Auxiliary IR Illuminator for LPR

J

JPmedia

Young grasshopper
Sep 11, 2024
52
23
Florida
I'm looking for a suggestion for an auxiliary IR illuminator for one of my B52IR-Z12 LPR cameras. Capture point is about 170 feet from the camera. I am looking to mount the additional illuminator from the opposite camera pole which is about 90 feet away from capture point.

I’m thinking some type of spot/narrow beam as the AOI is only about 20 – 30 feet wide. Maybe something similar to the IR illuminator that the camera itself has? Any suggestions?

See photo for layout
 

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The issue with additional IR for plates is that it has to be close to the same "plane" and angle as the camera.

Because of the reflective nature of the plates, it will bounce it back in the direction of the source and some people have seen that even a 2 foot separation in angle from the camera to the IR illuminator results in zero improvement.

You won't know without trying, but I think that might be too much of an angle difference.

But yes, in my experience the higher costs, tighter beam IR blasters work better than the cheaper blaster with wider angles for the speed we need to run the plate camera.
 
wittaj said:
The issue with additional IR for plates is that it has to be close to the same "plane" and angle as the camera.

Because of the reflective nature of the plates, it will bounce it back in the direction of the source and some people have seen that even a 2 foot separation in angle from the camera to the IR illuminator results in zero improvement.

You won't know without trying, but I think that might be too much of an angle difference.

But yes, in my experience the higher costs, tighter beam IR blasters work better than the cheaper blaster with wider angles for the speed we need to run the plate camera.
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It couldn't hurt to try it. And being that it will be mounted just below the overview camera above it, it will at least provide additional IR for that camera - so still a win in my books
 
Jeez, some of the IR illuminators from Raytec and Axton are more expensive than the cameras. Some of them are in the $500 plus range. May as well just buy another B52IR-Z12 camera and use that for IR
 
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Have you tried pointing your AOI more toward your neighbors driveway?
It might help the z12's native IR, and still catch whatever comes thru.
 
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Flintstone61 said:
Have you tried pointing your AOI more toward your neighbors driveway?
It might help the z12's native IR, and still catch whatever comes thru.
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No, I haven't yet. But in my experience with the west facing LPR camera, with the shorter distance and larger angle to the road, it can have issues with slight blurring in lower light in the late afternoon and evening before sunset.

The longer distance on the LPR east camera has no such issues (especially since the cars are going faster here), just somewhat dim license plates at night but still readable. Once the cars make the corner and head east on Lynbrook, they tend be in a hurry.
 
I don't see anything wrong with those captures. You would hate to buy a blaster and then washout the plate LOL
 
wittaj said:
I don't see anything wrong with those captures. You would hate to buy a blaster and then washout the plate LOL
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True, but it would be nice to have a little more light on the east facing LPR make it a bit sharper. Both cameras are using the same settings
 
On my long list of ideas to try is getting a cheap IR laser off ebay to try as a long distance illuminator for alpr. If you want to try, you have to get the right frequency. The cameras don’t see the whole ir spectrum.
 
Here is my review of an Axton PoE illuminator I did a few years ago. I love the thing. Rock solid and its a blaster.

biggen

Thread 'Axton PoE Illuminator review'

I've been running a LPR cam for a few months now and have been extremely happy with it. Daytime plate recognition is damn near 100%. However, night time recognition was much lower. I was getting < 75% plate recognition at night. I shoot out to about ~115 feet using a 5241-Z12. What I've found is that plate reflection quality varies wildly. Even if a plate that reads perfectly well during the daytime it can be nearly invisible at night using the built-in IR illuminators of the camera itself. Even the tag on my vehicle which is in good shape, doesn't show up at night on my cameras for...
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If you do buy another camera consider the z4e version with a more sensitive 4-MP 1/1.8 setup.
It's a bit more forgiving of distance and lighting.
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Flintstone61 said:
If you do buy another camera consider the z4e version with a more sensitive 4-MP 1/1.8 setup.
It's a bit more forgiving of distance and lighting.
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What is the distance to capture point and what are your night settings for shutter and gain? I'm running at 1/1000 for shutter and 20 - 50 for gain

I don't think 32mm will be long enough for the distance here. The distance from the camera lens to capture point is roughly 170 feet. The Z2 has a 5mm - 60mm zoom, the Z4 only an 8mm - 32mm zoom
 
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bigredfish said:
I use this at 110ft, you can see it easily lights up well past that. Yes its cheap and wide angle

Tendelux mounted approx 3ft below camera. (5241 Z12) The Camera IR is NOT on as it blows out the scene at 110ft. At 150-200 Id have it on also

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Here's a vehicle without plate courtesy lights, its plenty
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That looks great. I'll have to pick one of these up. Have you experienced any issues with the supplied power supply? That seems to be the most common complaint on IR illuminators in general
 
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JPmedia said:
What is the distance to capture point and what are your night settings for shutter and gain? I'm running at 1/1000 for shutter and 20 - 50 for gain

I don't think 32mm will be long enough for the distance here. The distance from the camera lens to capture point is roughly 170 feet. The Z2 has a 5mm - 60mm zoom, the Z4 only an 8mm - 32mm zoom
Click to expand...

Personally I don't recommend the Z4E for distances past 60 feet.

Sure under ideal conditions you can stretch the distance, but then it probably involves digital zoom.

Most here want the plate as large as possible and that usually means a tight field of view not much bigger than the size of a vehicle.
 
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