Camera tampering
Detects when a camera is covered, blurred, darkened or turned away, and reports the cause.
Camera tampering analytics separately recognizes conditions that keep a camera from doing its job. When the image goes dark, it reports that the camera was covered or the light was cut; when detail disappears, that the lens was obstructed, fogged up or lost focus; and when the scene structure changes, that the camera was turned. An event is created if the condition persists for the dwell time; the shadow of a passing vehicle or a brief flash does not produce an event. The new view of a turned camera becomes the reference for the next tampering. ProVife also adapts gradually to natural lighting changes.
How it works
Create a Camera tampering scenario on the camera; the analytic runs on the entire image.
From the first frames, ProVife learns the scene’s brightness, level of detail and structure as a reference.
Enter the dwell time; if tampering persists for this period, an event is created.
The event is recorded with one of these causes: darkening, covering or blurring, and angle change.
Under normal conditions the reference updates gradually; daylight changes are not counted as tampering.
Settings
| Dwell | How long covering, blurring or an angle change must persist to count as an event. |
|---|---|
| Severity | Critical level is usually selected for tampering events. |
| Analytics hours | The days and hours the analytic runs. |
| Notification hours | The days and hours notifications are sent. |
| Repeat alert interval | How often the alert repeats for ongoing tampering. |
What it produces
- Camera sabotage event (analytics.camera.tamper): cause and duration of the tampering.
- A description by cause: image went dark, image was covered or lost clarity, camera angle changed.
- An image from the moment of tampering.
- The event is listed in AI Playback under a camera sabotage heading and can be added to a PDF report.
What you can do with the event
- A critical pop-up window and audible alert at the monitoring center.
- WhatsApp and email notifications with the camera name to technical service.
- Running the siren and strobe via a smart relay when alarm mode is armed.
- Forwarding the event via MQTT to the facility management system.
Where it is used
Retail
A camera spray-painted over after the store closes is reported to the security center immediately.
Parking lot
An entrance camera whose angle has been changed is reported to the technical team.
Public sector
Obstructions placed in front of the lens on exterior cameras are logged.
Energy
Fogging and focus loss on cameras at remote sites reach the maintenance team.
Camera placement
- Mount the camera at a height that cannot be reached by hand.
- Choose a scene with enough texture and detail in the image; cameras facing a completely blank wall provide less information.
- Check that infrared keeps the scene visible both day and night.
- Set the dwell time based on temporary obstructions in the scene; lengthen it slightly in heavy traffic.