License Plate Recognition Diagram

License Plate
Recognition Best Installation Practices

Best Practices for Installation

Note: The following installation requirements are based on optimum conditions, your license capture rate may vary depending on speed, lighting, position, license plate designs and other factors.

  • Position the camera so that the scene will cover the lane, vehicle and vehicle’s license plate.
  • Try to avoid the objects that will block the camera, such as pillars, obstacles, doors, etc .
  • Avoid the scenes with too many moving objects that may interrupt the line of the sight (like humans, non-motor vehicles, foliage/trees).

Overhead Monitoring

  • The range of the installation height (H) is 15 ~ 20ft.
  • The distance (D) (between the location of the camera installation and the captured area) is 50 ~ 82ft. Typically this distance is roughly 3 or 4 times the installation height (H).
  • With the above parameters, the length of the capture area (L) be about 50 ~ 65ft.
  • The depression angle of the camera should range between 10° and 15°.
  • If the camera is installed on the side of the road, the pan angle of the camera should not exceed 20°.
  • If the camera is installed right above the middle of the road, the pan angle of the camera shall range from 10° from the center.

Entrance & Exit Monitoring

  • The installation height (H) should range from 4.2ft to 5ft.
  • The distance (D) between the location of the camera installation and the captured area should range between 8.2ft and 10ft.
  • The length of the captured area (L) will be about 5ft to 6.5ft.
  • The depression angle of the camera should not exceed to 5°.
  • The pan angle of the camera should be between 5° and 20°.

The Tilt Angle of the License Plate

After the camera is installed, you can log in the web client and view whether the license plate tilts in the video. The tilt angle should be as level as possible and not tilt in either direction over 5°.

Capturing Plates
in Low Light

  • It is recommended to have separate cameras for entering and exiting due to the difference in lighting as vehicles entering will have headlights on and vehicles exiting will not.
  • Settings are for reference. Results may vary on lighting conditions and environment 
  • For night time capture of plates entering, it is recommended to have the settings on the right:

Suggested Night Time Setting