License Plate Capture At Night

[westtx28 0]

I have a megapixel ip camera set up for a neighborhood civic association capturing to a NVR. The quality of the day images are extremely good and have been used in the investigation and prosecution of a few incidents. The images at night are not so good and I'm not sure of the best approach to try to get something a little better. It appears to be the glare from the headlights that is causing the problem.

 

The camera is a Vivotek IP7161 2-Megapixel and has a 1/3.2” CMOS sensor and a minimum illumination of 0.8 Lux / F1.6. It also has an IR-cut filter.

 

Should I try to hit the area with an external IR illuminator or is there a lens filter that would help? The association has a limited budget but is willing to spend some money to get better night shots. I just want to start in the right direction. I posted some images below from the system.

 

Day images are very good.

 

Typical night image.

 

Sometimes we can get a shot a good as this but it is the exception.

 

Vehicle leaving images are a problem.

[bike_rider 0]

Fixed shutter speed (1/1000 for me) and a high powered, narrow beam IR unit solved my problems.

[MaxIcon 0]

Some people use IR pass (white light blocking) filters as well. This helps avoid the washout due to the headlights, though the high shutter speed can be very effective at that once you get the settings tweaked.

[joseph.chen0312 0]

Hello

 

As I know most IP camera supplier is headach for LP capture for highlight bouncing at night time. Maybe you could consider carry out Vivotek or Axis which released some good stuff in deployed SONY exmore Sensor and P-IRIS lens which is excellent at day and night time.