How Ring Video Doorbell 3 Plus Motion Detection Works
Learn how Ring Video Doorbell 3 Plus monitors motion and how factors like yard layout, door-to-sidewalk distance, and field of view effect its functionality. By understanding how your doorbell “sees” the world and the factors that can impact its performance, you can ensure it works properly.
Seeing the world two ways
Your Ring Doorbell 3 Plus sees the world in two ways. First, the camera on your Ring Doorbell has a very wide view of the world as illustrated below:
A common mistake people make is mounting their doorbell too high because they want to make sure it captures people’s faces. This is understandable, but Ring Video Doorbell 3 Plus’s wide-angle field of view allows it to view faces with ease when mounted at just the recommended height of 48-inches above the ground.
The second way your Ring Doorbell 3 Plus sees the world is through a network of Passive Infrared (PIR) heat motion sensors. PIR sensors detect motion by monitoring heat within the detection area. Since people are hotter than surrounding areas, PIR sensors are able to measure the change in heat when they enter an area. The motion sensors register this change as movement and send out an alert.
Image depicting the PIR motion sensor’s field of view when monitoring for heat detection.
The motion sensors in your Ring Video Doorbell 3 Plus are designed to detect motion up to 180 degrees horizontally and from five to 30 feet outward from the fixture. They're also more sensitive to horizontal movement across the detection area than vertical. Mount the Ring Doorbell too high and you're more likely to catch the heat of passing cars than the heat of incoming visitors.
In addition, you can also use the "motion zone" feature in your Ring Doorbell 3 Plus to set exactly where within its field of vision you want your Ring Video Doorbell 3 Plus to monitor for movement.
Learn more about Motion Zones for your Ring Video Doorbell 3 Plus.
Now that you understand how your Ring Video Doorbell 3 Plus sees the world, positioning it properly becomes much easier.
Read about changing the angle with a wedge mount.
Find out about a Corner Kit for the Ring Video Doorbell 3 Plus.