Extensively tested in the Pro Security Warehouse lab, the Digital Watchdog DWC-LPR650 license plate (tag) camera works as well as the $3000 speciality cameras at a fraction of the cost. We were easily able to capture 100% of our test cars moving at various speeds. This camera has all of the right components to freeze the motion of a moving vehicle, reduce the glare of the tag light at night and render the brake lights and other extraneous detrimental light sources non-problematic. This high resolution camera (600 TVL) has been designed specifically for this purpose. Features include a programmable shutter to freeze the motion of a vehicle moving in excess of 50 MPH, a high power adjustable IR illuminator, externally adjustable auto iris control, programmable video adjustments, and a long range auto-iris lens. The DWC-LPR650 is equipped with flexible swivel mount, a sunshield, side access joystick for on-screen programming adjustments and can accept 12VDC (.5A) or 24VAC power. It is IP66 rated for all weather operation. Perfect for subdivisions, apartments, schools, businesses or anyone wishing to keep a video record of who is entering (or leaving) the property.

PLEASE READ THE SITE REQUIREMENTS BELOW TO MAKE SURE THIS WILL WORK FOR YOUR APPLICATION.

$675.00

EVERYTHING YOU WANTED (AND NEED) TO KNOW ABOUT RECORDING LICENSE PLATES!

PLEASE READ ON...

1. Forget everything that you have seen on the TV crime shows like CSI and 24! That is strictly Hollywood entertainment and will be pure fiction for some time to come! Sorry! That means you will not be able to zoom into a recorded scene and make the letters and numbers of a license plate magically appear from a car off in the distance. Can you capture a license plate? - YES - but there are a set of parameters that MUST be followed and you need to have the right equipment to make it work. Don't sweat it, we can help! We have been the license plate experts for 15 years.

2. 98% of all CCTV cameras and IP cameras are missing a very important feature that makes LP capture work. That is a manually adjustable (programmable) shutter speed control. This allows you to increase the speed of the camera which is necessary to "stop" the action and keep the picture sharp. Even a car travelling at a mere 5 miles per hours is traveling too fast for a standard camera to capture the image without blurring. You may see some cheap cameras advertised as "license plate cameras" but they do not have this feature and can only capture a tag if the car is completely stopped. With our system, the car can be travelling at 50 MPH and we can still get the shot.

3. Capturing a license plate at night is nearly impossible without the right setup. The brightly illuminated plate against the dark night time background will cause the plate to "flare" so the digits are solid block of white light. The right camera can compensate for this and other bright lights such as tail lights. Our tag camera has all the right features including an adjustable infrared light source that will help manage this situation by brightening the darker areas of the picture to smooth the contrast of the image. A bank of other adjustments will help you fine tune the image for your environment.

4. For the best chance of success, your placement of the camera and the layout of the roadway need to complement eachother. You should attemp to capture the plate at a location where the car is moving the at the slowest posible speed with the least amount of lateral road width. Ideally, this is at a stop sign, a gate, guardhouse, speedbump or a "T" intersection etc. The camera should be positioned 15-30 feet back from the bumper when the car is in that ideal location. The camera should be just a few feet off the side of the road at an elevation between 2.5 and 9 feet high. The lens needs to be zoomed in so that the rear bumper of the car fills the frame with no more than a foot or two extra at each end of the bumper. Having the lens "cropped" correctly will maximize the size of the letters and numbers on the plate making it easier to capture on the DVR. Can you capture fast moving cars? Yes, but it is always best with the situation as outlined above.

5. The license plate camera is for that purpose only. You will not be able to see other things in the area. This camera will not yield a description of the car, the color of the car, the driver etc. Use a second and/or third camera for that purpose. This camera is for one thing - license plates captured in one lane.

6. Other things you will need: A quality DVR capable of recording at 704x480 resolution or higher. Five images per second recording speed is a absolute minimum and "pre record" motion detection is very useful. You will need a small service monitor when you go to adjust this camera (we sell these). You can forget the "use the cell phone" approach to adjusting the camera. It won't work. Of course you will need the usual things like the proper coax cable, a sufficient power supply, a quality monitor and all the usual things that go with any normal CCTV system.

7. Will I get every tag? NO. But you should be able to get a very high percentage of them. There are many reasons why you may not get a shot. Cars or trucks towing a trailer is one example where the trailer might block the shot (but you may get the trailer's tag though). If two cars are very close together, you might miss the first car. Some buses have tags that are very high up on the rear of the vehicle and may be out of the frame. The tag light could be burned out at night and some ink combinations used by some states don't create enough contrast to get a 100% read. Here are a few of the reasons you may miss a shot but if set up your equipment up correctly, you will most likely get the rest!

More questions, please don't hesitate to call. We are here to help.