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It doesn't work that way. The IR LEDs are optimized for a particular wavelength. A 730nm illuminator would only generate a small amount of infrared light at 850nm. So it would be a $300 gamble on my part.
Poor IR contrast in new Tennessee license plates
- Thread starter wtimothyholman
- Start date
I figured that was the case, but was just thinking of was there a way to still use it.
See if they will partner with you or provide you a discount or provide a code that we would use to purchase it if it works and you get a percentage of the sale?
At the cost of this, most of us are not going to buy it to try it if it doesn't work, but if they make a deal with someone to be the beta tester and it works, I am sure many of us here would bite the bullet and buy if we still want to capture plates for those of us that could see states switching to this format.
See if they will partner with you or provide you a discount or provide a code that we would use to purchase it if it works and you get a percentage of the sale?
At the cost of this, most of us are not going to buy it to try it if it doesn't work, but if they make a deal with someone to be the beta tester and it works, I am sure many of us here would bite the bullet and buy if we still want to capture plates for those of us that could see states switching to this format.
I have happened to capture a few Iowa plates that, from what I've read, are now printed instead of stamped. With my 5241 I'm able to capture the plate.
I haven't seen any Tennessee plates up here so can't tell you if they'll capture them as well.
I haven't seen any Tennessee plates up here so can't tell you if they'll capture them as well.
Can you post a daytime and nighttime capture for us for reference as we compile these new plates?
A friend of mine from Dubuque came out to visit about 10 or more years ago, and the first thing I noticed on his car was the printed plates. Not sure which company's technology was used in the manufacture, but I believe Iowa's plates have been printed for at least that long of a time.
They are 3M, produced in one of the Iowa prisons. Looked the information up the other day.
Yes, I'm thrilled with how well I can capture plates. I was a bit worried that the angle was going to be bad, but...
Is it possible Iowa's plates are designed to be picked up at a different wavelength?
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Here's the thing - those plates have black lettering. Tennessee has also been using the 3M process for years, but up to now the standard plate was black lettering on a colored background. Those showed up just fine.
When the plates switched to white letters on a blue background, everything went to pot. Notice how all the background colors fade out under IR? Now imagine it happening to the letters as well.
Is it just white letters on a blue background then, or white letters on any background?
Very interesting.
Very interesting.
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Any non-black lettering of any color fades out. Only the black ink provides good contrast.
Hmmm.. so white lettering on black, red, something darker would show up?
I only ask because I saw a white lettering on black in my captures that came up perfect. I know Illinois has all kinds of weird plates and colors as well.
I can come up with a white lettering on blue plate from Iowa to see if there is any difference.
I only ask because I saw a white lettering on black in my captures that came up perfect. I know Illinois has all kinds of weird plates and colors as well.
I can come up with a white lettering on blue plate from Iowa to see if there is any difference.
Is there a color mixing expert here? Maybe blue+IR mixes to near white. Similar to when color displays light up full RGB to generate pure white. On the Iowa IR capture in post #165, the word "IOWA" doesn't show. There's a bit of a political fight going on over the issue ‘Fiscally irresponsible’: Senator questions TN’s planning process for new license plates amid LPR problems . The governor's response (in my words) is tough nuts, everybody will have to find cameras that work. Another interesting government statement in the story is " each new plate costs taxpayers $2.67 to produce." They want us to believe the registration fee doesn't pay for the plates? This looks like a big government screwup that will cost mucho millions to fix, either with new plates or new LPR cameras. Either way, taxpayers will be paying.
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At least in Tennessee, any color except for black has about the same IR reflectivity, so it all blends into similar shades of gray under 850nm IR light. So light letters on a black background would work, but only if the same black ink is used as the letters in the old plates. That could explain your good plate capture.
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The white "IOWA" on a blue background will have the same reflectivity issues as the new TN plates in general, so no surprise there. It could be that Iowa is aware of this issue, and takes care to use color combinations that work with LPR cameras.
No such awareness or testing took place in Tennessee. I doubt it ever occurred to anyone in the Dept. of Revenue to even consider it. But once they realized that the governor had their back, their stance became "It's your problem, not ours."
But having said that, I do expect that Tennessee will go back to an 850nm-friendly design in the future. They just don't want to do it now.
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What you may find is that the standard plates are readable, but specialty plates with different color combinations are not.