Sometimes I get blurred Licence plates at night and twilight. IPC-HFW5241E-Z12E & BI5

[JK200SX]

I have a IPC-HFW5241E-Z12E cam setup and zoomed in specifically to capture the licence plate on cars going past in our street in both directions. The camera is mounted about 6 metres (20ft) above street level, and is angled from the left side front of the house, pointing approximately 45-50 degrees to the right to capture the cars moving along the street - the distance the car is from the camera is approxmately 27m (90 ft).
Generally the video capture both during day and night is quite good, as shown bh these photo's:





However, from time to time I end up with blurred video capture of the LP at night and twilight:





I can also confirm that I also get good unblurred images of the car LP's shown above (in the blurred photo's) at other times, so I'm wondering what I may be doing wrong that is causing this to happen? Is it perhaps just a matter of not having enough IR illumination at the distance, and should I get an external IR lamp light, or do people think it could be one of the settings?

I've taken some screenshots below showing the configuration of the cam and if it will help anyone in guiding me how to improve the image quality for mote consistent video captures that aren' blurry..

Thank you,
JK

 

[wittaj]

Sometimes we don't get every plate. Twilight can be tough.

But since you are using BI, use straight H264 and not the H264H and use CBR not VBR.

With VBR you could get a few instances where the camera cannot adjust quick enough and you get the blur as the bitrate could have dropped below 100.

Also make sure the the IR is on manual and 100 full blast.

 

[bigredfish]

^^^^
This

 

[JK200SX]

Ok, So I've changed the settings to CBR and H264. I see how it goes tonight woth those settings, and compare the images from previous nights with the same cars/number plates. I'll then look at adjusting the IR to 100 - I've checked and its currently set at 50 for near and far. When I adjust it to 100, should I do it for near, or far, or both?

 

[bigredfish]

Whats the distance to the capture point? Likely 100% Far

 

[bigredfish]

100% Far IR setting at about 90ft

 

[samplenhold]

I have both set at 100%. Is there a reason NOT to set NEAR to 100%?

 

[bigredfish]

No, both at 100 as well…

 

[00Buck]

There are some that are using polarizing covers or clear plastic covers and it makes them harder to read.

 

[JK200SX]

Whats the distance to the capture point? Likely 100% Far

27 metres / 90Ft

 

[bigredfish]

Has changing to CBR and increasing IR to 100 made a difference?

Before making other setting changes, my gut says its simply a matter of focus due to changing from B&W to Color and back. There is a different focus needed with IR vs color. The normal light sensor will typically wait too long to switch to B&W/IR and its too dark for the camera to get a good focus. There are a couple of ways to overcome this

1- There is a Day/Night utility script many here use, search for it on the forum
2- I use a "Schedule" Profile and force the camera to switch to B&W 45 min before sunset, and back to color 30-45 min After sunrise. This insures the camera has enough light to get a proper auto focus.
3- As long as you have a companion camera for Overview to get vehicle color, leave the 5241 in B&W full time. The purpose of the Z12 is to get license plate captures, no need for color.