Enhancing Number Plate Recognition at High Speeds and Far Distances with External IR Technology

The effectiveness of ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition) systems depends heavily on the quality of the captured plate image. ANPR systems face challenges when operating 24/7, such as motion blur from fast vehicles, dirty plates, challenges with capturing an image in the far distance, glare from headlights, and varying light or weather conditions. High-quality external lighting ensures clear, accurate images for reliable ANPR performance.

The Objective:

Earlier this year, Raytec were excited to partner with Hanwha Vision Europe & Vaxtor, utilising our high power VAR2-i16-1 external Infra-Red (IR) illumination to aid the camera to achieve consistent plate capture of vehicles travelling at both high speeds and at a far distance.

The Challenge:

Hanwha Vision Europe sought a solution that could reliably capture clear images of vehicle number plates traveling at speeds of up to 70 mph and at a distance of beyond 200m. Their existing system, which relied solely on their Hanwha Vision Europe PNO-A9311R camera with integrated IR, struggled to deliver sharp, readable images at that distance and speed. An alternative approach was needed to overcome this challenge and ensure dependable software analytics for their system to work effectively.

The Solution:

The solution was to combine the Hanwha high-quality camera (PNO-A9311R) with Raytec’s VARIO2 i16-1 powerful external Infra-Red lighting unit which is known for its performance in long-range illumination.

Why was VARIO2 i16 used?

• Great distances – VARIO2 i16 is Raytec’s most powerful IR illuminator, achieving distances of up to 500m (1,640ft) with Infra-Red illumination.
• Camera acceptance to IR – Most ANPR / LPR systems tend to use 850nm wavelength of light.In many ANPR / LPR systems, visible light is filtered out and only IR light is used by the camera. This is done to help overcome some of the challenges of capturing the plate that we highlighted earlier, such as dirty plates and problems with glare on the plates from headlight, sunlight, or whether conditions.
• No driver distraction – Aside from a faint red glow from the illuminator, there is also zero visible light which limits the possibility of distracting the driver.

The Result:

This testing demonstrated the power of combining cutting-edge hardware, software, and cross-team collaboration. Together, we delivered a solution that exceeded expectations and set a new benchmark for high-speed ANPR performance.

A big thank you to the team at Hanwha & Vaxtor for running and supporting the test night!

Explore the range here.