Camera is 25ft from road. Any way to get clearer video at night to identify license #?

[Nanlee]

My camera is aprox 25 ft from the road, it is important to capture good clear video of cars on the road. Is there a way to get clearer video at night or to improve when we zoom in it gets blurry and we need to be able to identify  a licence # etc.

[jguerdat]

Nighttime video quality would require additional external lighting. The IR LEDs in the camera are adequate to a point but 25 feet is pushing it as well as the camera's need to switch to B&W due to the low light level. You could use a motion-detection external light, one of the Arlo security lights, or one of the newer Arlo cameras that have a spotlight to help. You could really ramp up the lighting by using one of the new Pro 3 floodlights.

However, none are likely going to get you license plate numbers at 25 feet due to the very wide angle lens and compression. The only way to reasonably get those is by getting the camera closer to the plate and by using good lighting so the image stays in color. Higher resolution helps but only to a point, given the even wider angle of view used by those cameras.