Directory of 61 LPR / ANPR Providers

Published Feb 21, 2018 17:48 PM
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License Plate Recognition / Automatic Number Plate Recognition are a type of video analytics software that can identify and match license / number plates, without needing a human operator to read or lookup the plate.

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There are a number of providers around the world. The goal of this directory is to provide a single listing of options available.

LPR vs LPC

License plate 'recognition' is different than license plate 'capture'. Since the terms are often used interchangeably, causing confusion, it is important to explain the difference.

  • License plate capture (LPC): 'Capture' refers to optimizing the camera to properly capture / record the license plate. It does not include automatically recognizing the plate. If the plate if only 'captured', this means that a human must check the plate.
  • License plate recognition (LPR): By contrast, 'recognition', properly used, means that software is immediately determining what the plate number is and often matching it against a watchlist of plates for alerts. Ergo, LPR requires LPC but LPC does not guarantee LPR.

LPR Differentiations

LPR offerings range from low cost all-in-one cameras, under $1,000 USD to $10,000+ USD systems. Key technical differentiation includes:

  • Speed: LPR systems vary in their ability to handle faster-moving vehicles, with higher speeds increasing difficulty and limiting support. Higher speeds are valuable for speed-trap cameras on highways/motorways and for differential travel capture by law enforcement (such as a police vehicle traveling in the opposite direction of captured vehicles).
  • Width of FoV / Multiple Lane Coverage: FOV width varies, typically from a single lane to a maximum of 4, depending on resolution, processing capability, etc.
  • Low Light Performance: Some low cost or add-on LPR systems can be used with cameras without IR, however performance (especially at night) is significantly reduced. Even among LPR systems using IR, the type and design of IR, whether it is pulsed or synced with the camera can impact performance.
  • Algorithm: LPR systems often use different algorithms, some may be more effective than others, some may be optimized for higher or lower resource utilization computing, impacting performance.
  • Country / region support: Different regions / countries have different layouts, sizes, and fonts. This requires the algorithm to be tuned for a specific area or region. Minimally, check to see if the LPR system desired claims to support your desired region.
  • Accuracy: This is affected by all of the elements above. One's tolerance for false matches and missed matches will impact selection as some LPR providers optimize for lower cost or simpler deployment over accuracy while others do the opposite.
  • Third Party Integration: Integration of LPR providers to third-party VMS is fairly rare (e.g., Genetec AutoVu does not integrate to Milestone, 3M does not integrate to Exacq, etc.). Integrations are often possible using XML, HTTP/TCP strings, or other methods, but these are rarely out of the box solutions and require custom integration. Depth of integration also can be an issue in terms of how many features are integrated.

LPR / ANPR

The following products and companies specialize in license plate recognition:

We will add any providers to the directory. For those we are missing, email us at info@ipvm.com or post in the comment below.

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