backend

frigate/config/camera/motion.py

@@ -24,10 +24,17 @@ class MotionConfig(FrigateBaseModel):
     lightning_threshold: float = Field(
         default=0.8,
         title="Lightning threshold",
-        description="Threshold to detect and ignore brief lighting spikes (lower is more sensitive, values between 0.3 and 1.0).",
+        description="Threshold to detect and ignore brief lighting spikes (lower is more sensitive, values between 0.3 and 1.0). This does not prevent motion detection entirely; it merely causes the detector to stop analyzing additional frames once the threshold is exceeded. Motion-based recordings are still created during these events.",
         ge=0.3,
         le=1.0,
     )
+    skip_motion_threshold: float = Field(
+        default=1.0,
+        title="Skip motion threshold",
+        description="If more than this fraction of the image changes in a single frame, the detector will return no motion boxes and immediately recalibrate. This can save CPU and reduce false positives during lightning, storms, etc., but may miss real events such as a PTZ camera auto‑tracking an object. The trade‑off is between dropping a few megabytes of recordings versus reviewing a couple short clips. Range 0.0 to 1.0.",
+        ge=0.0,
+        le=1.0,
+    )
     improve_contrast: bool = Field(
         default=True,
         title="Improve contrast",

frigate/motion/improved_motion.py

@@ -176,11 +176,29 @@ class ImprovedMotionDetector(MotionDetector):
             motion_boxes = []
             pct_motion = 0
 
+        # skip motion entirely if the scene change percentage exceeds configured
+        # threshold. this is useful to ignore lighting storms, IR mode switches,
+        # etc. rather than registering them as brief motion and then recalibrating.
+        # note: skipping means the frame is dropped and **no recording will be
+        # created**, which could hide a legitimate object if the camera is actively
+        # auto‑tracking. the alternative is to allow motion and accept a small
+        # recording that can be reviewed in the timeline.
+        if pct_motion > self.config.skip_motion_threshold:
+            # force a recalibration so we transition to the new background
+            self.calibrating = True
+            return []
+
         # once the motion is less than 5% and the number of contours is < 4, assume its calibrated
         if pct_motion < 0.05 and len(motion_boxes) <= 4:
             self.calibrating = False
 
-        # if calibrating or the motion contours are > 80% of the image area (lightning, ir, ptz) recalibrate
+        # if calibrating or the motion contours are > 80% of the image area
+        # (lightning, ir, ptz) recalibrate. the lightning threshold does **not**
+        # stop motion detection entirely; it simply halts additional processing for
+        # the current frame once the percentage crosses the threshold. this helps
+        # reduce false positive object detections and CPU usage during high‑motion
+        # events. recordings continue to be generated because users expect data
+        # while a PTZ camera is moving.
         if self.calibrating or pct_motion > self.config.lightning_threshold:
             self.calibrating = True