User Guide

427-0089-00-12 Version 180 August 2020 42
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Basic Operation and Configuration
it may be difficult for the camera to show the temperature of the object itself, rather than of the water
coating.
Image too dark or too light
By default the FC-Series camera uses an Automatic Gain Control (AGC) setting that has proven to
be superior for most applications, and the camera will respond to varying conditions automatically.
The installer should keep in mind that the sky is quite cold and can strongly affect the overall image.
It may be possible to avoid a problem by slightly moving the camera up or down to include (or
exclude) items with hot or cold temperatures that influence the overall image. For example, a very
cold background (such as the sky) could cause the camera to use a wider temperature range than
appropriate.
On the IR Page, the AGC setting, including specifying the ROI (region of interest), can be
customized to produce different configurations that could improve the video image for a given set of
conditions (see IR Page—Thermal Image Setup).
Eastern or western exposure
Once installed, the camera may point directly east or west, and this may cause the sun to be in the
field of view during certain portions of the day. We do not recommend intentionally viewing the sun,
but looking at the sun will not permanently damage the sensor. In fact the thermal imaging camera
often provides a considerable advantage over a conventional camera in this type of back-lit situation.
However, the sun may introduce image artifacts that will eventually correct out and it may take some
time for the camera to recover. The amount of time needed for recovery will depend on how long the
camera was exposed to the sun. The longer the exposure, the longer the recovery time needed.
Figure 2-3: Images facing sun from standard camera (left)
and thermal camera (right)