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New Plate Detection Camera Example

bigleo48

bigleo48

Active member
All,

On another site, someone suggested the inexpensive IR660 camera for tag capture.

http://www.rugged-cctv.com/longrangeinfraredsecuritycamera.shtml

I got one today an installed it. Still playing with it and have yet to look at the night shots, but so far so good. Here's an example
platej.jpg


Will try an post a night one tomorrow.

Big
 
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That looks pretty good BigLeo! Can't wait to see the night shots. I bought a couple of the same cameras, but haven't had time to install them.

Could you provide a little info like how high off the ground is the camera? How far away is that car? Did you just basically plug it in, zoom it and focus or did play with the advanced features like masking etc.?

Thanks
 
I have one of these IR660's for this purpose. Mounted it on the 31st. Looks like your camera may be lower than mine, how high do you have yours mounted? How far away from the building is your focus area? Did you make any other adjustment options through the DVR? High winds have kept me off of the ladder making more adjustments.

Curious to see your night view. Thanks for posting!
 
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I also have a few IR660's and don't have very good luck getting tag shots at night. They usually wash out all white. I have been told the camera needs to be at tag level so the IR doesn't wash out the tags. I don't know about your location but putting a camera at tag level is out of the question if you want to keep it. I ask about turning off the IR since my bays are lit at night anyways, they said it could be down by changing the setting to always use color instead of black and white at night. I haven't tried that yet. The book that comes with these cameras leaves a lot to be desired. You will find several of the settings names in the book don't match the names you find in the menus on the camera.
 
Been messing with it more as my results for night shots was not great. Here's one that made it.
platenight.jpg


Will keep monitoring and let you know my success rate.
 
What happens with the plates you aren't getting? Are the cars moving too fast or is the IR washing them out?

I put them so the car is driving as straight toward it as possible. The ones I don't get drive in fast and at an angle and blur; the rest are generally very crisp. The camera is about 100 feet from where it sees the plates.

This is at the extreme range of the DVR's record ability:

6cpv20vy7.jpg
 
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MEP001 said:
What happens with the plates you aren't getting? Are the cars moving too fast or is the IR washing them out?

***Yes, moving to fast, and some IR wash out at night, making adjustments.

I put them so the car is driving as straight toward it as possible. The ones I don't get drive in fast and at an angle and blur; the rest are generally very crisp. The camera is about 100 feet from where it sees the plates.

***The state where our car wash is located doesn't have license plates on the front of the vehicle. I'm limited where I have an opportunity to attempt to catch a plate.
Click to expand...
 
So did more playing. First I extended out the arm that the camera sits on to get a better angle.
platecam.jpg


It now sits about 8' up and I'm picking up plates about 25'. I only have one entrance/exit, so I'm trying to get them leaving as some states/provinces do not have front plates. Daytime I'm at 100%, night time I'm better than 70% and still tweaking.

My settings are at default except for sharpness is up a bit and brightness is down to about a quarter. That's it. So more than anything else, its the closeness and angle.

Here's a video of a capture that is typical;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Thm1yKQ1mrI
 
I would add a motion/tilt detector on your camera/s so that when some dumb a$$ tries to mess with it, it will set off the alarm.
 
So my camera paid for itself today. A guy came in and vacuumed a couple of quarts of oil out of his truck. Made a mess of the vac island and oil leaked into the parking lot. Got his plate, call cops, cops called him...he confessed will pay for damages, may get charged. I love this thing...and so do the police!
 
Any more ideas on night tag-capture

Have you figured out how to get dependable night tag capture with your IR660?
 
Just an update....

I now have used the cam a few times for problems at the wash. Last week a lady backed up and hit my IBA door causing $1000 worth of damage. She checked her van for damage and drove away. The police gave her a warning for leaving the scene of an accident and ordered her to call me and pay for the door.

So this $200 camera has paid for itself many times now in its first few months of service!
 
Big,
so only one thing is missing: a licence plate recognition software!
Wouldn't that be nice? If you ever ban a customer and he still gets in at night the power to this bay turns-off automatically :)
 
I bought a discontinued DVR card for $15 that came with OCR software, but I never tried it. I'd love to put something together that can read plate numbers and notify me if someone with a particular number enters the lot.
 
The software is the expensive part. I would likely use it to track customer usage.

But the camera alone gives me some piece of mind knowing that if anyone messes with my wash, I'll be able to find out who they are and have the evidence to have them pay up for damages and/or prosecuted. I no longer feel like I need to "watch" the wash remotely...with 32 cameras and plate recognition, I feel that's the best I can do right now.
 
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