Will this camera work well enough as a manual LPR?

[Moonville]

I want to use an IPC T3241T-ZAS (2MP varifocal, 1/2.8", 2.7-13.5mm lens) to capture license plate images day and night on my driveway. I'm not looking to collect plates programmatically and I know the nighttime images will be the plate only.

I've been through quite a few relevant threads here and worked with the IPVM Calculator and it sounds like what I want to do will work given the situation.

-- Max vehicle speed: 15 MPH
-- Degrees off axis from the direction of travel: <5 horizontal and vertical
-- Distance: 45 to 65 feet
-- No nighttime lighting

Will this set up get usable images?

 

[wittaj]

Yes, that camera is capable if the car is close enough. I have found much beyond 40ish feet is gets to be problematic, so the closer you can get the better.

I assume you are talking about mounting this on the mailbox or close enough to the street?

The no nighttime lighting is in your favor as it won't "blind" the IR. Simply put IR on 100 and the shutter at 1/2,000 and you will get plates if they are close enough.

You will have to address how to get the focus set up as seen in the LPR thread.

 

[Moonville]

I assume you are talking about mounting this on the mailbox or close enough to the street?

The camera is going to be in a bird house mounted low on a tree near a curve in the driveway. That's how I'm able to get almost zero degrees axis.

With the vehicle coming at the camera at night, will headlights cause a problem getting a decent image at that distance (~60 feet)?

 

[wittaj]

The headlights won't cause a problem because of how fast the shutter is. You can always use HLC to knock them down as well.

The biggest issue will be the distance. Most people underestimate the distance. 60 feet will be pushing it for that camera. You might be able to mostly make out the plate, but I have found that within 40 feet for that camera works the best.

Especially with the Ohio plates that are not raised letters, but printed flat, those will be almost impossible at that distance.

 

[samplenhold]

I do not have that camera. But here are a few shots of cars with a 4MP cam (B5442-Z4E) set at 26MM. This may give you some idea on field of view for your cam, which has a max zoom of 13.5MM, about half of what this cam is set at. But your cam is also a 2MP cam and this is a 4MP cam.

At about 40 feet


At about 60 feet

 

[wittaj]

^I think this shows the difficulty the 13.5mm would have at those distances. But get it under 40 feet and you should be good.

 

[samplenhold]

, will headlights cause a problem getting a decent image at that distance (~60 feet)?

Front plates at night are always more difficult than rear plates at night. One, they do not have a plate light shining on it. Two, they are often in bad shape.

Realize that any light shining on the plate, be it IR or visible, will help you out.

Now as far as the headlights causing a problem, here is a shot from one tonight. Not the best cap, but you can get the plate. And if you step through the video, you can get a good shot of each digit separately.

 

[dabeckham]

I do not have that camera. But here are a few shots of cars with a 4MP cam (B5442-Z4E) set at 26MM. This may give you some idea on field of view for your cam, which has a max zoom of 13.5MM, about half of what this cam is set at. But your cam is also a 2MP cam and this is a 4MP cam.

At about 40 feet
View attachment 114479

At about 60 feet
View attachment 114480

I have to assume that's your Porsche, since you occluded the plate and didn't do the same on the Lexus.

 

[dabeckham]

I want to use an IPC T3241T-ZAS (2MP varifocal, 1/2.8", 2.7-13.5mm lens) to capture license plate images day and night on my driveway. I'm not looking to collect plates programmatically and I know the nighttime images will be the plate only.

I've been through quite a few relevant threads here and worked with the IPVM Calculator and it sounds like what I want to do will work given the situation.

-- Max vehicle speed: 15 MPH
-- Degrees off axis from the direction of travel: <5 horizontal and vertical
-- Distance: 45 to 65 feet
-- No nighttime lighting

Will this set up get usable images?

Your biggest challenge will be getting the precise focus you will need at > 45', because the plate will be tiny in the frame. I spent hours trying to get a 4-12mm motorized varifocal tuned and could never get it right. Unless that camera has microsteps for focus, it's like pulling the handle on a slot machine to hit focus.

 

[samplenhold]

I have to assume that's your Porsche, since you occluded the plate and didn't do the same on the Lexus.

No, not mine. Early on in this hobby I was concerned about posting those plates on here so I masked part of the number. Now I really don't give a flying fork. The masked one was from my storage of pics for different threads here. The other one I grabbed right off the screen on Monday. See the date stamps.

 

[dabeckham]

No, not mine. Early on in this hobby I was concerned about posting those plates on here so I masked part of the number. Now I really don't give a flying fork. The masked one was from my storage of pics for different threads here. The other one I grabbed right off the screen on Monday. See the date stamps.

Ah... I did not pay attention to that and assOmed they were sequential. I guess I made an "ass" out of Only "me".