InSight Camera Mounting and Configuration FAQs

Pairing a camera with a screen

For best results it is suggested to mount the cameras at the center of the screen (top or bottom). Ideally, we provide the most accurate attention metrics when faces are more visible to cameras at eye level. If the screens are behind a counter, such as menu boards at a quick service restaurant, ensure the staff doesn’t obstruct the view of the customers. Note that if the customers are looking at screens like menu boards which are often elevated above eye level, it is better to point the cameras slightly down so that customer faces are better visible for accurate analysis.

Using a camera without a screen

If you are mounting the camera separately from a screen (Visitor InSight Standalone), customers may be viewing anywhere. Ceiling-mountable cameras looking straight down, often just see the top of the head, so demographic analysis is usually less accurate. If demographics are important, we recommend mounting cameras to minimize the vertical angle to see as much of the face. This often means either as close to eye level as possible on a wall, or further away and zoomed in like across the room looking at your entryway. As a general rule, we prefer vertical angles under 30º for the best demographic results, although body counts and dwell will continue to be accurate above.

Yes, the camera stream can be rotated in configuration settings if mounted in a flipped manner

We highly recommend using one of our certified cameras for the best results, both in accuracy and reliability. That said, we work with a lot of USB cameras off the shelf. They must be “plug-and-play” which means they work automatically when plugged into the USB port without having to install custom drivers. That said, we have found a wide range of issues on off-the-shelf cameras.

For many cases, we do not recommend using your existing security cameras. Security cameras cannot be used for screen attention metrics since they aren’t mounted near the screens. Often the angle of the camera is too steep to do accurate demographic analytics, so it’s mostly traffic counting. Additionally, the quality of security camera feeds can be problematic. Lastly, security cameras usually feed into a central on-premise server with which we have to integrate. So if this is the use case you are looking for and you are willing to spend the time and effort on integration, please discuss with our Visitor InSight team and we can discuss how to approach your use case.

While manufacturers are willing to ship with USB cables up to 15 ft (5m), we have found that longer USB cables sometimes lead to image degradation over time. We recommend a maximum of 10ft (3m) USB cable length.

We test our cameras thoroughly and don’t certify cameras that have known issues. Please contact support if in case you still encounter an issue.