Placement for LPR cameras

camelian

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Hi all,

I posted this in the installation forum but folks noted it might be better to post here, so I am reposting here!

We are looking to add 2 wide and 2 LPR cameras to help capture plates of cars entering and leaving the subdivision.

Here are the most important shots
1) Rear plate of cars exiting neighborhood (upper left yellow box). I would like to capture front plates of cars entering on the other side of the road too if possible. The yellow box covers both areas.
2) Rear plate of cars entering the gate (lower right yellow box). I would like to capture front plates of cars exiting on the other side of the road too if possible. The yellow box covers both areas.

80% of the traffic comes from and goes to the south side of the main road, indicated by the red arrows.
The NVR and network switch is located in the mailbox on the top right corner of the picture. We will be running conduit and ethernet and installing a new pole for these cameras.

  • Would Option 1 or Option 2 have the best chance at capturing the plates in the locations listed above? I was thinking Option 2 might be better because at night, car headlights entering the neighborhood might shine into the camera if located in Option 1, but perhaps at 10ft it wouldn't matter? The downside to option 2 is that we would have to run cabling under the road, which will add significant cost to the project
  • What is the best heigh to install the LPR cameras at for these angles? There will also be a wide camera mounted next to the LPR for each direction.
Thanks in advance to this amazing community! We've already been able to catch plates for a mail theft that happened again last night.
 

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Without knowing the distances, it is hard to say. I do not see a reason option 1 would not work. Lights shining on the cam has only been an issue for me at dusk and dawn. If you mount it higher than 5 feet, I am sure it will not be an issue.

You may find that to get both sides of the street may take two cams, each cam focused on that side of the street. The only real way is to try it out on a test rig. Your angles look ok, but you could test it out before you install.

See my post on LPR:
 

camelian

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It is roughly 60 feet to the main road, and 80 feet to the entrance gate based on google estimates +/- 20 feet or so.

If we mount at 9-10 feet, would that be too high for LPR to be effective? We actually have an existing pole that is about 3-3.5" tall, but it easily gets blocked by opposing traffic, so I'd like to replace it with a taller pole. It's also blocked by the entrance sign pillar. See attached picture (pardon the text, that was instructions for the landscaper)

I have read through your post, and it was super helpful. I used it to calibrate our other 2 LPR cameras. Since we will be spending a fair amount of money and effort to install a new pole, I just want to make sure we do it in an effective way.

Thanks so much!
 

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wittaj

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I have mine on the 2nd story and my house sits 10-12 feet higher than the road, so I am probably 30 feet above and get captures at 155' out with the 5241-Z12
 

zjm424

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i bought two new Dahua LPR ITC237-1050 cam with LPR algorithm built-in, pretty accurate for day and night. Installation is much more important for a better recognition.
 

Old Timer

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10' will not be a problem. One of mine points due SW and the sun killed it in the evening, so
I raised it up to about 17'. that dropped the evening sun problem, and seemed like it helped getting
front tags at night. The head lights are a lot less, so you can set exposure easier on the tag alone.
 
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