Fault-finding
Night footage is washed out or black
Infra-red reflecting straight back into the lens causes the washed-out white night picture — bounced off a close wall, the eave above the camera, film on the cover or a web. A fully black night picture is different: the IR LEDs never lit, and that is nearly always a power supply out of headroom.
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Step 1: wipe the housing clean
Look at the camera before you touch a setting. A web strung across the housing glows brilliantly under infra-red and blinds the sensor, and Islamabad's monsoon weeks produce webs and insect debris faster than any other season. A soft cloth and plain water clear it. No other night-vision fault comes close in frequency, and none is solved faster.
Step 2: check what sits in front of the lens
A camera tucked under an overhang or aimed along a wall lights up its own surroundings, and the bounce-back washes out the middle of the frame. Shift the camera a few centimetres clear of the surface, or angle it so no bright object sits close to the lens axis. The improvement is immediate and permanent, and it costs nothing but a re-aim.
Step 3: measure the supply at dusk
Infra-red LEDs can double a camera's current draw, so a supply that copes all day fails at exactly the moment the IR switches on. A black — not white — night picture on a camera that behaves in daylight is this fault almost every time. Measure voltage at the camera with the IR active; a healthy 12 V sagging under load confirms it, and a properly rated supply cures it.
Why does my CCTV show nothing useful at night?
Why is the picture perfect in daytime?
Because the infra-red only runs at night, and it is both the extra electrical load and the source of the reflection. A camera that is fine by day and useless by dark has told you where to look.
Would a light fix this better than a new camera?
Usually, yes. One modest outdoor light does more for night footage than a camera upgrade, and it keeps many cameras in colour after dark — turning "someone in dark clothes" into a description worth giving.
Rather have it done?
Security camera repair covers black screens, recorders that stopped writing, lost phone access after an internet change, and footage that will not play back. Most faults trace to power, connectors or settings rather than a dead camera. Callout in Islamabad or Rawalpindi starts at PKR 3,000, with the full fix priced before any work.
Security camera repair in Islamabad — prices and scope