Dedicated license plate camera
- Thread starter JoshM
- Start date
When you wire up your POEs inside enclosures do you wire up a receptacle inside the box?
How much are you selling them for when you get them in stock?
Depends on how long you record and FPS and bitrate, etc., but I get about 7,000 plate recordings on a 128gb sd card
Since he is on New Year and may not see this before they show up on Amazon, the Z12E usually sells for $250ish. Usually the same price as the 5442-Z4E that is currently $249.99 with a 5% discount coupon.
Not me. Sorry have not been on for a while as I was traveling.
Here is a capture from the other night using the 5442 Z4E. It is set at 26mm and this plate is about 65-70 feet from the cam. This car was used by perps breaking into cars and homes Wednesday morning. I do not use this cam for LPR, but it worked just fine with all of the light in that intersection. I use the 5241 Z12E's for LPR.
Nice shots! Thanks!
I know I have told you this before, but so jealous of that much light. Between that much light and the great plates of Texas, yeah one can stretch the distance a little further.
Allright guys I got the camera mounted and wired up today. It is wired directly into a POE injector via cat5e cable. The issue I am having is it switches to substream. It says for better performance. I deselected substream to force it to use mainstream and it lags and buffers. The Injector is rated for 10/100 or 10/1000 I can't remember so I don't 'think' it is the injector. I tried changing the bitrate to max and I left it on CBR but no improvement. Any ideas? It's definitely not recording at 30fps as well.
So first thing is make the main and substream both the same. Most of us here recommend H264. Make sure that you do not have any smart codec on as well. The storage savings is minimal between the two. YMMV.
Is the camera going thru the router? If so, wifi routers are notorious for not being able to keep up with the demands of these cameras. Unlike streaming services like Netflix, these cameras do not buffer, so one lost packet and it has to start over. Especially if you are maxing out the camera. Unplug internet while watching Netflix and it will probably continue for 45 seconds. Do it with this camera and the feed stops instantly.
No reason to run more than 15FPS, and many us have cams running at 10 to 12 FPS. Movies for the big screen are shot at 24FPS, so I do not think we need 30FPS for these cameras LOL. The goal is to get a clean image, not smooth motion. 4096 or 8192 bitrate is all you need. My LPR runs 8FPS and the car is in the frame for less than a half second and I catch every plate. YMMV.
Keep in mind that these type of cameras, although are spec'd and capable of these various parameters, real world testing by many of us shows if you try to run these units at higher FPS and higher bitrates than needed that you will max out the CPU in the unit and then it bugs out just long enough that you miss something or video is choppy or pixelated or you get lost signals. My car is rated for 6,000RPM redline, but I am not gonna run it in 3rd gear on the highway at 6,000RPM...same with these types of units - gotta keep them under rated capacity. Some may do better than others, but trying to use the rated "spec" of every option available is usually not going to work well, either with a car or a camera or NVR.
Look at all the threads where people came here with a jitter in the video or video dropping signal or IVS missing motion or the SD card doesn't overwrite and they were running 30FPS and when people tell them to drop the FPS and they dropped the FPS to 15FPS the camera became stable and they could actual freeze frame the image to get a clean capture. The goal of these cameras are to capture a perp, not capture smooth motion. When we see the news, are they showing the video or a freeze frame screen shot? Nobody cares if it isn't butter smooth...getting the features to make an ID is the important factor. As always, YMMV...
Further, these types of cameras are not GoPro or Hollywood type cameras that offer slow-mo capabilities and other features. They "offer" 30FPS and 60FPS to appease the general public that thinks that is what they need, but you will not find many of us here running more than 15 FPS; and movies are shot at 24 FPS, so anything above that is a waste of storage space for what these cameras are used for. If 24 FPS works for the big screen, I think 15 FPS is more than enough for phones and tablets and most monitors LOL. Many of my cameras are running at 12FPS.
In fact, many times if a CPU is maxing out, if it doesn't drop signal, then it will adhere to the FPS but then slow the shutter down to try to not max the CPU, which then produces a smooth blurry image..that is the video my neighbor gets who insists on running 60FPS. He gets smooth walking people but you can't freeze frame it cause every frame is a blur, meanwhile my 12FPS gets the clean freeze frame. Shutter speed is more important the FPS. We both run the same shutter speed by the way, but his camera CPU is maxing out and something gotta give when you push it that hard.
Is the camera going thru the router? If so, wifi routers are notorious for not being able to keep up with the demands of these cameras. Unlike streaming services like Netflix, these cameras do not buffer, so one lost packet and it has to start over. Especially if you are maxing out the camera. Unplug internet while watching Netflix and it will probably continue for 45 seconds. Do it with this camera and the feed stops instantly.
No reason to run more than 15FPS, and many us have cams running at 10 to 12 FPS. Movies for the big screen are shot at 24FPS, so I do not think we need 30FPS for these cameras LOL. The goal is to get a clean image, not smooth motion. 4096 or 8192 bitrate is all you need. My LPR runs 8FPS and the car is in the frame for less than a half second and I catch every plate. YMMV.
Keep in mind that these type of cameras, although are spec'd and capable of these various parameters, real world testing by many of us shows if you try to run these units at higher FPS and higher bitrates than needed that you will max out the CPU in the unit and then it bugs out just long enough that you miss something or video is choppy or pixelated or you get lost signals. My car is rated for 6,000RPM redline, but I am not gonna run it in 3rd gear on the highway at 6,000RPM...same with these types of units - gotta keep them under rated capacity. Some may do better than others, but trying to use the rated "spec" of every option available is usually not going to work well, either with a car or a camera or NVR.
Look at all the threads where people came here with a jitter in the video or video dropping signal or IVS missing motion or the SD card doesn't overwrite and they were running 30FPS and when people tell them to drop the FPS and they dropped the FPS to 15FPS the camera became stable and they could actual freeze frame the image to get a clean capture. The goal of these cameras are to capture a perp, not capture smooth motion. When we see the news, are they showing the video or a freeze frame screen shot? Nobody cares if it isn't butter smooth...getting the features to make an ID is the important factor. As always, YMMV...
Further, these types of cameras are not GoPro or Hollywood type cameras that offer slow-mo capabilities and other features. They "offer" 30FPS and 60FPS to appease the general public that thinks that is what they need, but you will not find many of us here running more than 15 FPS; and movies are shot at 24 FPS, so anything above that is a waste of storage space for what these cameras are used for. If 24 FPS works for the big screen, I think 15 FPS is more than enough for phones and tablets and most monitors LOL. Many of my cameras are running at 12FPS.
In fact, many times if a CPU is maxing out, if it doesn't drop signal, then it will adhere to the FPS but then slow the shutter down to try to not max the CPU, which then produces a smooth blurry image..that is the video my neighbor gets who insists on running 60FPS. He gets smooth walking people but you can't freeze frame it cause every frame is a blur, meanwhile my 12FPS gets the clean freeze frame. Shutter speed is more important the FPS. We both run the same shutter speed by the way, but his camera CPU is maxing out and something gotta give when you push it that hard.
I will reduce the bitrate and
I will lower the bitrate and fps, not a problem. I cannot make the substream and mainstream the same. The substream does not go to 1080p it's a much lower resolution. I do not have the camera going through a router. I have it going directly into a POE injector and the other port goes into a computer. When I forced it to use the main stream it lost connection repeatedly. I don't know which compression method it is using but I will change it to H.264. I'll try all of this tomorrow. Could this be firmware related? I wanted to try a speed test through the Poe injector as well to eliminate it as the culprit but I need to determine if it's active before I can. Any help will be appreciated. The image and zoom is great but I can't use this unless I can get it to record continuously on the main stream setting.
I meant to match the FPS and iframes of the mainstream and substream., not the resolution. 1080 for main and D1 for sub is fine.
Are you using Explorer as the browser? Not Chrome, not Edge, but plain ole Explorer baked into Win10?
It shouldn't be firmware related as this is an older camera and Andy puts the best firmware on it, so it may or may not be the most recent. Mine are running the original firmware that it came with.
I am assuming the computer is powerful enough it can handle the demands of the video stream?
I guess it could be the POE injector.
What about downloading a trial of BI or VLC and see if it can handle the mainstream or VLC? If they can handle it then you know it is maybe something with the browser/firmware. At that point I would try a factory reset and see if that clears out the cobwebs.
But the camera is certainly capable of providing a mainstream. I have never had it switch on me, but I have seen it happen to my neighbor with his cheap laptop that couldn't keep up.
Are you using Explorer as the browser? Not Chrome, not Edge, but plain ole Explorer baked into Win10?
It shouldn't be firmware related as this is an older camera and Andy puts the best firmware on it, so it may or may not be the most recent. Mine are running the original firmware that it came with.
I am assuming the computer is powerful enough it can handle the demands of the video stream?
I guess it could be the POE injector.
What about downloading a trial of BI or VLC and see if it can handle the mainstream or VLC? If they can handle it then you know it is maybe something with the browser/firmware. At that point I would try a factory reset and see if that clears out the cobwebs.
But the camera is certainly capable of providing a mainstream. I have never had it switch on me, but I have seen it happen to my neighbor with his cheap laptop that couldn't keep up.
I was using Chrome I will try Explorer as well.
No luck on getting it through to the reolink NVR either. The camera appears to run on mode A 1/2, 3/6 while reolink NVRs run on Mode B. So I did try through the router and no luck. Tomorrow I will try using port 9000 and switching to H.264 as someone else suggested. Any suggestions on where to start with the other settings? Should I run constant B/W to prevent the focus issue?
Yeah reolink NVR only works with reolinks despite any claims.
The cams are sensitive to Explorer so hopefully that fixes it
15FPS and 15iframes
H264
CBR
8192 bitrate
Some here run 24/7 B/W, while others go in and manually adjust the schedule a couple times a year, while others use the utility written to change it based on sunrise and sunset.
The cams are sensitive to Explorer so hopefully that fixes it
15FPS and 15iframes
H264
CBR
8192 bitrate
Some here run 24/7 B/W, while others go in and manually adjust the schedule a couple times a year, while others use the utility written to change it based on sunrise and sunset.
Thanks a lot! I switched to IE and everything else you said and it's working flawlessly. It was Chrome causing the issue. Can you help with setting this up for remote view with dmss? I have a public up for the camera with ports forwarded but I still can't connect through the app. The ISP here does not allow customers access to the router management menu so I am only trusting them that they did it correctly. I am trying to connect via TCP on port 37777 with no luck.
Lastly, Reolink claims they support cameras running Onvif 2.1 this camera has a different version of Onvif. I can discover it on Onvif manager but the NVR will not pick it up. I'm holding out hope that their is a way to set this up to run on reolink as well. I must have a remote connecting to align the camera there is no way I can with this much zoom without having a screen with me. Thanks
The camera is working incredibly. The day shots are flawless. I need to go up one night and configre for night time. I have been logging in each day and playing back cars that came through at night and then making adjustments but Im not getting much progress that way. Let me confirm, I should be able to run this camera in auto with color enabled during then day and then use the schedule setting underprofile management to tell it when to switch to night/day and I wont have the focus issue? Does anyone have an article on how to setup the sunrise/sunset utility?
Here are some pics I captured so far.
I really appreciate everyone helping me out with this.
-Josh M
Here are some pics I captured so far.
I really appreciate everyone helping me out with this.
-Josh M
I told you that would be the right choice!
That looks more like a focus issue than anything else.
For night time you will have to set the focus to manual and set the focus number. Best way to do that would be to park a car right there and then focus it for that.
Have you been able to get this camera into the Reolink NVR or are you running it separate? If it is hooked to the NVR, then the utility won't work without being connected to a computer 24/7.
You could set up the schedule profile in the camera, but that would require you to go in a couple times a year and adjust it. Or run 24/7 B/W or pick one schedule and run that. Say it gets dark at 5pm where you are in the winter and then sun is up at 8am. Set up a schedule where from 8am to 5pm it is color and then B/W the rest. That means in the summer you may get evening hours in B/W.
That looks more like a focus issue than anything else.
For night time you will have to set the focus to manual and set the focus number. Best way to do that would be to park a car right there and then focus it for that.
Have you been able to get this camera into the Reolink NVR or are you running it separate? If it is hooked to the NVR, then the utility won't work without being connected to a computer 24/7.
You could set up the schedule profile in the camera, but that would require you to go in a couple times a year and adjust it. Or run 24/7 B/W or pick one schedule and run that. Say it gets dark at 5pm where you are in the winter and then sun is up at 8am. Set up a schedule where from 8am to 5pm it is color and then B/W the rest. That means in the summer you may get evening hours in B/W.
You were right. This camera is the choice LPR. I greatly appreciate your help and advice. As you know it will not work with Reolink. They are unwilling to make their systems compatible with others, unfortunately.
It appears with this camera it wants to focus towards thaw center of the image. If I was to have plates directly in the center then I would have to aim it with a large portion of the road included. I've been thinking about tinkering with the regional zoom setting. I like the current alignment. It catches every plate during daylight hours. I'm still a ways away from getting the night settings right. I will do what you say and park a vehicle and adjust and then do some drive bys. I'm very happy with this setup.
I suppose I will do the 8am-5pm color and then B/W night mode for the rest.
Yeah that cam is just incredible!
So if the cam is wanting to focus out in the street during the day, do the same thing - park a car about where it is in that image above and focus it to the plate and then change the focus setting to manual. And then do that for the night time and you will get clean captures. When the cameras are zoomed in tight, the field depth gets shallow so the focus point is more critical.
Now you can cheat LOL in the daytime and turn on the night profile and since it is in B/W you can then focus it then to and change the focus to manual. That might save you from having to go back at night at least for the focus part. The rest of it is pretty close. But sometimes you still have to go out at night and get a focus as some install locations/distance,etc. the IR can change the focus just a bit.
So if the cam is wanting to focus out in the street during the day, do the same thing - park a car about where it is in that image above and focus it to the plate and then change the focus setting to manual. And then do that for the night time and you will get clean captures. When the cameras are zoomed in tight, the field depth gets shallow so the focus point is more critical.
Now you can cheat LOL in the daytime and turn on the night profile and since it is in B/W you can then focus it then to and change the focus to manual. That might save you from having to go back at night at least for the focus part. The rest of it is pretty close. But sometimes you still have to go out at night and get a focus as some install locations/distance,etc. the IR can change the focus just a bit.
Im back again. I have a few issues. I currently have the camera setup for daytime settings (color & auto) between 8am-6pm. It works good during these hours. It appears some plates were missed between 6-7pm when it switched to night settings before it was actually dark. If I chose to run in B/W continuosly doesnt that mess me up because the night settings should be vastly different than the day settings? I cannot use the sunrise sunset utility and dont really want to fool with changing a schedule. How do I configure day and night settings without using a schedule?
Lastly, I am one hour away from the camera and havent had time to drive out to park and drive-by for configuring. Ive been hoping I can make changes remotely by playing back video. I am currently at 1/2000 shutter speed and 60 on HLC. I think I might need to change these. What do you all think?
View attachment 21.20.49-21.21.10[M][0@0][40344].mp4
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Lastly, I am one hour away from the camera and havent had time to drive out to park and drive-by for configuring. Ive been hoping I can make changes remotely by playing back video. I am currently at 1/2000 shutter speed and 60 on HLC. I think I might need to change these. What do you all think?
View attachment 21.20.49-21.21.10[M][0@0][40344].mp4
View attachment 21.10.54-21.11.14[M][0@0][56889].mp4
View attachment 20.13.54-20.14.15[M][0@0][40320].mp4