How Your Battery-Powered Ring Video Doorbell Senses Motion

NOTE: This is for all battery-powered Ring Video Doorbells with Advanced Motion Detection TURNED OFF. This article covers what the PIR motion sensor is like. You can learn more about the Advanced Motion Detection feature available in Ring devices here. You can also learn how to turn Advanced Motion Detection on here.

THE OVERVIEW

It’s important for you to know if someone is at your door, even if they don’t press your Doorbell. This is why your Ring Video Doorbell uses motion sensors to efficiently monitor for visitors approaching your door. When your device detects motion, it will send an alert to your smartphone so you can begin streaming video of the covered area.

HOW IT WORKS

Your device uses three Passive Infrared Sensors to give you 180 degrees (horizontal) of motion coverage in front of your door. These sensors are efficient, as they are passively waiting for a large heat signature before activating and sending you a motion alert.

HEAT SIGNATURES

The reason your device is looking for heat signature movement is to try and lessen the number of false motion alerts you receive. If it alerted you to all movement in front of your door (e.g. your neighbor’s flag) you would likely get sick of those constant false alerts. Your sensors are specifically looking for large moving heat signatures similar to the size, profile, and heat of a human. Keep in mind that there are other large heat signatures besides people (e.g. cars) that will be detected by your sensors as well.

FALSE ALERTS

Large objects like cars may cause false alerts because your device thinks their heat signature is a person walking through your motion zones. This is because the heat signature of a car from far away can match the profile and size of a person close to the sensors. Placement of your device is extremely important in order to optimize your sensors, cover the area you want to protect and to avoid false alerts. Read more about optimizing the angle and view of your Video Doorbell here.

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