What can you see if you remove the IR filter from a web camera?

What can you see if you remove the IR filter from a web camera?

The human eye does not see the entire spectrum of light radiation, and almost everyone knows this. As soon as you go beyond the limits of red or violet, the sensitivity of the eye immediately drops to zero. But not all creatures on our planet cannot see in infrared radiation. Many species of birds, reptiles, and insects use the infrared range hidden from us, both for hunting and for survival.
Thanks to electronics, you also have the opportunity to “look behind the scenes” and see what is visible in IR light.

Removing the infrared filter from the camera lens


We will need any web camera. The brand and other characteristics do not matter, as long as it works.
What can you see if you remove the IR filter from a web camera?

All cameras are sensitive to IR light, and to prevent it from exposing the matrix, a special IR filter is installed in the lenses, and we need to remove it.
Unscrew the lens.
What can you see if you remove the IR filter from a web camera?

The IR filter is very easy to identify - it has a distinct red glare.
We remove it by picking it out with a screwdriver.
What can you see if you remove the IR filter from a web camera?

What can you see if you remove the IR filter from a web camera?

Next, screw the lens in place.
This completes the modification and now our camera is sensitive to infrared radiation.

What can you see?


Next there will be photos from two simultaneously working web cameras, with the difference that one has the IR filter removed.
Knife heated on a gas stove:
What can you see if you remove the IR filter from a web camera?

It has cooled down and its redness is almost invisible, but not for the IR camera:
What can you see if you remove the IR filter from a web camera?

The knife is still hot, but it’s not visible to the eye:
What can you see if you remove the IR filter from a web camera?

A dark glass vial is perfectly translucent, as if it were transparent:
What can you see if you remove the IR filter from a web camera?

Some types of dark plastics are also translucent:
What can you see if you remove the IR filter from a web camera?

What can you see if you remove the IR filter from a web camera?

A flashing Light-emitting diode from the remote control is simply dazzling for the IR camera:
What can you see if you remove the IR filter from a web camera?

A heated resistor under voltage glows no worse than a light bulb, although this is not visible to the eye:
What can you see if you remove the IR filter from a web camera?

And that is not all! Therefore, I recommend repeating this experiment and exploring the world around again. I am sure that you will see many more interesting things.

Watch the video


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Comments (5)
  1. Gregory
    #1 Gregory Guests 29 February 2020 21:36
    2
    Cool
  2. Guest Evgeniy
    #2 Guest Evgeniy Guests 2 March 2020 19:32
    2
    Cool, can’t you assemble a thermal imager like that?)
  3. Sasha
    #3 Sasha Guests 17 March 2021 13:41
    0
    And throw away the camera😁
  4. Alex
    #4 Alex Guests 2 September 2021 22:58
    1
    Looks like a fake.In theory, it should have two cameras, a regular one and one without an IR filter, but the videos would be slightly different, but here it’s just one with a different effect. How is that!?
  5. Jimmy
    #5 Jimmy Guests 25 August 2023 14:52
    1
    The author does not say whether the backlight is used with infrared diodes. Looks like it's in use. Those. The camera has a night vision option. It turns out that the IR filter that was removed does not transmit only the long-wave part of the IR spectrum, the so-called. the far spectrum in which moderately heated objects emit radiation.