Security professionals and first responders will surely agree that the quality and utility of their tools are determined when they are tested under the most challenging conditions. It doesn’t really matter if that new flashlight works great when the package is first opened; what matters most is that it will work months later on a wet, cold night, after being dropped a few times. How tools function under real-world conditions determine whether or not they fulfill your expectations and objectives.
This same principle holds true with video surveillance cameras. The very purpose of these cameras is to capture useful images with the distance, coverage and pixel density specified for the location where they are installed. There are locations, such as interior lobbies and hallways, where the lighting environment is completely controlled. But this is often not the case, and cameras are typically challenged to capture images in changing lighting conditions that may range from bright sunlight all the way to dimly lit areas. The most common challenge is the latter – dealing with low-light conditions.