I'm working on LPR, using a Sony CH-140. The camera is about 75 feet from the target zone. Shutter speed is 1/500 to 1/1000. Daytime is, of course, beautiful.

Is there an IR unit that really will illuminate plates at 75-100 feet? Raytec is on the short list, but I'd love to not have to spend that much more on this project.

For most IR units, I aways figure the real range is 1/3-1/2 the quoted range. Does Raytec really throw as far as they say it does? If so, the Raymax 50 would probalby be my best bet from them.

they've spoken, I will retract my reply. lol

Raytec or Iluminar will do what you want.


The IR148-A10-24 from Iluminar with an angle of 10 degree will do 148' with a HOV of 26'.

I wouldn't try anything less then this for your distance. Another nice thing with both Raytec and Iluminar you can adjust the output of the lights to get just the right amount of light on the subject.

http://www.iluminarinc.com/pdf/irilumin ... 20v1.1.pdf

Bosch UFLED30-8BD

UFLED30-9BD is 940nm and should do it also.
Not cheap though.

Also google Axton AT-7B-74830, made in the USA?

And check out CNB's IR.
Eg. CNB MIR1000 or CNB MIR3000

Thanks guys. I have an MIR1000 and a generic (CM Vision from Amazon). These max out around 50-60 feet to illuminate a person or reflect a plate. I did notice that my one IP camera (Sony Ch140) did not seem to be nearly as sensitive as the analog Pany 484s. Is this typical of MP IP cameras or are some more sensitive in IR? IR corrected lenses on both cameras.

MP CMOS (or CCD) is definitely not as sensitive as analog (partly smaller pixles, CMOS vs. CCD etc). Get some longpass material that will make your life a lot easier controlling headlights etc. If you are only doing plates stick with a tight beam, as that will really help your distance. I've played with a CCD MP (Pan 502) and it was not well suited to plate capture (at night). During the day gorgeous pic though. The 484 is also more sensitive than the 502 at night, for an equivalent shutter speed.

Cutting by 2x is a good rule for 1-60s (cut by more for 1/500 - 1/1000). On the other hand we are helped somewhat by the fact that the plates are much more reflective than say people. I would start on the high side and back it down adjusting the power.

I cover at 80 yards a 30 ft width with 2 P1344's and a RM100-10, but I'm not doing it at that fast of a shutter speed either (trying to make the cameras do double duty). I'm helped due to the fact that the cars are going fairly slow, so I'm not at your shutter speed. I'd count on being around 4-6x less sensitive as a rough guesstimate playing around with analog and MP.

If you have a narrow spot analog really helps, since you can do a high shutter speed AND cut the AGC which will help with headlights. That is really the problem with trying to do two things with one camera - at a high shutter speed and low AGC which will give you a beautiful plate you won't see much else.

Raytec has also started making units that can have coverage angle that can be modified by slipping in a diffusor, which is what my Bosch BDS does (i.e. 10deg LED's, semi clear piece of plastic to get 30deg).

Be aware that with the Raytec etc 850 people/teens will see/notice and wonder WTF. If you are technical you can make your own, the Osram LED's are ~5-7 each, lens is $2 ea. They run them at ~1.5W ea so if you look at the power rating you can determine how many LED's they are using. You will need to work out the thermal management/mounting, and have a constant current source power supply (I have an HP that works well). Once again, a tight angle helps distance more than adding LED's. You can probably end up at 1/3-1/2 the cost, but definite hassle as you need to weatherproof, factor in your time etc. You also need to be able to deal with the surface mount aspect, as the LED's have a pad underneath the part to allow good thermal transfer (solder paste, heat gun or similar etc).

940 still glows red just not as much, if using the new surface mount LED's.

Thanks Mike.

I'm off axis about 25 degrees, so headlights are not an issue. I do have some long pass filters but they aren't going to address my issue of a lack of illumination.

While I'm glad to hear that the Raytech will really cover 100+ feet, another $1000+ is out of the budget. The cars on my road go surprisingly fast for down hill into a cul-de-sac. 35 mph is common.

This unit is no where near $1000 and it will meet your needs

http://www.iluminarinc.com/pdf/irilumin ... 20v1.1.pdf

We have the same problem on the roads with hills, soccer mom in a Lexus SUV talking on the cell/kids in back/sipping a 'gourmet' coffee...good luck.

Just remember to adjust up the amount of IR you need by shutter speed and however much you cut the AGC. Could try some test pics at a slower shutter to get the AGC dialed in tested with the CNB IR, then factor in the increase in shutter speed to see what you need.

Yeah, that's part of the issue with quoted distances and lux ratings. If you can use 1/30 shutter speed, you might actually see something.

FWIW, here is a capture from my RM10030C at ~90 feet:



At that distance it's hit or miss, however. If the plate is facing the right way, I get good results, but if the angle is wrong, fuggheddaboudit.

The camera is an Arecont Vision AV1310DN, fitted with a 25mm Computar megapixel lens and a filter that blocks visible light but passes near infrared wavelengths. Shutter speed is 1/500th. The angle of view is ~25 degrees off to the side of the street. Note that this illuminator is a "covert" unit (i.e. 940nm wavelength), so an 850nm unit should have about twice the usable distance.

True dat, although you have to be directly in front of the illuminator and looking directly at it to really notice.

There is a reason why a real tag camera is 2000+

Half of that is in the illumination.

Classic!