Subscriber Discussion

Whats The Best DVR Settings For License Plate Capture?

KF
Keith Fraley
Aug 07, 2014

I have found many forums that talk about the camera settings when trying to capture license plates but none that talk about the actual DVR settings. Can I get some recommendations for a analog setup.

I have a dedicated LPR camera and a overview camera.

  • Whats the best recording resolution to use? VGA, D1, 960h
  • How many FPS?
  • Constant or Variable Bitrate?

Thanks for the help!

JH
John Honovich
Aug 07, 2014
IPVM

Keith, I think the 2 most important factors for license plate capture are:

  • IR light - presumably you already have that since you mention a dedicated LPR camera
  • Shutter speed - the faster the vehicles are moving, the faster your shutter should be - from 1/100s to 1/1000s (based on what works best for your setup).

For resolution, fps and bitrate, I would keep resolution at the camera max, fps at 15fps or higher to make sure you get enough 'shots' at the plate and VBR just so that you don't inadvertantly degrade image quality with too low a constant bit rate.

Have you deployed your camera yet? If so, what do the images look like?

KF
Keith Fraley
Aug 07, 2014

Thanks John,

Camera is deployed. Daytime images look great for the most part. The only issue I have seen is when sometimes when I search playback I have trouble pausing on the frame that has the actual plate in it. When I move frame by frame sometimes I miss the plate. I tried setting the DVR at max 30 FPS. Cars are traveling no faster than 25 mph.

I need to return to check nighttime capture tomorrow. Im waiting on the cable company to setup internet for remote access.

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