Camera Positioning

Camera placement and angle recommendations

When setting up your camera, try to capture the license plate at as direct an angle as possible. Accuracy degrades beyond a 30° horizontal or vertical angle. If possible, mount the camera high enough and angle it slightly downward to avoid direct headlight/taillight glare.

Using a longer-range camera lens (zoomed-in) to narrow the field of view is one way to reduce the angle. For example, pointing a zoomed-in camera parallel to the road will provide better results than aiming a wider-angle lens more perpendicularly.

1

Choose angle and height

• Capture the plate as close to a direct (perpendicular) view as possible.

• Prefer mounting the camera high and angled slightly downward to:

  • Reduce direct headlight/taillight glare

  • Reduce solar/roof/hood/boot glare

• Try to keep capture angles less than 30° for best accuracy; up to 40° is acceptable but performance degrades as angle increases.

2

Select lens / field of view

• Use a longer-range (zoom) lens to reduce the horizontal/vertical angle to the plate.

• A zoomed-in camera pointed parallel to the road usually outperforms a wider-angle camera pointed more perpendicularly.

3

Ensure enough pixels on target

• Mount the camera at a maximum range of 40 pixels per foot (131 pixels per meter).

  • Calculation: horizontal camera resolution ÷ 40 = maximum distance in feet

  • Or horizontal camera resolution ÷ 131 = maximum distance in meters

• Use the camera’s pixel counter (see Focus & Zoom settings) to verify:

  • At least 100 horizontal pixels for USA plates (150 for EU)

  • At least 80 vertical pixels on the plate

Keep the capture angle less than 40° horizontally and vertically — the smaller the angle, the better the results.

Illustrations

Mount the camera high and angled slightly downward to avoid glare

Maximum Vertical Angle

Maximum Horizontal Angle

Ideal Horizontal Angle

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