Arlo Pro 5S 2K Video Quality Poor

[JacobWest]

I have just got a Arlo Pro 5S 2K camera set up to record the front of my house and most importantly my car. There's a school on the opposite side of our street, so with families coming and going dropping kids off, there's always some cars that get scratched and opened doors into them. I was hoping with a 2K camera, I would be able to record number plates, but honestly the quality is terrible.... The picture below is not even zoomed in, signal is strong, battery is plenty charged, I've reset it and nothing really works.  

[JacobWest]

[Edinburgh_lad1]

Can't see your attachments until mods approve. However, the quality on Arlo recordings dropped a few years ago. Even though they're 4k, 2k, HD etc, the number of frames in such recordings is lower than before, making the detail in recordings less clearer. 

[JacobWest]

Thanks for the comment, I just don't see a use for them if they can't product a clear picture? 

[StephenB]

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@JacobWest  wrote:

I was hoping with a 2K camera, I would be able to record number plates,

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Although I believe Arlo should increase the bit rates in their recordings, that is not the problem here.

As you found, license plate capture isn't possible with a 2K or 4K camera with a wide field of view. Reading the numbers on a license plate requires about 100 pixels per foot (which is about the width of a license plate in most countries). If you estimate the pixel count across the license plates in your capture, you'll find you have a lot less than that.

There are specialized cameras for this application - generally they have a much narrower field of view, so they won't cover your entire street. They often capture at a high frame rate to reduce motion blur. They are intended for toll gates, etc.

[Edinburgh_lad1]

Ultra is slightly better, though not much. I don't think it'd be worth the spend, as you'd need to invest in a SmartHub, too. My ultra is probably in the same position as yours and can see the number plates but it's a struggle, too. 

There are some tests of cameras on YouTube and on the net in general. I wonder if they might be more helpful to you? You'd need to pay attention to the year of publication because there have been some changes to the quality of footage on Arlo cameras, affecting footage quality. @StephenB can tell you all about that.

Also, if you buy online, you can return a product under the distance selling regulations here in the UK if its quality doesn't fit the bill. Amazon is normally very good with returns (it's never a problem with anything with Amazon and that's why I love it), but Currys can be a bit of a challenge.

I wonder if you could narrow down your choice to a couple and test. Not very ethical to order and test, and to return, but if companies would be seriously transparent from the outset, they'd be more successful, not to mention having the customer's/customers' trust.

[StephenB]

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@Edinburgh_lad1 wrote:

Ultra is slightly better, though not much.

Generally you need about 75-100 pixels across the license plate (which is about one foot wide) to read it clearly.  That assumes good lighting, etc.  A 4K camera needs to be placed so that the entire field of view is at most 50 feet across at the plane of the vehicle.  With the 2K cameras, that drops to about 35 feet across.  Those numbers assume ideal conditions, and that the camera is aimed directly at (and perpendicular to) the license plate.  In the real world, you want a smaller field of view - often set to the width of one lane of traffic.

Resolution is not the only factor either.  Lighting can be a big challenge too, especially at night with headlight glare.  If the car is moving, there is also motion blur to consider.  Arlo cameras use a slow frame rate (24 fps), so there is a lot of motion blur even if the car is moving fairly slowly.

If you really need to read the license plates reliably, you should get an LPC/LPR camera that is designed specifically for that application.  Arlo doesn't make one, and their cameras simply aren't suited for that purpose.