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If you’re dealing with UniFi camera flickering LED lights, it can be frustrating—especially when everything looks fine to the naked eye. The problem is, what your eyes can’t see is exactly what your camera picks up. LED lights don’t stay constantly on; they rapidly switch on and off at high speed. Your eyes smooth this out, but a highly efficient UniFi camera captures those fluctuations, which results in visible flicker on your footage.

In this guide, I’ll show you exactly why this happens and how to fix UniFi camera flickering caused by LED lighting, using practical settings and real-world solutions that actually work.

What Causes UniFi Camera Flickering LED Lights?

To fix UniFi camera flickering LED lights, you first need to understand what’s actually happening between your lighting and the camera.

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LED Lights Don’t Produce Constant Light

LED lights don’t emit a steady beam. They rapidly switch on and off using a method called pulse width modulation (PWM). This happens so fast that your eyes see a constant light.

Your UniFi camera doesn’t smooth it out—it captures it.

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UniFi Cameras Capture Light in Frames

Your UniFi camera records video frame by frame, not as continuous light. Each frame uses a shutter speed (exposure time), which controls how long the sensor collects light.

This creates the problem:

• If the camera captures a frame during the “on” cycle → image looks normal
• If it captures during the “off” cycle → image looks darker

That difference between frames creates visible flicker

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Frequency Mismatch Causes UniFi Camera Flickering LED Lights

This is the key issue behind UniFi camera flickering LED lights:

• UK / EU mains power runs at 50Hz
• US mains power runs at 60Hz
• LED drivers often don’t perfectly match this
• Your camera shutter runs independently

When these don’t align, the camera records inconsistent brightness between frames.

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Why UniFi Cameras Show Flicker More Clearly

UniFi cameras are:

• Highly sensitive in low light
• Constantly adjusting exposure
• Often using HDR or dynamic settings

This makes them excellent—but also more likely to reveal flicker

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In Simple Terms

LED lights flicker rapidly
Your eyes ignore it
Your UniFi camera records it

Fix UniFi Camera Flickering LED Lights by Setting the Correct Frequency

The first thing I always check with UniFi camera flickering LED lights is the anti-flicker setting.

If this is wrong, you’ll almost always get flicker—especially under LED lighting.

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Set the Correct Frequency for Your Region

Head into UniFi Protect and set the frequency to match your location:

• 50Hz → UK / Europe
• 60Hz → US

It’s a simple setting, but it makes a big difference. You’re basically telling the camera how to time its exposure with the power coming into your lights.

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Why This Usually Works

Most lighting ultimately follows the mains frequency. So when your camera matches that, things line up properly and the flicker disappears.

👉 In a lot of cases, this alone fixes UniFi camera flickering LED lights.

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When This Doesn’t Fix It

This is where it gets a bit more real-world.

If you’re using cheaper LED lights, they don’t always behave properly. The drivers inside them can be inconsistent, so even though your camera is set to the right frequency, the light itself isn’t clean.

That’s when you still see flicker—even with the correct setting.

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What Next?

If you’ve set the right frequency and UniFi camera flickering LED lights are still happening, the issue usually comes down to exposure or the lighting itself.

Adjust Exposure to Fix UniFi Camera Flickering LED Lights

If setting the frequency didn’t fix your UniFi camera flickering LED lights, the next thing I change is the exposure mode.

By default, UniFi cameras usually sit on Auto or Frame Clarity, which tries to keep motion sharp. The problem is, that often uses faster shutter speeds—and that’s what makes flicker more visible.

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Switch to Low Light Mode

Go into your camera settings and change exposure to:

👉 Low Light

What this does:

• Slows down the shutter speed
• Lowers the frame rate
• Lets the camera “average out” the light instead of catching the flicker

In a lot of cases, this will immediately sort out UniFi camera flickering LED lights.

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Check out our other UniFi Protect Guides and Reviews

Why This Works

When the shutter stays open longer, it captures more of the LED’s on/off cycle in a single frame.

Instead of:

• bright frame
• dark frame
• bright frame

You get:

• one consistent exposure

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If It Doesn’t Fix It

Don’t worry—this is where I’ve been before.

Sometimes even Low Light mode isn’t enough, especially with poor-quality LEDs or awkward lighting setups.

👉 That’s when you need to take a slightly different approach

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Next, I’ll show you the trick that usually finishes the job 👍

Turn Off HDR to Stop UniFi Camera Flickering LED Lights

If you’ve worked through the steps above and still see UniFi camera flickering LED lights, the final thing I do is turn off HDR.

This is usually what finishes the job.

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Disable HDR in UniFi Protect

Head into your camera settings and switch:

👉 HDR → Off

HDR tries to balance bright and dark areas by combining multiple exposures. That sounds great in theory, but with LED lighting it can actually make flicker worse.

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Why HDR Causes Problems

HDR constantly adjusts exposure between frames. When you combine that with LED lights that are already pulsing, the camera ends up exaggerating the brightness changes.

So instead of smoothing things out, it can make the flicker more noticeable.

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The Final Result

With:

• Correct frequency (50Hz / 60Hz)
• Low Light exposure mode
• HDR turned off

👉 You’ll usually eliminate UniFi camera flickering LED lights completely.

Note: Disabling the HDR will reboot the cameras, so expect it to take a few seconds to come back online.

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Real-World Note

In the example I was working on, there was still a very slight shadow from the flicker if you looked closely.

But realistically:

• You wouldn’t notice it day-to-day
• It’s not visible unless you’re actively looking for it

Final Tweaks

At this point, I just adjusted the brightness to get the image looking right.

This isn’t really part of fixing UniFi camera flickering LED lights—it’s just a bit of finessing once the flicker’s gone.

You can tweak:

• Brightness
• Contrast
• Image balance

👉 Just to get a clean, usable picture for your setup

How to Fix UniFi Camera Flickering LED Lights CONCLUSION

If you’re dealing with UniFi camera flickering LED lights, it nearly always comes down to how the camera exposure interacts with the lighting.

Start with the basics:

• Set the correct frequency (50Hz or 60Hz)
• Switch to Low Light mode
• Turn off HDR

That combination fixes it in most cases.

If it doesn’t fully disappear, you’re usually dealing with lower-quality LED drivers—but even then, you can get it to a point where it’s no longer noticeable in day-to-day use.

This is one of those issues that looks worse than it is. Once you understand what’s happening, fixing UniFi camera flickering LED lights is actually pretty straightforward 👍

Check out our other UniFi Protect Guides and Reviews

Author: Huw Jones – Home Network Solutions Berkshire
Huw is a UniFi specialist and the owner of Home Network Solutions Berkshire, providing professional networking, CCTV, gate automation and smart home installations across the UK. With years of hands-on experience and a growing YouTube audience at @home.network.solutions, Huw creates practical, no-nonsense guides to help homeowners and installers get the best out of their UniFi systems.