License Plate Reader - Axis Camera - Need Settings Help

[Matt Nick]

Hello my fellow camera experts. I have an issue with a License Plate Reader in one of the parking garages I manage. The characters on the vehicle license plates seem "washed out" looking. Possibly a contrast issue.

Attached is an example picture of a captured plate with the characters appearing very light contrast.


Here are the settings I have on my Axis camera:



I played around with it and have had some success but nothing definitive. Does anyone have any guidance or ideas for improving this?

Thanks,
Matt

 

[bigredfish]

Hard to say, lots of little things can add up.. are you running on-board IR?

I'd start by turning WDR off. I find at night is causes more problems than its worth.
Next Id move that slider that says 'Blur-Noise tradeoff" towards 'Low Motiin Blur"
Lastly Id try setting the exposure higher. "Auto" isn't usually the best for LPR. Try 1/500 or 1/1000

Note that if you want good tag capture at night, you dont usually get much other than the tag itself and little dots for the lights.. your image looks pretty bright.

 

[Valiant]

The image is a little over exposed for LPR, a little darker may help (similar to bigredfish). I was going to suggest speeding up the shutter, but at 1/5000 it's actually already very fast. Try 1/10000. Alternatively try reducing the gain a little further (below 12). You could also experiment with the exposure zones.

Which model camera do you have ?

 

[bigredfish]

I was thinking that the “Auto” selection on Exposure wasn’t letting it go to the theoretical max of 1/5000

Maybe try manual exposure?