What is day and night confocal?

As an optical technology, day and night confocal is mainly used to ensure that the lens maintains sharp focus under different lighting conditions (i.e., day and night).

This technology is mainly suitable for scenarios that need to operate continuously under all-weather conditions, such as security monitoring, traffic monitoring, etc., which requires the lens to ensure image quality regardless of whether it is in a strong light or low light environment.

IR(Infrared) corrected lenses are special optical lenses designed using day and night confocal technology. They can provide clear images during the day and night, and they can maintain uniform image quality even if the light conditions in the environment change greatly.

This kind of lens is generally used in the field of surveillance and security. For example, the ITS lens used in Intelligent Transportation System is a lens that applies day and night confocal technology.

The main characteristics and applications of IR corrected lenses

Characteristics:

Has a wide spectral response

IR corrected lenses generally have a special optical design and are made of specific materials. They can process a broad spectrum from visible light to infrared light, ensuring that the lens can obtain high-quality images both during the day and at night.

The spectral color

Maintain focus consistency

The key characteristics of IR corrected lenses is the ability to maintain consistent focus during spectral switching, ensuring that images remain consistently sharp regardless of whether they are illuminated by daylight or infrared light.

Comparison of MTF test images during the day (top) and at night (bottom)

Automatic aperture adjustment

The IR corrected lens has the function of automatically adjusting the aperture, which can automatically adjust the aperture size according to changes in ambient light to keep the image exposure just right.

Infrared transmittance

In order to maintain effective work in the night environment, IR corrected lenses usually have good infrared light transmission, suitable for night use, can be paired with infrared lighting equipment, even in the dark environment can also capture images.

Applications:

Wildlife watch

In the field of wildlife protection and research, animal behavior can be monitored 24/7 through IR corrected lenses, which has many applications in wildlife nature reserves.

The application of IR corrected lenses

Traffic monitoring

For the monitoring of roads, railways and other modes of transportation, to help manage and maintain traffic safety, whether it is day or night to ensure that traffic safety management is not lagging behind.

Security monitoring

IR corrected lenses are widely used for security monitoring in residential, commercial and public areas, and are able to ensure that security monitoring is not affected by illumination changes within 24 hours.

ChuangAn’s IR corrected lenses

Shown above are several ITS lenses for intelligent traffic management independently developed by ChuangAn Optoelectronics, which are lenses designed based on the day and night confocal principle.