Blink is a brand of wireless Home Security systems that are simple to install and operate in homes. A common question that most homeowners have asked themselves is whether Blink cameras can differentiate between a person and other forms of movement such as that of a pet or a car. Keep reading to discover if Blink offers person detection and how this feature operates.
What is Person Detection?
Human detection or person detection is another aspect of security cameras that utilize computer vision and machine learning to discern if a person is within the range of a security camera. It can distinguish a person or a group of people from another type of movement, like a car, an animal, a change in light, trees swaying in the wind, etc This makes it send notifications to the camera only when someone is approaching. If there is no person detection then any kind of movement gives an alert which results in many unwanted notifications. The smart security system is a very useful tool and person detection greatly enhances the efficiency of the system.
Are Blink Cameras Capable of Identifying Persons?
To the best of the author’s knowledge, as of the writing of this article, Blink cameras and video doorbells do not natively support person detection in firmware and features out of the box. The current state of Blink technology means that these devices will capture all motion within its range with the same intensity. Unfortunately, there is no option you can adjust when using Blink cameras to notify you of the presence of humans alone and no other movements. This means that all activity causes recording and notifications depending on the set parameters.
Blink’s cameras cannot recognize the faces of people but they do have activity zones that you can set. Activity zones enable you to select specific regions within the camera’s view that you wish to detect motion. This allows you to eliminate areas that contain many motions of no interest, such as a sidewalk, a street, or a corner of your yard. Blink also supports Alexa and IFTTT, meaning you can use voice commands to access the cameras or set up automation based on events from the cameras. However, neither integration offers person-specific motion notifications.
Which Blink Devices Support Person Detection?
For focused person detection, no current Blink devices have native support. Their wireless security cameras, video doorbells, and security systems will only identify and record general movement without the ability to distinguish between people or objects such as cars, pets, trees, etc. This may not be the case in the future due to the emergence of higher computing power to support better computer vision abilities. However, as of 2023, there are no Blink models that tag human visitors in the footage or enable the user to configure person-only motion notifications.
Why isn’t Blink specifically designed to detect people?
Blink targets offering simple, contract-free, and cheap smart home security gadgets that can be used by an average consumer. According to their systems, the paramount factors are easy setup, ease of use, and affordable rates than some complex features provided by other sophisticated equipment. As far as I can tell, they haven’t made major strides in advanced motion analytics of the sort I’ve been discussing here, at least not in this most recent version of the software; instead, they appear to have launched development in other directions. Their out-of-the-box offerings are supposed to fulfill the basic home security requirement rather than offering highly accurate detection tuning.
Are There Any Blink Competitors However, as of now, Blink has yet to incorporate person detection into their devices, although some of the competitors have. Major security camera providers that offer person-specific motion detection include:
Ring – The Ring video doorbells and cameras have features that allow for customizable person, vehicle, and package detection zones. This enables more configurations of the motion alert system.
Arlo – Arlo’s wire-free Pro 3 and 4 series cameras have a feature known as Person Detection that you can enable to filter out other moving objects.
Google Nest – For $6 per month for Nest Aware, Nest cameras including the Nest Cam with floodlight, Nest Doorbell, and Nest Cam Outdoor get person, vehicle, pet, and package detection separately.
Eufy – Several Eufy cameras and video doorbells use human detection algorithms to eliminate unnecessary motion detections.
Vivint – Smart features such as facial recognition on the Vivint Outdoor Camera Pro make use of Artificial Intelligence to differentiate between a person and motion.
The commonality is these brands provide devices that are higher priced and designed for the security consumer who is willing to pay for smarter detection compared to what Blink provides as an affordable entry-level product. In the future, if component costs are low enough, Blink could potentially incorporate intelligent person detection to further level the playing field with brands that currently offer this feature.
Is the Person Detection Feature Important?
Whether you need person detection, in particular, is up to you and depends on what your home security concerns are. If you are receiving too many false alarms because of cars or moving objects around your security area, it can help minimize false positives and be less frustrated to only detect humans approaching. Person detection helps you differentiate between actual security issues and mere movement. However, if you have less movement in front of the camera that requires watching or recording, or if you want to minimize the expenses, then the absence of person detection does not pose a problem. Consider the pros and cons of the particular security objectives you have in mind.
Summing up, Blink has no dedicated person or human detection features in their line of security cameras at the moment. All Blink devices generate motions for people, pets, car movements, etc, and changes in the environment equally. It is, however, important to note that some of the competing brands do provide person-specific motion analytics at a higher price. Therefore, if the ability to differentiate between human visitors and other movements is important, Blink may not effectively cater to it. But Blink is great at offering simple and affordable smart security solutions for the consumer segment that wants video surveillance without extra functionality. It is for this reason that one needs to determine which features are essential depending on the requirement to establish whether Blink meets the criteria required.
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