Automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) is a surveillance and access control method that uses optical character recognition in images to read vehicle license plates in the UK. As of 2005, systems can scan license plates approximately once per second on vehicles with speeds up to 100 mph. ANPR camera stands for Automatic Number Plate Recognition and is a term generally used to describe a program that uses images from an LPR camera and recognizes alphanumeric characters on license plates. You can then store them in a database or relate them to records in a database.

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ANPR camera: Overview

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that running red lights costs society $14 billion annually in accidents, injuries and infrastructure damage, while carbon emissions increase significantly due to traffic jams that last for hours.

ANPR camera for traffic lights

The systems for verifying compliance with light signals, also known as photo-red, are control systems aimed at reinforcing compliance with the order to stop vehicles when the red phase of the traffic light remains active and record a sequence of images through, usually, two cameras, one dedicated to capturing the context of the infraction: vehicle + traffic light and another ANPR system, focused on detail and license plate reading.

High speed ANPR camera

These devices are capable of capturing images of vehicles with the aim of capturing the patent of each vehicle even at high speed (up to 255 km/h) 158.5 mph are located in fixed locations and in a way that enables the connection and exchange of information of standardized form with one or several Vehicular Control Centers and processing of complaints. ANPR camera UK systems are generally associated with other complementary devices, such as: sensors that detect the passage of vehicles through the stop line or the status of the traffic light cycle, a clock that controls the date and time of the system, and a processing unit that manages the information.

ANPR camera for automatic access in residences

These devices are of renewed use for access control in a guardhouse for a residential area in the UK, since thanks to their artificial intelligence they detect the resident’s car plate, take a photograph and analyze the plate number within a database to check the status of the same, if the license plate is on a white list which consists of the active users, it will send a pulse to release the vehicle bar automatically. If the camera detects the plate in the blacklist of inactive users, it will not release the vehicle bar and the resident will be forced to get out of his car to manually release it by pressing a button.

Hikvision ANPR technology for safer traffic in the UK

Hikvision’s ANPR camera recognition technology, compatible with a wide range of traffic management solutions, improves safety and speeds up responses to traffic incidents and crimes on highways in the UK. 

Every day new mobility and transport models are discovered and there are more and more vehicles on the road, both in towns and cities throughout the world, which increases the complexity of already overloaded urban traffic systems. 

On the one hand, vehicles have represented an increase in productivity to move people and goods, but on the other hand they have generated a series of inconveniences, such as premature deaths due to road accidents or respiratory diseases. 

Improving security technology supports the development and economic growth of all the countries in the region. Authorities around the world today are beginning to look to smart technologies such as ANPR CCTV camera Hikvision to help people travel faster and safer. 

Hikvision ANPR camera

Hikvision ANPR CCTV system (Automatic Number Plate Recognition) technology captures the vehicle’s license plate in real time and compares or adds it to a predefined list. 

Once the license plate number is recognized and stored, an appropriate action is taken, such as opening a door, adding a cost, or generating an alert. 

They are extremely accurate, recognize a much larger number of car license plates and are much more efficient than conventional systems. 

Hikvision ANPR camera car recognition feature uses a deep learning algorithm to distinguish between small and large vehicles, with the added ability to detect model and colour. The system can be programmed to look for anomalies such as cars traveling in designated bus lanes or vehicles driving without license plates, for example.

The cameras can be managed autonomously, without the need for a special NVR, only a micro-SD memory must be used to load the photographs of the plates and make the integration.

Benefits and operability

ANPR cameras can be used in all the facilities where it is necessary to control, monitor and keep a record of the vehicles that pass through the access. The ANPR system, in general, is one of the parking surveillance and control modalities with the greatest benefits as follows:

Cameras

They are placed at each entrance and exit where vehicle license plate recognition is required. Upon receiving a signal of the presence of a car, the cameras capture between one and five shots of the license plate, which are processed in the database and analyzed by the recognition algorithm, obtaining the resulting patent from each one. The information is then stored in software and can be accessed whenever required.

Software

The ANPR system also includes high-end software for closed-circuit license plate recognition, which takes care of the task of collecting the photographs taken by the reading points and, secondly, allows each of the characters to be identified alphanumeric in real time by OCR technology.

Why is license plate reading useful?

As part of vehicular and pedestrian access control, ANPR cameras manage to capture images of car license plates, read and interpret them. Then, they send said captures to a computer that has license plate recognition technology, this is interpreted and converted into data, which facilitates the search for stolen vehicles, and improves parking management and security in access areas.

Where can an ANPR camera be used?

The ANPR camera price is very affordable and the uses of this system are very extensive and can include general parking, toll control, motorway speed calculation, border controls, customer access management at service stations, as a recognition tool for police vehicles, in industrial zones, weighing trucks, in residential complexes and private urbanizations, in shopping centers and in registration of access to tunnels, populations, entrance and exit of ports and airports.

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