The description for Smart Mode says the camera will "Switch from infrared to full color mode when an event is detected to provide colorful images". I would expect that the spotlight will be turned on for a duration that's equivalent to the duration of the recording of that event. This will ensure the entire event is recorded in full color.

However, the spotlight is only turned on for a few seconds when an event is detected. When the spotlights turns off a few seconds later, the recording becomes almost completely dark for a few seconds before the infrared mode kicks in again. Strangely, if another event is detected immediately after this, the spotlight stays on longer this time. The initial trigger of the spotlight however (when the event is first detected), always lasts only for a few seconds. This makes the Smart Mode practically useless in my opinion.

Since I don't want to turn on the spotlight all night long, I ended up setting the Night Mode to Infrared Mode to make sure the camera will record the entire event without the issue described above.

I believe this is not how it's intended to work. The spotlight should stay on for the entire duration of the recording.

Has anyone else notice this behavior? Can someone from TP Link comment about this?