Hello all,
I am an individual operator looking to add LPR at two locations-- my city residence and also ranch property. For me, it seems there is a "fork in the road" between adopting Blue Iris to help with LPR, or stay with Synology and add another NAS.
I have a significant amount of experience with IP cameras and Synology NAS devices. Currently operate a number of Synology NAS devices, using Surveillance Station 9.x, and maybe 25 cameras total ranging from 2mp to 4k. Except for having a contractor pull cabling for me, I have done all of the setup, config, and maintenance of the cameras, network, and NAS devices. I am running about 80TB of storage in the two locations as storing recordings for 120 days needs a lot of space.
I used own a small car wash, and devoted time to capturing license plates due to that. So I am somewhat aware of the challenges involved. And I have read the "getting started" documents here. Based upon reading here, I would start with the camera model below as my LPR camera. I am looking at the model offered by Empire Tech:
IPC-HFW5241E-Z12E - Dahua International (dahuasecurity.com)
I am contemplating whether to also add a Synology NVR, model DVA 1622. The DVA 1622 is more devoted to AI than other Synology devices, including LPR functionality. It "seems" a good choice but I am unsure. If I purchased one, I would devote it solely to LPR tasks. Synology does offer a method to link their NAS products so even if devoted to LPR, the DVA 1622 could be accessible through my current system. The main complaint, it seems, about the Synology 1622 is the limit on how many AI functions you can run at once. I understand this frustration for others, and the next jump up to the bigger model is very expensive. This is not a problem for me as I would only expect it to run a single LPR function.
Synology_DVA1622_Data_Sheet_enu.pdf
But, I have never used a DVA 1622, and can find little information about LPR other than what is in the manual. Not a lot of real world use cases. No data on using the Z12E camera although I have found Synology can work with almost anything. Also, I have never used Blue Iris. Whichever way I go, I realize there is a learning curve. And so it seems there is a major decision about which to deploy. The two directions are different in cost-- the Synology is $600 without hard drives. But I am more sensitive to going with the best solution than I am the entry cost. I have available hard drives for the synology, so the comparison is like $600 for Synology or $100 for Blue Iris. Plus any add-ons for either system. I want to choose the system that best justifies my time investment.
My primary property is at the end of a cul-de-sac. I have two turret IP cameras mounted on rock columns near the street, connected via Ethernet to my Synology back at the house. I need to measure for exact distance, but I estimate having a camera view of license plates of less than 100 feet, including a front view then rear view as the vehicle turns around. So I believe the varifocal lens in the Z12E camera will handle that. I get little traffic at night, so if I had to choose between reliable daytime capture versus nighttime, I'd opt for better reliability during day. Due to the shape of the Z12E camera I would likely have to put it in an enclosure at the side of a rock column, but that is not a problem.
The ranch property is more difficult. The entry gate has no ethernet connection, but does have 120V power. I can build an enclosure at the entry gate to house LPR equipment. But I presume I would need some sort of PC in that location running Blue Iris. I am a bit more leery of running a dedicated Windows PC (with blue iris) remotely than a Synology NAS, as Windows machines are a bit more finicky. With either Blue Iris or Synology, I would have to periodically go to the gate to download data after the fact. I am currently looking into a long range bridge (Ubiquiti GigaBeam LR) to offer Ethernet connectivity at the gate. I will be testing that soon. If that is feasible, then this added complication goes away as I would have Ethernet connectivity at the gate.
My ideal use is to capture, log, and compare license plate activity. How many times did xx license plate travel through the cul-de-sac? How many new plates traveled through this day or week? And what would be ideal is to keep a database of previously-known license plates, and receive an alarm when the camera sees one of these specific plates. At the ranch property there is a known "rough crowd" that lives at a property above me. Some weekends involve drunken parties with gunfire after dark. If my LPR system could alert me to these vehicles passing my gate, I'd know what is coming later that night. This is another reason why I want to get Ethernet connectivity there.
Thank you for any suggestions. I'm open to any suggestion such as cameras, etc. But my main focus right now is whether to begin by using Blue Iris or Synology. It's a little more complicated since the environments of the two locations are different.
I am an individual operator looking to add LPR at two locations-- my city residence and also ranch property. For me, it seems there is a "fork in the road" between adopting Blue Iris to help with LPR, or stay with Synology and add another NAS.
I have a significant amount of experience with IP cameras and Synology NAS devices. Currently operate a number of Synology NAS devices, using Surveillance Station 9.x, and maybe 25 cameras total ranging from 2mp to 4k. Except for having a contractor pull cabling for me, I have done all of the setup, config, and maintenance of the cameras, network, and NAS devices. I am running about 80TB of storage in the two locations as storing recordings for 120 days needs a lot of space.
I used own a small car wash, and devoted time to capturing license plates due to that. So I am somewhat aware of the challenges involved. And I have read the "getting started" documents here. Based upon reading here, I would start with the camera model below as my LPR camera. I am looking at the model offered by Empire Tech:
IPC-HFW5241E-Z12E - Dahua International (dahuasecurity.com)
I am contemplating whether to also add a Synology NVR, model DVA 1622. The DVA 1622 is more devoted to AI than other Synology devices, including LPR functionality. It "seems" a good choice but I am unsure. If I purchased one, I would devote it solely to LPR tasks. Synology does offer a method to link their NAS products so even if devoted to LPR, the DVA 1622 could be accessible through my current system. The main complaint, it seems, about the Synology 1622 is the limit on how many AI functions you can run at once. I understand this frustration for others, and the next jump up to the bigger model is very expensive. This is not a problem for me as I would only expect it to run a single LPR function.
Synology_DVA1622_Data_Sheet_enu.pdf
But, I have never used a DVA 1622, and can find little information about LPR other than what is in the manual. Not a lot of real world use cases. No data on using the Z12E camera although I have found Synology can work with almost anything. Also, I have never used Blue Iris. Whichever way I go, I realize there is a learning curve. And so it seems there is a major decision about which to deploy. The two directions are different in cost-- the Synology is $600 without hard drives. But I am more sensitive to going with the best solution than I am the entry cost. I have available hard drives for the synology, so the comparison is like $600 for Synology or $100 for Blue Iris. Plus any add-ons for either system. I want to choose the system that best justifies my time investment.
My primary property is at the end of a cul-de-sac. I have two turret IP cameras mounted on rock columns near the street, connected via Ethernet to my Synology back at the house. I need to measure for exact distance, but I estimate having a camera view of license plates of less than 100 feet, including a front view then rear view as the vehicle turns around. So I believe the varifocal lens in the Z12E camera will handle that. I get little traffic at night, so if I had to choose between reliable daytime capture versus nighttime, I'd opt for better reliability during day. Due to the shape of the Z12E camera I would likely have to put it in an enclosure at the side of a rock column, but that is not a problem.
The ranch property is more difficult. The entry gate has no ethernet connection, but does have 120V power. I can build an enclosure at the entry gate to house LPR equipment. But I presume I would need some sort of PC in that location running Blue Iris. I am a bit more leery of running a dedicated Windows PC (with blue iris) remotely than a Synology NAS, as Windows machines are a bit more finicky. With either Blue Iris or Synology, I would have to periodically go to the gate to download data after the fact. I am currently looking into a long range bridge (Ubiquiti GigaBeam LR) to offer Ethernet connectivity at the gate. I will be testing that soon. If that is feasible, then this added complication goes away as I would have Ethernet connectivity at the gate.
My ideal use is to capture, log, and compare license plate activity. How many times did xx license plate travel through the cul-de-sac? How many new plates traveled through this day or week? And what would be ideal is to keep a database of previously-known license plates, and receive an alarm when the camera sees one of these specific plates. At the ranch property there is a known "rough crowd" that lives at a property above me. Some weekends involve drunken parties with gunfire after dark. If my LPR system could alert me to these vehicles passing my gate, I'd know what is coming later that night. This is another reason why I want to get Ethernet connectivity there.
Thank you for any suggestions. I'm open to any suggestion such as cameras, etc. But my main focus right now is whether to begin by using Blue Iris or Synology. It's a little more complicated since the environments of the two locations are different.
