License plate detection - 200 feet away - PTZ?

[BigLarge]

Goal: Identify vehicle make, model, color, and potentially license plates at a stop sign 200 feet away. Area illuminated with a street light.

System: NVR5208-8P-4kS2 - (4)IPC=HDW5231r-Z

Option 1: run 250 feet of direct burial ethernet out to the area, run a camera. Burrying wire is easy, I own an excavating company.

Option 2: Mount a PTZ camera from house zoom in on the area.


Which option should I choose, and which camera for the task?

 

[bigredfish]

Option 1 then

Camera will depend on how far from camera to capture point. 200ft is pushing it for the Z-12, what many here use for LPR

IPC-HFW5241E-Z12E

IPC-HFW5241E-Z12E

www.dahuasecurity.com

If much closer there may be other options, Know that for dedicated LPR cameras, you wont see much else as you need to zoom in enough to capture the plate reliably.

 

[radionerd]

Yup, Option 1, use CAT-6, 250' is near the max run without a switch in between.

n3wb since 2016

 

[BigLarge]

2 votes for option 1. I'd estimate license plates will be about 30-40 feet away from where I can mount the camera. Which camera would you suggest? I plan to force daytime (cant remember if thats correct terminology) mode at night, since there is a street light.

 

[radionerd]

You might search LPR cams in here. My best LPR is a few years old, sure there are better. IPC-HFW5231E-Z5E has 5x zoom. Works OK.


n3wb since 2016

 

[wittaj]

Option 1.

A lot of PTZ cams operate a little different than a fixed camera regarding trying to use for LPR purposes.

Most PTZs are more difficult to set a manual focus that sticks. At what you have to zoom into to get plates is that as soon as a car enters it tries to focus again and you get a blur. Not so much in bright daytime but the dawn/dusk and nighttime are difficult with a PTZ. Most that have tried to use PTZ here have gone to a dedicated cam for LPR purposes. The camera will only be seeing about the size of the car and not much else.

I have a PTZ and for kicks have tried it and it just cannot cut it at night.

It will have to be a very bright streetlight as you probably have to run 1/2000 shutter speed to get plates and at that speed you need a lot of light. I am not aware of anyone here running color at night and getting plates. Maybe you can be one of the fortunate few. Most people even with a lot of light at night cannot get past a shutter faster than 1/160 and you will not get plates at that shutter speed. I suspect you will need to run in B/W at night.

You might be able to get away with a HDW5231R-ZE varifocal if it is truly under 40 feet, but the Z12 mentioned above works the best.

 

[bigredfish]

Streetlight still may not work for nighttime LPR. .. might but doubtful. The first big challenge most find is wanting the camera to do too many things, LPR means much like my sample images, you get a car or most of a car and thats about it. Very little surroundings. Typically need to use 2 cameras to accomplish both things.

At 30-40 ft I'd still get at least the Z5 model

https://www.dahuasecurity.com/produ.../WizMind-Series/5-Series/2MP/IPC-HFW5241E-Z5E

And HiK makes a very good 8x32mm 4X model thats awesome but pricey.

 

[samplenhold]

Option 1.

You don't HAVE to go the full 250'. But for what you want, how about two cams. One for dedicated LPR zoomed in to see just the car/plate and a second one to give you a more overview that you could get make, color, maybe even how many folks inside? Since you are trenching anyway, run a few cables for the future.

 

[sebastiantombs]

Option 1 but install two cameras. One for LPR duty because the settings, especially at night, are very specific and the camera won't see anything other than the license plate and head or tail lights. The second camera, with a wider view, can be left in forced color mode for vehicle identification. Real world surveillance isn't like what movies and TV shows portray it as.

Oh yeah, 250 feet is no problem and I'd install 3/4" conduit. In terms of surge protection, it might be a better idea to run AC out there and use a dedicated RF link to provide some isolation. Ubiquity makes great equipment for that and 250 feet is close range for a Nano Station Loco.

 

[jd415]

I use a PTZ as an LPR and also to get clear shots of pedestrians walking in front of my house. Make sure you got a really good angle, I could not run a cable underneath a concrete slab so I had setup the LPR the "ghetto" way.

 

[wittaj]

@jd415 - which PTZ is that and at that angle do you get plates at night?

 

[jd415]

@wittaj it's a really bad angle but during the day its decent and night you can barely see the plates because the angle is so bad. It's an Amcrest IP4M-1053EW (Dahua makes it).

By the way the license plate at the top in the dark photo is a parked car. The plate in the middle car is a moving at about 40 MPH.

 

[BigLarge]

Excellent advise from everyone here! Last question for now, before I buy - A Z5 or Z12 isnt going to have a problem running off 200 feet of Cat6?

Edit: I just realized, I need 200 feet from my house - TO the site I want to put a camera. Theres an additional ~50 feet that goes through my house into the NVR. No issues running that much Cat6 between the NVR and Cam?

 

[samplenhold]

Your total run from NVR to cam needs to be less than 100 meters or 328 feet. So at 250 feet you should be good.

 

[Hourglass]

Make sure you test and verify everything works before bury it back. and make sure the cables are protected.

 

[sebastiantombs]

To save headaches later on, put the cables, still weather rated, inside conduit. Murphy can bite you at the worst possible moment.

 

[BigLarge]

Thanks for everyone's help. I ordered a Z12 from Andy. I'll probably be back here later for help getting the settings right!

 

[wittaj]

Thanks for everyone's help. I ordered a Z12 from Andy. I'll probably be back here later for help getting the settings right!

Sweet! Keep us posted! We are here to help.

 

[aabs]

Im also looking to do a simular thing and was exploring the PTZ route but identified its limitations with night footage.
My question regarding the IPC-HFW5241E-Z12E can this camera auto zoom for face detection and LPR?

 

[samplenhold]

My question regarding the IPC-HFW5241E-Z12E can this camera auto zoom for face detection and LPR?

No. It does not 'zoom' in the sense that you mean. It is a varifocal cam. You set the focal length that you want and leave it there. It is not like a PTZ that you can zoom in and out at will.

Cams used for LPR really need to be dedicated for that purpose.