topic Re: What is the ideal distance to capture a license plate? in Arlo Ultra

What is the ideal distance to capture a license plate?

mikejd1 — Sun, 14 Apr 2019 12:22:49 GMT

So I have an Arlo ultra pointing directly at my driveway and it is about 12 feet up onto my house. I have been testing this unit by pulling into my driveway and leaving my driveway and every single video including downloading the video to my Photos app it is 100% unreadable On the license plate. What gives?

Re: What is the ideal distance to capture a license plate?

TomMac — Sun, 14 Apr 2019 13:28:52 GMT

Most of the Arlo cameras are "activity cameras" and not meant to read plates at a distance.... esp if in 1080p.

That said, have you tried it in 4k mode? The plates are readable at a better distance then standard viewing.

Re: What is the ideal distance to capture a license plate?

mikejd1 — Sun, 14 Apr 2019 13:37:21 GMT

Thanks for your response but it makes no sense to me. The reason it makes no sense because Arlo has specifically in their marketing and selling materials the license plate view.

I do have super wide angle selected so I changed it to full view to test it. I also have auto HDR and 4K set yes.

Re: What is the ideal distance to capture a license plate?

TomMac — Sun, 14 Apr 2019 13:44:50 GMT

Yes 4 K is set, but are you viewing in 4k....?

If you can on a device, a 4K icon and home network icon show. ... Or off the mem card

Re: What is the ideal distance to capture a license plate?

mikejd1 — Sun, 14 Apr 2019 13:47:34 GMT

I’m on the same network yes I have a 4K icon at the top left-hand corner in the house icon shows

Re: What is the ideal distance to capture a license plate?

TomMac — Sun, 14 Apr 2019 13:55:21 GMT

Since your seeing 4K ,have you tried to zoom in a bit on the plate?

Re: What is the ideal distance to capture a license plate?

brh — Sun, 14 Apr 2019 14:36:32 GMT

I am not sure of the resolution strictly over wi-fi, (computer, laptop, iPad, etc.) but I think one must look at the recordings on the SD card to really see the 4k resolution. If I am wrong, someone correct me.

Brian

Re: What is the ideal distance to capture a license plate?

st_shaw — Sun, 14 Apr 2019 15:06:59 GMT

Exactly how far is the car from the base of the wall the camera is mounted on?

Theoretically, you need about 200 pixels/meter to read license plates. With the Ultra's 180-degree lens, that means the maximum distance will be around 20 feet. If the camera is 12 feet high, the car needs to be no farther than 16 feet from the wall the camera is on. That's pretty close.

Because of the high level of compression used in Arlo cameras, you would need to be even closer than that. Motion or low light will reduce the range even more.

Setting the Ultra to a narrower field of view setting might help a little. If you really want to capture readable license plates, especially at night, you'll need a conventional IP camera that let's you manually control the image capture settings, and with a narrow field of view.

Re: What is the ideal distance to capture a license plate?

NoPlatesAt4K — Sun, 04 Aug 2019 18:44:57 GMT

Same here. Is this false advertising or what. I specifically bought this for the “reads plates feature” and it does not at any distance. I have the 4K icon on top left of my screen on SAME WIFI NETWORK. Hub is close to cameras. 500Mb download and 250Mb Upload Speeds on my home wifi.

Perfect sunny day moved my car closer and closer and doesnt read jack!! I am really dissapointed and frustrated. Add the horrible Tech support people I have a hard time understanding. I will never again trust Arlo or Netgear advertising (or the Sponsored Youtube reviewers). Very angry!

Re: What is the ideal distance to capture a license plate?

catemp — Sun, 04 Aug 2019 21:38:57 GMT

The license plate thing is pure marketing. I’ve been annoyed by it too.

Homekit, zWave, the list goes on for things Arlo has advertised and not delivered.

Re: What is the ideal distance to capture a license plate?

HowCome — Tue, 06 Aug 2019 07:48:19 GMT

I've just installed the Ultra kit today, and am also disappointed about what seems to be the blatant false advertisement of the license plate feature. A car in the photo is about 20 ft away from the camera and the plate is unredable in "4K". I truly hope this will be fixed soon, or I am returning this thing for refund after wasting all day installing it. Not happy!

Re: What is the ideal distance to capture a license plate?

glennman — Sun, 29 Sep 2019 17:57:55 GMT

I can’t read a license plate in 4K mode. And the car is only about 25 feet away. Options seems to all be set to 4K. I’ve cleaned the lens. Am I missing something? Maybe an optical zoom is what’s needed? Am really disappointed.

73,
Glennman

Re: What is the ideal distance to capture a license plate?

st_shaw — Sun, 29 Sep 2019 18:24:21 GMT

Please review my post above. Twenty five feet would be too far under ideal conditions. License plate capture is a pretty tough application. Make sure your viewing method is actually providing 4K. You can download a clip and verify the resolution.

Re: What is the ideal distance to capture a license plate?

LandJS — Sun, 29 Sep 2019 23:57:36 GMT

The issue isn't whether IR does it better or even are you viewing it in 4K which is only possible on your own network or via additional subscription. It's simply that it is sold and advertised as one of it's features to sell you cameras. Don't advertise it that way and there is no issue. It's not, license plate only in 4K under perfect conditions and a few feat away. It's a crystal clear pic of a license plate intended to make a sale. Certainly not just Arlo and I say this about all who advertise in this way.

Re: What is the ideal distance to capture a license plate?

glennman — Mon, 30 Sep 2019 00:28:38 GMT

Awesome response. Thx. A shame that the field of view can’t even be narrower for situations where license capture is desired!

Re: What is the ideal distance to capture a license plate?

catemp — Mon, 30 Sep 2019 01:13:08 GMT

5 to 6 feet seems to be the range for license plates. If the person robbing you stops in the street and not in front of the camera these are pretty worthless.

File your complaint with the FTC. That’s what I did. If enough do it then maybe you’ll see some traction.

Re: What is the ideal distance to capture a license plate?

st_shaw — Mon, 07 Oct 2019 03:33:04 GMT

Today in good lighting I can read my car's license plate at a distance of 34 feet from my Ultra. That's with the car stopped in the driveway.

Re: What is the ideal distance to capture a license plate?

LandJS — Mon, 07 Oct 2019 06:26:31 GMT

I would love to get that, is there somewhere we could meet up to swap a couple cameras. Mine looks like the pic HowCome posted. At 12 ft I can read it if I zoom in on the plate itself but still not like the pic advertised in anyway. At 18 feet even zooming won't do it. I only need two that can if you have them lol

Re: What is the ideal distance to capture a license plate?

st_shaw — Mon, 07 Oct 2019 13:59:54 GMT

I can only read the plate if I view a video from the library and zoom in on the plate. And, the video must be created from a motion trigger. Manual recordings are not 4K, so I have to walk out near the car to trigger the recording. The resolution streaming local live 4K on an iPhone isn't good enough to read the plate for some reason.

Re: What is the ideal distance to capture a license plate?

jsturess — Tue, 08 Oct 2019 06:58:13 GMT

Manual recording not in 4K? where do you find that information?