Could not read license plates even in broad day light

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badi

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I recently installed DCPRO and realized both front and rear cameras do not read license plates even during day time. Is there any settings to improve video quality? I am also using CPL for front camera.
Recording at 1080p and using version 1.15.
Here are the videos I downloaded using FN CAM.
Front:

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Rear: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HUrjNuK17pypqOMtwYgx4e4ayitodDBi/view?usp=drivesdk
 
For a start I'd say you have too much dashboard in the front video. Angle the lens up a notch. Rear just seems to be copping some bad reflections in that sunlight.
 
Did you adjust the EV? Looks unusually bright.
 
I think its that bright due to the camera angle, he have a full foot of dashboard but should just have the air vent in the footage + its a black car.
Unusual to have a user aim the camera too far down, it is normally too far up people tend to do.
Otherwise the footage some look that bad to me, windscreen could need a clean it seem, and Americans could do well with larger readable plates like we EU boys have.

SGcam.jpg
 
PS, just noticed, directly you can not see the plate on the white BMW in front, but you can in the reflection on the hood.
Skies on the other hand don't look that washed out, still i am sure aiming the camera a bit higher will be better for light metering
 
Harsh said:
Did you adjust the EV? Looks unusually bright.
Click to expand...
Agree, definitely overexposed which will wash out any detail. Combine that with the highly reflective white license plates and it becomes a losing proposition.

Aiming the camera higher to get some of the dark dash and hood out of the frame will help as well as maybe dialing down the AE a bit.
 
How about CPL filter ? is that in use, that might help a little too.
 
Thank you everyone for valuable comments. I will try raising up the lens and lowering the EV.
 
If the sun is shining on a white or silver car and it has reflective white licence plates you can expect the plate to not stand out in the image, the plates are reflective so governments can get better results from speed cameras etc
 
Indeed, damn gooberment :p but with the camera angled properly he will at least be able to see the plate on that BMW, probably read it too as its not that far away. ( the PIC was a frame i grabbed out of his video to demo the camera angle and what it do to the footage )
The American plates are also a pain to work with it seem, almost just half the size of EU plates, and also over here no graphics are allowed on the plate, other than on the far left 2" or sh where you can have your national code + the damn EU flag if you don't forget to say you do not want that stuff ( like i did )

Still a plate on the car in front of you you should be able to read when both cars are stationary at a intersection, or if it pass tight bu you in the same direction or going the other way if your state have plates in the front too like we EU boys must have.
But you don't have to get that far away from the target and you will not be able to read the plate, but that's natural and due to the wide angle lenses on dashcams ( and why many of us also drive with a DIY "zoom" camera on the windscreen )
And of course in less than optimal lighting conditions,,,,, and really that's far from pitch black.

This video demo my zoom camera VS the SG camera i had at the time on my windscreen, the zoom camera ( dashcam modified with 12 mm lens ) let me read plates much further ahead, but the trade off are a horrible narrow field of view, so not a camera you can run alone )


Here is plate capture demo on my old SG camera, vehicle speeds 80 km/h which are the highway speed over here.


Plate capture you can also do at night, but everything have to move at a very slow speed in relation to each other,,,,, i normally say a crawl.
But these cops in their nice cop car, i got their number :)

 
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I forgot to write, some days with dashcams, you barely get any plate campture, and you are like WTF :unsure: cuz yesterday in the very same lighting conditions and time of day you got many more plate captures.

This is just one of the things you have to get used to i assume, cuz after nearly a decade with dashcams i still haven't figured out why it is like that. I can only assume that's its due to either the lighting conditions was not the same after all, or the automatics in a dashcam are able to some times choose less than optimal settings.
BUT ! i have noticed this on every single dashcam of the many i have operated over the years.

Plates are a okay means to verify that a camera are not totally garbage, but it is not something you should focus too much on, or you will feel let down by every camera you get, or like some of us addicts feel forced to go to extremes like installing "zoom" cameras and cameras on every side of your car though really a front and rear camera pretty much cover everything i have seen on the roads in the past years.

 
Regarding CPL, if you have not removed one of the 2 plastic protective films on it, you are not the first one.
There should be one on either side of the CPL glass.
 
kamkar1 said:
Regarding CPL, if you have not removed one of the 2 plastic protective films on it, you are not the first one.
Click to expand...
Lol I should double check it. Also you are right I must not think too much. Just wanted to make sure the camera does its work when I really need to defend myself. The license plate numbers will only work in the event of hit and run and I want it to work during that time. This is my first time using a dash cam, need to try all the tips and tricks to get that perfect recording.
 
At night or if you experience a hit and run, it is always best to see the plate yourself and then call it out for the microphone to pick up.
Thats the best bet in situations like that, cuz with current dashcam technology plate capture are just a nice side dish, but not something you will be getting with every meal :)
 
Over here in EU with plates front and rear, and a nice sunny day plate capture are almost 100%, but if whatever then happen as you are in between some tall trees lining the road and so you are a little in the shade, all bets are off for sure.
Thes time of the year and with Denmark being Canada north on the globe i pretty much don't expect to get a plate capture as the weather most days are pretty bleak.
 
kamkar1 said:
At night or if you experience a hit and run, it is always best to see the plate yourself and then call it out for the microphone to pick up.
Thats the best bet in situations like that, cuz with current dashcam technology plate capture are just a nice side dish, but not something you will be getting with every meal :)
Click to expand...
Great tip. Thanks.
 
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