Help with whitewashed license plate

[j_fo]

Folks, Im a newbie to the forum. I desperately need someone to help me with making out a license plate number that was whitewashed at night by my headlights. This is the first time I've actually needed my DR900S-2CH to perform for me, and it has failed so far. I was involved in an expensive sideswipe hit and run, and am relying on the dashcam to provide me with a license plate number so I can file my insurance claim. Does anyone have the tools to reduce the glare so I can read the license plate number?I can send the video file and a screenshot of the moment the dashcam should have caught the license plate number. Any recommendations would be appreciated.

 

[jokiin]

maybe post a screenshot as a starting point

 

[j_fo]

maybe post a screenshot as a starting point

Attached is the screenshot

 

[jokiin]

I get that you can't post a full res screenshot here but that will be needed to make any sort of judgment call, might be better to just upload the video to a file host and provide a link

 

[j_fo]

Not sure how to do that. I've used Google Drive and WeTransfer, but both require an email. Can you link me to a Youtube video on how to upload a video to a host file?

 

[jokiin]

upload to somewhere like mega.co.nz mediafire.com filedropper.com etc, plenty of free hosts available

 

[j_fo]

Thanks guys for your help. The wreck is at the 39 second mark. Attached is the link to download the file:

20200828_224423_EF

MediaFire is a simple to use free service that lets you put all your photos, documents, music, and video in a single place so you can access them anywhere and share them everywhere.

www.mediafire.com

 

[SawMaster]

Here's the bookmarks I've got for the topic of vid enhancement and cleaning-
https://dashcamtalk.com/forum/threa...can-make-out-license-plate.41704/#post-500432
https://dashcamtalk.com/forum/threa...es-along-with-taking-video.36187/#post-486510
https://dashcamtalk.com/forum/threads/i-wont-to-know-this-license-plat-numbers.27856/#post-321314
https://dashcamtalk.com/forum/threa...h-more-details-from-night-video-footage.8255/

Not sure they will all apply- some may cover similar information. It's just what I've saved knowing that the search engine on this site is rather useless for it's intended purpose.

Phil

 

[j_fo]

Does anyone know of someone who can take the file and determine the license plate for me? I'd be willing to pay

 

[SawMaster]

IIRC there's mention of some commercial services in one of the threads I linked to. I may look through them later for you if I have the time. Most of what is discussed there is DIY level stuff and anyone can do it.

 

[Nigel]

Does anyone know of someone who can take the file and determine the license plate for me? I'd be willing to pay

There is nothing there to be extracted, so nobody will be able to determine the plate. The plate is 100% over exposed at all times.
Do you have video from the rear? Might have better exposure.

That is a situation that needs a camera with real HDR.

 

[jokiin]

Does anyone know of someone who can take the file and determine the license plate for me? I'd be willing to pay

I don't like your chances based on that recording

 

[Nigel]

I don't like your chances based on that recording

I put the chances at zero!

While the reflection of the plate at the top of the hood is quite nicely exposed, the curvature of the hood means there is not enough resolution to be able to read anything. I just can't see any source of data, and without data nobody can do any data processing magic.

 

[estore009]

Attached is the screenshot
View attachment 53377

Hard to handle this problem for a dual-lenses dashcam!

 

[jokiin]

Hard to handle this problem for a dual-lenses dashcam!

that's not the problem, he has a camera that doesn't do well in difficult lighting situations, it's just as poor for the single channel version of these

 

[SawMaster]

Often this way with reflective plates; no cam does them well at night. Still worth trying though. I'd review frame-by-frame, selecting several of the best chances, then adjust brightness and contrast to see what you get. Even a partial number may be enough since the model of the car is clear. You can also try posting on local Facebook and Reddit groups in case another dashcammer was in the area and might have better pics.

It's not going to be an easy, fast, or certain process, and you may get nothing but without trying you WILL get nothing, so I would try.

Phil

 

[jokiin]

Often this way with reflective plates; no cam does them well at night. Still worth trying though. I'd review frame-by-frame, selecting several of the best chances, then adjust brightness and contrast to see what you get. Even a partial number may be enough since the model of the car is clear. You can also try posting on local Facebook and Reddit groups in case another dashcammer was in the area and might have better pics.

It's not going to be an easy, fast, or certain process, and you may get nothing but without trying you WILL get nothing, so I would try.

Phil

I had a look through frame by frame at native res and don't see even a hint of anything useful unfortunately

 

[SawMaster]

I had a look through frame by frame at native res and don't see even a hint of anything useful unfortunately

Probably right- I didn't look at it all. Sad that it works badly like this sometimes, but such is dashcams. Better to look for the plate numbers yourself and say them aloud so your audio recording track will have them waiting for you if you need them. And again more sad proof that using the most expensive dashcam doesn't offer you any great advantages in video quality if at all.

Insurance is your real protection; dashcams only assist in using that process

Phil

 

[j_fo]

Thanks all for your help. I drive for Uber and Lyft mostly at night. So I am dismayed that the one time I needed this $600 setup to work, it failed me. I will definitely say the license plate out loud the next time I'm in this situation. Curious...going forward, does Blackvue make a camera that would have done the job in this situation? Does any camera do this night job properly? Would the polarized lens filter have helped with the headlight reflection off license plate?

 

[kamkar]

It do indeed suck big time when you can not reap what you have sown
The issue you have here are pretty normal with reflective plates, some times you can be right behind a car and its fine other times it is utter useless.
And sadly this issue is one all dashcams face so changing camera will not do you much if any good.
Maybe the best chance is a long range camera as you can get a plate further away, but still even there the issue are still there but maybe to a lesser degree.
The trade off is a very narrow FOV, so the plate almost have to be strait in front of you.