TL;DR: Videoloft turns regular CCTV cameras into an affordable license plate recognition system using AI, enabling vehicle tracking and parking management without expensive specialized equipment.
As camera and AI technology continues to advance, we’re seeing more practical applications for video analytics. License Plate Recognition (LPR) technology is a standout example, revolutionizing the way we approach vehicle identification and management. But you might be wondering, what exactly is License Plate Recognition, and how does it work? Here we break down the essentials of LPR technology and explore its various applications.
What is LPR?
License Plate Recognition (LPR) also known as Automatic License Plate Recognition (ALPR) in the US and Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) in the UK, is a technology that uses that uses optical character recognition software and cameras to automatically read and record vehicle license plates.
Until now, many businesses have steered clear of LPR due to its traditional requirements – expensive, high-resolution cameras built solely for plate recognition. This was simply beyond the budget of many businesses.
How does LPR at Videoloft work?
At Videoloft, we’ve developed AI-driven LPR software that can transform your existing CCTV set up into an LPR system. By leveraging our cloud AI expertise, we’ve made LPR both accessible and affordable while adding smart features to the cameras you already own.
Our LPR technology involves a 6 step process:
1. Multiple still frames are extracted from each second of video.
The frames are analyzed to select the best for reading the license plate.
2. Advanced AI identifies various vehicle types from across the world.
It recognises different vehicles like cars, trucks, and motorcycles.
3. Smart movement tracking determines which vehicles are new and moving.
This prevents the system from reading stationary vehicles.
4. Zone-based detection checks against user-defined areas.
Only vehicles in user-specified areas are included, if applicable.
User detection zone using Videoloft LPR
5. The best frames are sent to Plate Recognizer.
An industry leading plate recognition algorithm.
6. Plate Recognizer processes the plates ensuring accurate reading.
It accurately reads plates from over 90 countries with a wide variety of different formats.
If you want to learn more about how Videoloft LPR works, you can read our full blog here.
Why use LPR?
License Plate Recognition technology can provide detailed insights into vehicle traffic at your site. It’s used for various purposes, from monitoring who comes and goes to optimizing operations. Here’s some examples of what LPR can help with…
Finding evidence
With LPR the time consuming task of watching hours of CCTV footage to find the incident is eliminated. An LPR dashboard, like Videoloft’s, allows you to quickly find video evidence in the case of an incident.
You can use the search bar to look for a specific license plate, color, make or model. This speeds up the process of tracking down relevant evidence for investigations or reporting, making it an invaluable tool for security teams and management.
Vehicle alerting
LPR systems can be employed in secured facilities to control vehicle access or alert when unknown vehicles enter your site.
By adding known license plates to a list you can set alerting conditions for any vehicle outside of the list.
This can be useful for preventing unauthorized parking, restricting access to sensitive areas, or tracking the movement of vehicles in and out of high-security zones.
Parking management
Videoloft’s LPR solution is ideal for car park management. By monitoring vehicles at entry and exit points, the system provides real-time data on the number of vehicles in the car park at any given moment. This helps track not only how many cars are in the carpark, but also how many vehicles leave because there are no available spaces. This insight helps businesses identify parking demand patterns, including peak usage times during the day or week.
With this information, businesses can adjust parking strategies, such as optimising space allocation or implementing dynamic pricing during high-demand periods. Additionally, knowing when the car park is at full capacity allows operators to better manage staffing levels during peak times, improving operational efficiency and the overall customer experience.
Concerns
- Privacy:
Whilst LPR systems do involve the collection and storage of personal data, all license plate data stored by Videoloft is stored using the highest encryption standards in AWS’s cloud. You can read more about Videoloft’s strict security standards here.
With Videoloft’s flexible Storage plans you can choose how long data is stored for.
Additionally, access to stored data can be restricted to authorized personnel only, further protecting individuals privacy. This means within your business you have control over your data and can give and withdraw access to individuals at any given point.
- Cost:
Unlike many LPR systems that are expensive to implement and maintain, Videoloft offers an affordable and scalable solution. Instead of requiring costly hardware, it allows seamless integration with your existing CCTV cameras, making advanced license plate recognition more accessible.
The system is easy to scale, meaning you can start with a small setup and expand as needed, making it a cost-effective solution for your business looking to improve vehicle tracking and security.
Conclusion
License Plate Recognition (LPR) technology is transforming the way businesses and organizations manage their vehicle access, parking and security. With Videoloft’s AI-Driven LPR solution, you can easily upgrade your existing CCTV system to provide powerful vehicle tracking and automated insights.
Next Steps
If you’re looking at setting LPR up, but don’t want to fork out for an expensive set of specialized cameras, Videoloft LPR might be perfect for you.
Find out how Videoloft lets you turn your existing camera setup into an LPR system.
Check out our free demo, or if you’re ready to upgrade your system head here for a free trial.
