Can a Laser Pointer Blind or Damage a Security Camera?

Using a laser pointer to blind a security camera is familiar from the TV series Better Call Saul, where the character Werner Ziegler escapes surveillance this way. Tech site Engadget explains that the trick works in real life only partly: a laser can blind a camera and sometimes damage it permanently, but this takes a very powerful laser, an older camera and an extremely steady beam. In most places it is also illegal.

How a laser affects a camera

Cameras convert light into electrical charges that are processed into video frames, so they are more sensitive to intense light than the human eye. Most CCTV cameras use CMOS or CCD sensors. A laser can overwhelm them and blind them temporarily, while prolonged exposure produces heat that can leave dead pixels and dark spots. In the worst cases, the camera becomes unusable.

Damage requires a high-powered laser held still for about 10 seconds. A laser under 5 mW is unlikely to cause more than a temporary glare. Under US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) rules, handheld laser pointers above 5 mW cannot legally be marketed, sold or promoted.

Aiming is also a problem. Researchers at IPVM, a security industry research group, tried to blind a camera from roughly 5 feet (about 1.5 meters) and found it very difficult to keep the beam on target. They could not cause permanent damage regardless of laser strength. Better Call Saul co-creator Vince Gilligan has admitted the trick would only work on a camera from the 1960s.

A real case occurred in 2021 in Clearwater, where a man was arrested for pointing a laser at several surveillance cameras owned by the Church of Scientology. The lenses were left with dead spots and damages exceeded $2,000, yet the cameras still recorded him.

Protecting a camera

No standard home camera can be made fully laser-proof, but aiming can be made harder. Mounting cameras high or at an angle, using moving cameras and covering the same area with several cameras to avoid blind spots all help. Many modern systems can also detect sudden light changes and send an instant alert to a phone.