I'd like to be able to read the license plate of anyone entering/leaving my driveway. The driveway is U-shaped, so vehicles typically drive around the 'U at very slow speed', giving me a good view of both the front and rear plates.
I don't have a dedicated LPR camera, and I'm not looking for automated LPR (no character recognition), I'd just like to be able to review the video and make out a plate number.
During the day my Hikvision 4Mp camera gets a good enough image to read plates at about 30 feet (it's a 2.8mm lens). I was hoping that since my camera has the 1/1.8" sensor that it would do reasonably well at night. It does do well as we have lots of ambient lighting, and I'm still able to make out plates at about 30 feet if the plate isn't lit by bulbs at the sides of the plate. If the license plate is lit up, then all I get is a blob of light with no distinguishable letters.
I suspect that what I'm looking for isn't possible without setting shutter speeds so fast that the camera would be useless for anything other than viewing lighted license plates, but I was just wondering what settings there my be that may improve my chances (WDR?, HLC?) of reading lighted license plates while still leaving the camera able to do general surveillance? So far I'm finding that WDR and HLC seem to help a touch, but at the expense of considerable noise.
I don't have a dedicated LPR camera, and I'm not looking for automated LPR (no character recognition), I'd just like to be able to review the video and make out a plate number.
During the day my Hikvision 4Mp camera gets a good enough image to read plates at about 30 feet (it's a 2.8mm lens). I was hoping that since my camera has the 1/1.8" sensor that it would do reasonably well at night. It does do well as we have lots of ambient lighting, and I'm still able to make out plates at about 30 feet if the plate isn't lit by bulbs at the sides of the plate. If the license plate is lit up, then all I get is a blob of light with no distinguishable letters.
I suspect that what I'm looking for isn't possible without setting shutter speeds so fast that the camera would be useless for anything other than viewing lighted license plates, but I was just wondering what settings there my be that may improve my chances (WDR?, HLC?) of reading lighted license plates while still leaving the camera able to do general surveillance? So far I'm finding that WDR and HLC seem to help a touch, but at the expense of considerable noise.