Hikvision ANPR - FTP Upload - Image or Text File
- Thread starter ksweb
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Yes, it just uploads an image, but you can configure some control over the image file name format so the file name can reflect the date/time and plate, for example: 20210129134025770_ABC123.jpg is 13:40:25 29/01/2021 (the 770 is milliseconds I think).
In my setup each ANPR camera uploads to a ftp subdirectory so I know the camera it came from, then I have custom scripts to extract the date/time and plate and insert data into a MYSQL database. So I can get capture time, plate, and camera. The only info you don't seem to be able to get from the camera is the logged "Direction".
In my setup each ANPR camera uploads to a ftp subdirectory so I know the camera it came from, then I have custom scripts to extract the date/time and plate and insert data into a MYSQL database. So I can get capture time, plate, and camera. The only info you don't seem to be able to get from the camera is the logged "Direction".
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Thanks codlord, that certainly makes using the Hikvision camera's a possibility especially from a cost perspective.
Luckily in our use case the direction is fixed, which simplifies it somewhat.
I am going to order one next week to start playing with but in the meantime can you tell me if there is any feature or mechanisms that we can use to improve the accuracy of the camera?
Luckily in our use case the direction is fixed, which simplifies it somewhat.
I am going to order one next week to start playing with but in the meantime can you tell me if there is any feature or mechanisms that we can use to improve the accuracy of the camera?
Follow the ANPR configuration How-to: - How do I set up Hikvision ANPR? - to ensure you have an optimal ANPR configuration.
Camera positioning and focal length will determine the size and orientation of the plate in the image. The plate needs to be face on in a narrow field of vision.
Keep your firmware up to date - e.g. we have found the new shiny 20/70 UK plates were consistently being misread but old dirty 15 year plates were fine....odd but firmware fixed it.
We have been impressed with the accuracy even in sub optimal conditions.
Issues that we have found are:
Dirty rear number plates not detected at all.
Some private plates are consistently misread even though they are crystal clear in the image.
Vehicle sign writing can be detected as a number plate.
Camera positioning and focal length will determine the size and orientation of the plate in the image. The plate needs to be face on in a narrow field of vision.
Keep your firmware up to date - e.g. we have found the new shiny 20/70 UK plates were consistently being misread but old dirty 15 year plates were fine....odd but firmware fixed it.
We have been impressed with the accuracy even in sub optimal conditions.
Issues that we have found are:
Dirty rear number plates not detected at all.
Some private plates are consistently misread even though they are crystal clear in the image.
Vehicle sign writing can be detected as a number plate.
My personal comments of Hikvision ANPR:
Although the cameras do seem to have some sort of "built in blacklist/whitelist" I found it utterly useless and bug-ridden.
The focal length of the camera and the distance from the camera to the capture point matter - too far with the wrong focal length and it will not capture. We had to set the optical zoom to the max on one of ours as it was too far away and not capturing when it was zoomed out. Pay attention to the IR capture distances and focal lengths given in the camera specs.
We found to enable consistent capture at night with exposure settings like Auto 42 1/2000 46 in our case - means that the camera is largely useless as a normal CCTV camera at capturing anything else at night (the screen will seem totally black at night, it won't pick up people or anything other than plates really) and when it captures a plate it will not really capture any detail of the vehicle. Maybe there are better settings/tweaks in that guide linked above.
When setting up I normally set the focus to auto in daytime to get the camera to focus then set it to manual. I have found if left on auto or semi-auto sometimes the focus messes up due to rain/fog or whatever and does not then correct itself later. Don't know why, never had that issue with non-ANPR cameras.
Although the cameras do seem to have some sort of "built in blacklist/whitelist" I found it utterly useless and bug-ridden.
The focal length of the camera and the distance from the camera to the capture point matter - too far with the wrong focal length and it will not capture. We had to set the optical zoom to the max on one of ours as it was too far away and not capturing when it was zoomed out. Pay attention to the IR capture distances and focal lengths given in the camera specs.
We found to enable consistent capture at night with exposure settings like Auto 42 1/2000 46 in our case - means that the camera is largely useless as a normal CCTV camera at capturing anything else at night (the screen will seem totally black at night, it won't pick up people or anything other than plates really) and when it captures a plate it will not really capture any detail of the vehicle. Maybe there are better settings/tweaks in that guide linked above.
When setting up I normally set the focus to auto in daytime to get the camera to focus then set it to manual. I have found if left on auto or semi-auto sometimes the focus messes up due to rain/fog or whatever and does not then correct itself later. Don't know why, never had that issue with non-ANPR cameras.
Starstreak
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Which model are you using? I managed to get the black/whitelist working - at least to a point.
The 8-32mm lens is the most versatile so I recommend that one.
The older 4-line model (4A26) has a few issues. Focus has to be left on manual or it will go blurry in the case of a power outage. It also won't connect to HikConnect.
I haven't tested the 7-line one yet.
Would be interesting to know what issues you found with the blacklist / whitelist. We have only found it does what it says on the tin. If plates are being correctly identified then the matching to the whitelist / blacklist is bulletproof. Only if the plate is misread will the lists not be of any use.
It is true the ANPR camera may need to be configured so its nighttime performance is only able to detect number plates. We either add an additional wide angle lens camera to capture the overall scene and / or add LED luminaires. You could argue the expense of the ANPR camera should not require the extra expense. One challenge is that the ANPR camera IR light will reflect off the highly reflective number plates and another is that the car may be travelling at considerable speed. Any camera that needs to capture detail at speed needs a faster shutter speed, even the £10k+ DSLR gear. Fast shutter speed means less light can get into the sensor so night shots will be compromised, other than the reflective number plate. A few £100 for an extra camera / light and you have everything covered. One final point, given your ANPR camera focal length you will most likely be missing most of the surrounding scene anyway.
I have not experienced the focus issue so I cannot comment on what that might be.
