggered that and something should have recorded, like me entering the room...

[StephenB]

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@cad0914 wrote:
Ok then, so this feature prevents recordings from happening when plugged in? 

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No.

Often by the time the camera detects motion, there is useful footage right before the detection that is lost because of the detection lag.

Foresight solves that problem.  When your camera is AC powered, it is always capturing video  (buffering the previous 3 seconds in the camera's memory).  That extra 3 seconds is pre-pended to the recorded video,

Since it is always capturing video, the IR lights need to stay on at night, otherwise those three seconds will end up as black video. 

[cad0914]

I think I understand, this was way more than 3 seconds that I have no recording for though. Oh well, thanks for your help!

[StephenB]

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@cad0914 wrote:
I think I understand

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Maybe not quite. The IR should always be on at night (all the time) when the camera is AC powered.  The system can't predict the future, so it needs to continuously capture video (but not record it).  That is the only way to get those three seconds of video when motion is detected.  

So seeing the IR on when the camera is AC powered does not mean that the camera is recording,