Why Is Ring Camera Black And White? – Quick Solutions

Wondering why is Ring camera black and white? Well this guide is for you!

The Ring camera is helpful for anyone looking for a camera filled with features. But when an issue happens, you will scratch your head, wondering what’s wrong.

If your Ring camera has black-and-white footage, you must immediately check the night vision settings and the IR filter. Otherwise, you need to check the connection, restart the camera, update its firmware, or even reset it to factory settings.

In a few minutes, you will be able to investigate and discover what’s wrong. Check all the info below for a full understanding.

Why Is Ring Camera Black And White?

The Ring camera has many features to help you visualize the surroundings with image quality at any moment.

However, the configurations might glitch, or you might not find the correct setting you want.

That’s what we will discuss:

✅ Night Vision Settings

The night vision settings help produce good enough footage when the camera operates during the night.

But if configured badly, it could make the footage black and white even during the day.

✅ IR Filter

The IR filter is another feature the Ring camera uses to allow night footage. When it glitches, it can alter the color of the footage produced even under regular conditions.

✅ Hardware Failure

A few times, it is safe to assume that the issue results from the camera not initializing correctly.

✅ Firmware Issues

Smart devices nowadays need updates almost all the time. If your camera is not updated, its image might not be as good.

Fix The Black And White Footage On Ring Camera

Having black-and-white footage under sunlight is no help, right? Your Ring camera certainly is not displaying the image as it should, and we will assist you in correcting that problem.

Below we will guide you through the most common solutions.

1. Check Night Vision Settings

The Ring camera comes out of the box with features such as Night Vision Color/False Color.

Those make the camera hardware and software work so that it can encode information under different circumstances. However, it can backfire if you set it incorrectly.

Let’s see how you can manage it:

1. Open the Ring app;
2. Click on the Menu icon;
3. Choose “Devices”;
4. Choose the glitchy camera;
5. Go to the “Device Settings”;
6. Click on “Video Settings”;
7. Adjust the “Color Night Vision” setting.

After adjusting the setting as indicated above, it is time to open the camera feed and see if the color has returned. 

2. Examine The IR Filter

Another plus included in many of the Ring cameras is a physical IR filter. Such a filter helps the camera transmit footage during the night.

However, its malfunctioning can cause the camera to transmit black-and-white images all day.

Here is how you can start troubleshooting it:

• Use a flashlight to shine over the IR filter on your defective camera. Such a move is supposed to reset the filter.
• Alternatively, you might want to gently tap the camera to make the physical IR filter go back into place.

Disassemble The IR Filter

If necessary, you can disassemble some parts of the camera and access the IR filter.

It should be done very carefully, and you must note where each part should be mounted back.

1. Remove the external screws;
2. Detach the battery cover;
3. Remove the internal component to find the IR filter;
4. Check for any faulty mechanical parts;
5. Fix whatever is possible.

Note: If your camera is still under warranty, you should not disassemble its components to try and fix it. Rather, follow the other solutions in this guide.

3. Restart The Camera

Sometimes the issue is very simple, perhaps caused by the hardware not resetting the IR filter.

It could be that the software is not initialized correctly. In such situations, you can simply restart the camera.

1. Open the app;
2. Click on the Menu icon;
3. Choose “Devices”;
4. Choose the glitchy camera;
5. Ensure it is on the network;
6. Click on “Device Health”;
7. Find the “Reboot This Device” option;

Restart Via Battery

A few Ring cameras allow you to reboot them by taking the batteries out. Check if your camera has a slidable battery.

If so, do the following:

1. Find the battery’s cover;
2. Slide it out;
3. Wait a minute;
4. Put the battery back in;
5. Turn the camera on.

After that, check what the footage looks like. It should have returned to normal.

Note: Restarting is nome the same as resetting. By restarting your camera, you only refresh the system but don’t lose any personal info or preferences.

4. Reset The App Connection

We must also consider the possibility that there is nothing wrong with the camera but rather with the transmission between the camera, router, and app.

To test the hypothesis, you must reset the app connection.

First, erase the camera from the app:

1. Open the app;
2. Click on the Menu icon;
3. Choose “Devices”;
4. Choose the glitchy camera;
5. Go to the “Device Settings”;
6. Go to “General Settings”;
7. Click on “Remove This Device”;

Connect The Device Again

Later, it will be necessary to connect the camera to the Ring app again. It is very simple:

1. Open the app;
2. Tap the three lines;
3. Select “Set Up a Device”;
4. Choose the correct sort of camera;
5. Click on “I’m Ready To Scan”;
6. Scan the camera’s QR code.

5. Check For An Update

As already said when we discussed possible causes, your camera might have a firmware failure. In that case, you can check for updates.

If a new update is available, it will make your camera work like a charm again.

1. Open the app;
2. Click on the Menu icon;
3. Choose “Devices”;
4. Choose the glitchy camera;
5. Click on “Device Health”;
6. Locate “Firmware”;

The next page will tell you whether the camera is updated. If it is not, you will have the option of updating it. You should certainly do that.

Tip: Disconnecting from the app and connecting again might also prompt a new update to show up. If you have already done Solution #4, it is time to check if an update is available.

6. Reset The Camera

Finally, we must consider that the issue with your camera results from its current configurations.

It is impossible to say exactly what is happening, but resetting it should eliminate the black-and-white footage. Note that each model has a slightly different resetting process.

Ring Stick Up (1st Gen and 2nd Gen)

Here is how you can reset the Ring Stick Up 1st Gen camera:

1. Lift the small cover on the camera’s back;
2. Hold the orange button for 20 seconds (1st Gen)/10 seconds (2nd Gen);
3. Wait for the light on the front to flash several times;
4. When it stops flashing, the reset is complete.

Stick Up Cam Battery (3rd Gen) and Plug-In

Here are the steps to reset any of the Stick Up Cam Battery (3rd Gen) or the Cam Plug-In:

1. Remove the battery cover;
2. Hold the orange button for 10 seconds;
3. Wait for it to enter setup mode.

Ring Spotlight Cam Battery

Resetting the Ring Spotlight goes a bit differently:

1. Find the battery cover on top of the camera;
2. Remove it;
3. Hold the button for 10 seconds;
4. Wait for it to enter setup mode.

Resetting your Ring camera deletes it from the app. So you will have to go back to Solution #4 and look for the instructions to add the camera to the app again.

What We Learned

Why is Ring camera black and white? The black-and-white footage on your Ring camera is annoying but should be solvable by following simple steps.

Above we have detailed all you can do. If nothing works, you will need to contact the manufacturer.

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