Do Blink Cameras Record Continuously Or Only On Motion?

ByKern Campbell, MBA

Blink cameras are some of the most affordable options for homeowners who want to add an extra layer of security to their homes. Unlike other types of home security cameras, they use relatively low bandwidth. They’re a great option for people who want to keep an eye on their home without wading through hours of video too. 

Do Blink Cameras Record Continuously Or Only On Motion 1 1 Do Blink Cameras Record Continuously Or Only On Motion?

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Blink cameras have a motion sensor that only records video in increments of five seconds at a time. This is what makes the Blink camera so easy on bandwidth. It’s not constantly feeding its video over your internet; it’s only uploading five second videos at a time and only when it detects motion.

Continue reading to learn more about Blink cameras and what makes them one of the best motion cameras on the market. 

Blink is marketed as a convenient motion capture camera, but it can also be viewed via a live feed. This makes it more versatile than most other motion capture cameras on its own. 

Blink’s camera feed can be viewed via the Blink app or with certain Alexa devices, but it doesn’t record constantly.

It requires a Wi-Fi connection of at least 2 MB per second upload speed to function correctly. Some of the Blink products even offer two-way audio support. 

Blink cameras do not record continuously, but they do allow the user to view the live feed whenever they want. 

About The Motion Capture

The motion sensor can be adjusted to the preferred sensitivity by the owner. This means you can prevent false positives from occurring due to the wind moving foliage or from small animals. 

Blink cameras have one of two main types of motion sensors. They either have Passive infrared or Pixel Difference Analysis. 

One detects motion when pixels on the screen change, and one detects motion via infrared detection. They both are capable of detecting motion up to about 20 feet away. 

The cameras that use Pixel Difference Analysis, such as the Blink mini cameras, can detect motion through the glass. It works by monitoring any sudden changes on the feed. 

When a certain percentage of pixels changes, it triggers the camera to record a short clip. 

Blink Outdoor uses infrared to detect motion, and it doesn’t work as well through glass. It detects a change in heat signature and triggers a recording. 

It works best when an object crosses the field of view of the camera, rather than when an object is moving towards it. 

The Blink camera requires a few things to run effectively. Blink cameras require an internet connection with a high enough upload speed, it requires your router, Sync Module, and Blink camera to be the appropriate distance apart, and all components require power. 

There’s no need to run wires with Blink cameras; they all work completely wirelessly. 

The main thing to keep in mind is the positioning of your Sync Module, router, and Blink camera. Place your Sync Module as close to the router as possible. The Sync Module is what connects your Blink camera to your internet source, so it needs a strong connection with your router. 

The Blink camera can be around 100 feet away from the Sync Module. If any of these components are too far apart, you won’t get a strong enough internet connection to upload video or view the live feed. 

Another thing to take into consideration is your internets upload speed. Blink cameras need a minimum of 2 Mb/sec upload speed. The five-second video uploads will still function on speeds slightly lower than 2 MBs per second, but you will likely run into issues with the live feed. 

Your internet needs to be fast enough to upload the video to the internet and stream it back on your mobile device or Alexa-supported product. 

Your Blink camera may experience lag or not connect at all and say Live View Failed if your internet connection is poor.

Another common problem is caused by using the wrong types of batteries. It is recommended to only use AA lithium batteries with your Blink cameras. 

Alkaline or rechargeable batteries are simply not powerful enough to keep the camera functioning. Lithium batteries last longer, provide optimal power output, and results in less maintenance over time. 

Any other issues you have can probably be fixed by simply power cycling your Sync Module and camera. To power cycle the Sync Module, you just have to unplug it and plug it back in. 

To power cycle, the camera, find a reset button under the battery cover and hold it down for 10-20 seconds. You may have to resync your Blink camera to the Sync Module after power cycling.

How Can I View Live Feed?

Accessing the live view is easy with the Blink app. Alternatively, if you have an Alexa product with a screen, you can view the feed conveniently from there. 

Echo products, such as the Echo Show, provide an even better experience with your Blink cameras. 

You just have to link your Blink account to your Alexa account to get your Blink camera on your Echo Show. The Echo Show can even automatically bring up the camera feed when it detects motion by creating a routine in your Alexa app. 

Increase Recording Time

Although the Blink cameras don’t natively support constant recording, you can change the intervals for recording.

Blink is set to record five-second videos by default, but you can change that to any amount you want. 

This is done by adjusting the retrigger time. The retrigger time is set to 30 seconds, but it can be adjusted between 10 and 60 seconds. 

By lowering the retrigger time to 10 seconds, you are getting as close to the continuous recording as you can get. 

The retrigger time can be adjusted by going into your Blink app and clicking the settings slider button. You’ll find the retrigger option about halfway down in the settings in the Motion Detection subheading. 

All Blink cameras have the Live Feed option.

Blink cameras do not have storage, so you’ll be uploading all your video recordings to the cloud. 

This requires a subscription from Amazon. However, the newer Sync Module 2 comes with an option for local storage. It has a USB slot on the side, and you can use a thumb drive between 1 GB and 256 GB to store your video.

You won’t require a subscription to use the Sync Module 2 storage system. 

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