Dashcams and license plate recognition

[Quartz]

Is license plate recognition something that could be built into dashcams? Is it particularly computationally intensive? Picking out a plate number after the video has gone through lossy compression is often problematic, so if it were done beforehand, it would be most useful.

I'm not asking for full ANPR like the police have but just something that will recognise and decode the numberplates on the cars on screen, perhaps listing them at the top of the video, so we don't have to struggle.

 

[Quartz]

Why?

Why not?

Why are you picking out other people's numberplates from video frequently enough for this to be 'often problematic' for you?

I've just been watching some dashcam videos.

 

[Quartz]

Why not leave automatic recognition of private citizens numberplates to the police? Why do you want to be able to record so much information about total strangers?

Because the quality of the compressed video is so poor. If ANPR is done by the camera itself it will be operating on the higher-quality uncompressed video.

 

[Quartz]

It's not the video compression, it's the camera itself as already stated.

That is not true.

The only compression "issues" are when people upload their inane clips (usually the camera driver is in the wrong anyway) to YouTube and the likes.

You should try looking at the recordings from your own dashcam.

 

[Quartz]

I don't have a dashcam because I'm not a plank.

Then I hope you're not involved in an accident.

 

[Quartz]

In the event of a crash I’m pretty sure it would focus the mind to remember a 7 digit registration plate.

But could you remember 2 or 3 of them?

 

[Quartz]

Ive never been hit by 3 cars but yeah, I think so.

I wasn't thinking of being hit by 3 cars but of the situation where one car crashes into another or swerves to avoid another and setting off a chain of events.

 

[Quartz]

How many scams have you been caught up in but saved by the dashcam?

It was a thing up here - on the A90 in particular - and killed stone dead by dashcams.

 

[Quartz]

And this thread shows why we need numberplate recognition.