Is Your Avigilon Motion Detection Too Sensitive?
An expertly installed Avigilon security system provides unparalleled peace of mind. However, if that system is bombarding you with constant notifications for non-existent threats, it can quickly lead to "alert fatigue," where important events get lost in the noise. When your motion detection is too sensitive, you end up with an event log full of swaying trees, shadows, and passing headlights.
This is a common configuration challenge. The goal of this guide is to help you understand and adjust the powerful motion detection settings within the Avigilon Control Center (ACC) software. By fine-tuning these settings, you can drastically reduce false positives and ensure that you are only alerted to events that genuinely require your attention.
Understanding Avigilon Motion Detection
Avigilon systems offer several layers of motion detection, from simple pixel-based analysis to sophisticated self-learning analytics. The key to reducing false alerts is choosing and configuring the right method for your environment.
- Pixel-Based Detection: This is the traditional method. The software analyses the video feed for changes in pixels between frames. It's effective but can be easily fooled by lighting changes, weather, and moving foliage.
- Avigilon Video Analytics: This is a much more intelligent system. It learns the normal state of a scene and then identifies and classifies objects (like people and vehicles) that enter. It is far more resilient to false alarms from environmental factors.
How to Calibrate Avigilon Motion Detection in ACC
The following steps should be performed within the Avigilon Control Center (ACC) client software by a user with the appropriate permissions.
1. Adjusting Sensitivity and Threshold
This is your first line of defence for tuning pixel-based motion detection.
- Sensitivity: This setting determines how much a pixel or block of pixels needs to change to be considered motion. A lower number makes it less sensitive.
- Threshold: This setting determines what percentage of the total pixels in the detection area needs to be in motion before an event is triggered. A higher number makes it less likely to trigger.
Action: Navigate to your camera's "Motion Detection" settings. Methodically lower the sensitivity and increase the threshold, observing the live motion indicators to see the effect. The goal is to find a balance where real events are detected but minor changes are ignored.
2. Configuring Motion Detection Masks
This is one of the most powerful tools for eliminating false alerts.
- Identify Problem Areas: Observe the camera feed and note any areas that consistently cause false triggers, such as busy roads, rustling trees, or flags.
- Apply a Mask: In the motion detection setup, you can "paint" or draw boxes over these areas. The system will completely ignore any and all pixel changes within these masked zones. This is essential for any camera view that includes public spaces or constant environmental movement.
3. Leveraging Avigilon Self-Learning Analytics
If your cameras are equipped with analytics capabilities, using them is the single best way to reduce false alerts.
- Enable Analytics: Ensure that "Classified Object Detection" is enabled for the camera.
- Configure Analytic Events: Instead of using the generic "Motion Detected" event, create rules based on specific classifications like "Person Detected" or "Vehicle Detected" in a certain area. This will automatically filter out alerts from all other types of motion.
4. Setting Minimum and Maximum Object Sizes
To further refine detection, you can instruct the system to ignore objects that are too small (like insects or birds) or too large (like a cloud shadow moving across the entire scene). This is particularly useful in outdoor environments to add another layer of filtering.
By methodically working through these configuration options, you can transform a "noisy" Avigilon system into a highly accurate and reliable security solution that provides meaningful alerts.