How can you get the resolution to read licence plate?

bt101 · Post by **bt101** » Tue May 26, 2009 4:35 am

At the risk of overloading you guys with questions...

What is a cheap (cheap cheap cheap) recommendation for a camera that has high enough resolution to read a licence plate at approx 20m? A snapshot will do.

It kills me that the cheapest 1.3MP snap camera has the optics and resolution to do what I want, but I'm stonewalled when I try for a cheap simple solution on a security system.

I bought a Logitech Quickcam Pro 9000 (less than 100bux). The picture is great (optics are so so), however anything that slightly moves is a complete blur. I think you need to hook it to a Windows machine with the Windows software to make it behave. If anybody has any ideas on that camera, let me know.

One other option is to use an old Canon camera with gphoto2 software. It's a bit kludgy though (hard to mount or hide a big clunky snap camera).

If anybody has any recommendations to get a nice high res snap, please let me know. Oh, did I mention I'm cheap?

Thanks

mitch · Post by **mitch** » Tue May 26, 2009 3:34 pm

Generally cheap 'high resolution' cameras are going to have fps/motion issues as they are cheap. That is why a lot of license plate systems also use cameras, its a lot simpler and getting higher quality images is easier. I am sure part of it will depend on the distance you want to capture from and how your angling it but cheap, high resolution, fast shutter video cameras are a bit hard to find.

bt101 · Post by **bt101** » Wed May 27, 2009 11:27 pm

You make a good point. I did notice that those speed/redlight cameras are actually snapshot cameras. It's a shame that a crappy $75, 1.3MP Kodak snap camera can produce a great image yet you can't get anything equivalent for a security system (for any money it seems). Well, it looks like the only option for a reasonable price is a used Canon snap camera and gphoto2.

mitch · Post by **mitch** » Wed May 27, 2009 11:29 pm

for what its worth, you definately can get something similar its just that it DOES cost money which was one of your anti-prereqs.

curtishall · Post by **curtishall** » Thu May 28, 2009 12:21 am

mitch wrote:for what its worth, you definately can get something similar its just that it DOES cost money which was one of your anti-prereqs.

It's true...most megapixel cameras with a IR light and a little bit of work can do what you need...but you have to spend money. You can't expect the world for $100

barf · Post by **barf** » Tue Jul 14, 2009 10:49 am

Hi BT101,

Sorry to hi jack your thread but you have apparently had a logitech pro 9000 working with ZM
Could you please tell me what settings you used. I'm doing my nut in here trying to get it to work on Fedora 10 x64. It would be good to have some settings that are known to have worked so that I can concentrate on the real problem.

Thanks