Subscriber Discussion

Which LPR/ANPR Cameras Have You Had The Best Success With And Why?

JM
Justin Mamulis
Feb 16, 2018
Langa Security Services

Hi IPVM'ers

Which LPR/ANPR cameras have you had the best success with and why?

The reason for my question is simple:

We are rolling out LPR cameras, more specifically Geovision's LPR1200 camera, in an area here in Johannesburg, South Africa.  The requirement is to have the plates read sent directly to the cloud via the camera so as to be verified by one of the companies here in SA - Stolen, Hijacked, Used in a Crime, etc...etc....etc... 

Geovision are not coming to the party with the integration of this solution where HIK is integrated off the shelf.  

What are your thoughts, and suggestions so as to get this project off the ground.

PS - The client is not brand loyal and as long as it works it will be good.

JH
John Honovich
Feb 16, 2018
IPVM

Justin, good question. To clarify, they want the number matching automatically with real-time alerts? Is that correct? I think so but want to confirm. How important is accuracy / tolerance to missed false alerts or mismatches?

JM
Justin Mamulis
Feb 16, 2018
Langa Security Services

Hi John

Thank you for the response.

Yes, that is correct!

The camera needs to send the image directly to the cloud, where the company, LPR SA will verify the plate against both the police and the licensing departments records.

Users are also able to add vehicles to the system which have just been stolen or highjacked and this information will be available immediately on the cloud.

Accuracy and tolerance to false alerts or mismatches is very important - the system needs to be an effective part of the bigger crime fighting wheel.

JH
John Honovich
Feb 18, 2018
IPVM

Justin, have you used the LPR1200 cameras? I am curious how they have worked. We have tested Geovision's LPC cameras but not the LPR ones.

As for your general question, for such applications, where accuracy needs to be very, traditionally PIPS or Genetec or other higher-end offerings are used. However, we have not tested the newer lowest cost LPR ones, so not sure how they compare but, generally, I think, given your application, saving money on the camera is not as important given the interest in detecting stolen or hijacked cars.

Avatar
Christopher Freeman
Feb 18, 2018

We've tried the examples on Ipvm 

not successful 

in order to work, the vehicles had to slow down or capture too many images to get one that would work 

so we went to multiple cameras at different scenarios to accomplish the 24 hour capture we desired. 

We bought the Geo vision from the reviews and could not get the same desired effect as shown on ipvm so we tried other s and got a great detail. 

used zoom in feature of the 50mm lens at a stop, incoming and out going 

used Digital watchdog @ 120', Digital watchdog at 60' , Geo vision maxed at 45' and 15' 

when we installed the geo vision , they only worked for nite vision conditions 

if we wanted day, nite, harsh condition s we had to use multiple cameras for all around conditions . 

by using three cameras on same scene we got the desired view 24/7 with no loss

Speed was a big no , no as we found bringing the traffic to a stop or slow speed bump always got what was desired . 

We used color 3-5 mpxl cameras for day and low light 720-1.3 b/w cameras for nite. 

When we used the ones shown in some of the ipvm recommended cameras we adjust some of the features to make it work. 

Angle, Height, Distance to object, Lighting, IR Reflection, Moon light, intensity of other lights from other cars all played a part in our test. 

There is no cookie cutter answer and be sure to read reviews, specs before purchase some don't perform to the maximum as specs say . they use the medium standard to perform the norm . 

Spend the time to test for yourself as some of the post just look like sales pitch's for thier company products 

and the view s are thier own . we have bought many of the cameras from the reviews of this site and found that you need to test out your own . 

Ipvm is a great tool , but you have to see for your self 

Do the research as we found that a lot of the same cameras had to be adjusted for our conditions and would not respond the same . 

we need to clarify that we don't share our findings as the competition would use this against us and uses many of the same sites. 

I apologize in advance as i am not the greatest writer so my intent is not always conveyed properly . 

I have consulted and performed these test personally so as to verify the performance before accepting another failed product line. 

(2)
JH
John Honovich
Feb 18, 2018
IPVM

in order to work, the vehicles had to slow down or capture too many images to get one that would work

Christopher, what shutter speed(s) were you using for your LPC tests?

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Christopher Freeman
Feb 18, 2018

Hi John 

We used multiple settings, Geovision blackened out the scene but when cars were at angles the license plates did not always show properly; if they fixed it would work great.

We had an intersection of 4 ways in and out, cameras at about perfect condition for one in/out scene. Geovision told us that it would not perform at a level that we were trying to achieve. 

It works great on in/out on road @ 15' one camera or 45' another camera, but the distance to the actual stop was @ 100-150' so we had to make adjustments for this. 

Then the other issue was at day time, it worked great, but at night we could not get distance shots, however close up views were always right on target.

By this time we were in too long and had to complete, so we started calling different camera companies and were looking for alternatives. 

An additional issue is we were using Exacqvision and if you use multiple VMS on system it requires training and processes for the end user and they did not want to pay for this. We had to complete the job at the expected value in bid, which left a bad vibe with customer as multiple vendors claimed they could do it no problem. 

We started experimenting with different cameras and options and found in this application it worked. 

Not all are this tough, but we failed in setting the expectation levels to get the project. 

 

 

KS
KV Swami
Feb 18, 2018

Genetec offers Cloud / On Premise ANPR / ALPR via it's AutoVu offering with their Sharp AutoVu cameras.  They have many applications in place similar to what you are looking for.  I have used both the AutoVu Cloud and AutoVu On-Premise LPR Cameras with great success . We have used the AutoVu Plate Reader Cloud in Nairobi, Kenya as well. 

Avatar
Charles Pitman
Feb 19, 2018

Hello!  I work for Genetec, and we have an ALPR solution that allows you to push license plate reads to the cloud . It's called AutoVu. You have the option of a fully cloud hosted ALPR deployment, or a self-hosted on-premises deployment. You can also use the hardware to send ALPR data directly to a host (FTP or HTTP). While you can send the data directly to a host, our Security Center solution will allow the data to be shared with any participating public or private organizations. And, through advanced privileges and access rights, organizations determine who has access to their ALPR data and the extent of their access, so privacy can be protected. The typical use case is small communities or towns establishing their own ALPR system, then sharing those reads with the police department of a nearby major city to make monitoring and intervention easier and more effective.

 

Feel free to contact me at cpitman@genetec.com if you would like to learn more.

U
Undisclosed #1
Feb 19, 2018

Axis Q1765... because they are rock solid.

 

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