License Plates Blurred

[light487]

Please refer to attached image.

Everything else in the images are reasonably clear. I can make out details of the car and other objects. However, regardless of the angle, distance or lighting, the licence plate is always blurred in recordings. I haven't tried it in live view yet, but the whole point of a security camera is when you're not there.

It's almost like the software is blurring the license plate on purpose, like Google Street view does.

Anyone else experiencing this? That is, everything else is reasonably clear but important things like plate numbers are blurred.. and not just a little blurred.. completely blurred.

[steve_t]

Strange. What does your licence plate look like unblurred?
My Pro 2 camera can resolve a licence plate up to about 25 feet when it suddenly goes from readable to blurry. I do run all my cameras in Best Video quality though. What video quality setting are yours set to?

[AncientGeek]

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@light487 wrote:
Please refer to attached image.

Everything else in the images are reasonably clear. I can make out details of the car and other objects. However, regardless of the angle, distance or lighting, the licence plate is always blurred in recordings. I haven't tried it in live view yet, but the whole point of a security camera is when you're not there.

It's almost like the software is blurring the license plate on purpose, like Google Street view does.

Anyone else experiencing this? That is, everything else is reasonably clear but important things like plate numbers are blurred.. and not just a little blurred.. completely blurred.

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The image you provided just looks like an exposure issue to me.  The headlight is on and most likely lowered the exposure level, causing the license plate to be underexposed.  Arlo doesn't have HDR, so the brighest object wins the exposure.  

[light487]

Yes, set to best.

[light487]

Thanks. I will try some more tests with it.

[gregoryd73]

Same issue here. I've had the camera for just over 1 year now looking at the driveway and it will not capture license plates, even 30 feet from the lens ... always blurred. I've tried everything I can find that might effect this, including setting the video to "best". The camera is plugged-in all the time, so no low battery issues. It just will NOT capture license plates. I would appreciate a response to this, suggestions, etc.

[gregoryd73]

Yes! I've had other cameras that capture a license plate the far end of the driveway, 50 feet away. This one will not capture a plate at 30 feet ... a big problem!

[Joenikki]

Had a car prowler rob us. His car was parked 26 feet from a Arlo 2 and could not capture license plate because it is unreadable. The reflective properties of the plate blurred it out. Police would not help because no license plate info. Obviously I am not impressed with Arlo but I have them so will use them. At least they capture harmless wildlife.

[jguerdat]

You have the same problem with high beams in rain or snow - reflection is a problem. It's after the fact now but some additional off-axis lighting may be the answer, whether normal exterior lighting or an IR spotlight (lots listed on Amazon - look for 850nM ones).

[gregoryd73]

The problem with not capturing license plates occurs in daylight as well. Will the new expensive 4k camera capture license plates, or is this a problem with all Arlo cameras? Arlo engineers need to look at this issue for driveway security.

[jguerdat]

First, you have to realize that a 1080p camera is only 2 megapixels. Then understand that the lens takes in 130 degrees (actually a bit more) of view which is comparable to a 10mm full frame DSLR fisheye lens. Now compress the video to save bandwidth and storage space. 

Download some fisheye lens images from the Internet and use software to resize them to 1920x1080 pixels. Save them with some decent comprtession. Zoom in and see how much detail you see.

The only fix is higher resolution, longer focal lengths and maybe less compression. The Ultra is an 8Mp sensor so helps with resolution but then covers 180 degrees. Fortunately, there are setting for Wide (155 degrees) and Full (120) and it's said that use of extra pixels on the sensor maintains a true 4K image at all settings so may be useful to help pick out details that the other cameras would not be able to provide.

Edit: One other thing that would help is moving the camera closer to problem areas. Of course, that's not always practical.

[gregoryd73]

Thank you for the technical details of this issue ... it really helps to understand why my other two cameras work so well to capture the detail I need. They are 1080p with a narrower field, now I get it.

Okay Arlo ... the challenge to you is to produce a model that captures the width of a driveway (30 feet?), 30-foot motion detection, IR night vision, connects to my hub system, and will capture a license plate image at 30-40 feet. PS: I love the fact that your cameras don't have cabling affixed to them like most of the other brands (power, reset, network, etc).

[steve_t]

You probably want an Arlo Ultra 4K camera but be aware it requires a subscription to have cloud recording AND an additional subscription to have 4K cloud recording

[PGKIX]

License plates require a special camera because of the reflective material in the license plate.