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Would a Varifocal Camera like the DS-2CD2H46G2-IZS Give me Greater Detail of Car Number Plates than my Current Fixed Turret Camera?

SVXskuse

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I am currently have a DS-2CD2347G2 4mm ColorVu camera watching over my front garden. It's a great camera. Recently one of my neighbours was robbed, we looked at the footage and saw the thieves driving off in a silver BMW. But it wasn't possible to read the number plate or identify anybody. The police looked at the footage but it's wasn't really useful to them as evidence.
The problem is that my camera is only 4mm and it's about 15 metres back from the road. There just isn't enough resolution at that distance.
So I am wondering about adding a varifocal camera next to it, zoomed in to 12mm or whatever works best. Whether I would be able to capture the number plate and possibly occupants of passing vehicles. Or would it still be a blur?
Would the DS-2CD2H46G2-IZS be suitable for this? I am not looking for ANPR features, and my budget won't stretch to the special ANPR cameras. I just want the ability to get enough detail so that future footage will be useful as evidence.
 
Hi @SVXskuse

ANPR cameras are always going to give you the best plate reading results because this is what they are designed for, a varifocal model like the 2H46G2 will allow you to narrow the focal length further than the fixed cameras and this should allow you to capture more detail. The only issue is that the 2H46 use IR LEDs for night recording and this IR light can reflect off the number plate making it hard to read. There are setting to reduce the reflection off the number plate, but if the car is not driving straight towards the camera (e.g. going around a corner or doing a u-turn) the plate can still be distorted.

So simply, a varifocal model will likely give you more detail in general but plates may still be distorted. The best solution would be a varifocal ColorVu model as that would not require the IR LEDs, but currently there are no varifocal ColorVu models available. (The Hikvision UK warehouse recently confirmed to us that they were expecting stock of the DS-2CD2747G2-LZS 4MP ColorVu Varifocal Dome around late June/Early July, if you can wait this may be your best option)
 
Thanks for the info. I'm not in any hurry, I might wait for varifocal colorvu to come out.
 
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