I. What is ANPR

ANPR(Automatic Number Plate Recognition) is a technology that uses optical character recognition on images to read vehicle registration plates. For Milesight, the ANPR algorithm is embedded in cameras, which allows the cameras to recognize, capture and upload license plate images all alone and intelligently. 

II. Why Milesight ANPR Solution

Ø Quick Capture & Accurate Recognition

l Accurate License Plate Identification Under all kinds of conditions

l High-reliability License Plate Recognition with more than 95% high performance accuracy

1. Up to 4 Detection Regions

2. Reliable Confidence Level

3. Vehicle Direction Recognition

4. Detection Regions of PTZ

5. DACH Region Recognition

Ø Intelligent Analysis & Efficient Management

• White and Black List Management
• A Stand-alone ANPR Solution
• Fully Integrated with Milesight NVR/CMS/VMS Enterprise
• 3rd Integration: CGI

Ø Adaptable to Most Operation Requirements

• Max recognition speed 120 km/h
• Over 70 countries and regions
• Various options 

LPR 12X H.265⁺ AF Motorized Pro Bullet Network Camera

LPR 12X H.265⁺ Mini PTZ Bullet Network Camera

LPR H.265⁺ ABF Pro Box Network Camera

LPR H.265⁺ Mini Bullet Network Camera

LPR H.265⁺ Vandal-proof Motorized Mini Bullet Network Camera

LPR H.265⁺ Motorized Pro Bullet Network Camera

III. Countries/Regions that support ANPR

Currently, we have three kinds of LPR, including LPR1, LPR2 and LPR3. LPR1 is used in Asian region, LPR2 is for European region, and LPR3 is for Korea. It covers over 70 countries and regions.

LPR1:

LPR2: 

CIS (former Soviet Union)

IV. How to set ANPR with Milesight Network Cameras

1. Settings

Step1: Go to“LPR”->“Settings”，after log in the web.

Check the checkbox “Enable License Plate Recognition”, and you can draw the screen to select the areas interested. There will be shown in the blue box as below. 

[License]: A license will be automatically assigned to each device.

[License Status]: This column is used to display the status of the license, “Valid”or  “Invalid”.

[Processing Resolution]: Default resolution selected is 1280*720. You can choose different resolution according to the network environment.

[Set LPR Detection Region]: You can set up to 4 ROI areas by drawing the screen. If you choose Normal Mode, it supports configuring the LPR detection regions for the current area. If you choose Advanced Mode

(Only for PTZ series), it supports configuring different LPR detection regions for different PTZ presets(Only support Preset 1~4 so far).

[LPR Night Mode]: 

Achieve the best effect of LPR night recognition by adjusting different parameter levels. You can also schedule the Start Time and End Time, and adjusting the level according to the environment.

Step2: Schedule Settings. You can draw the schedule by clicking“Edit”button. And then click “Save” or “Reset” after finishing the setting. 

Step3: Detection Settings and LPR Message Post Settings. 

[Detection Trigger]: If you choose “Always”, camera will always detect the license plate. If you choose “Alarm input”, camera will only detect the license plates when Alarm Input is being triggered.

[Confidence Level]: You can set the confidence level from 1 to 10. When the confidence level of the license plate is higher than the set confidence level, it will push the license plate image to the logs interface.

[Repeat Plate Checktime]: Set the time interval for repeatedly reading license plates to effectively avoid duplicate identification of parking vehicles.

[License Plate Serial Format]: Formulate identification rules and automatically filter wrong license plate information to achieve more intelligent and accurate license plate recognition.

[Feature Identification]: Check Region, Direction, ROI_ID or All to enable Features Identification, it will display the corresponding information on the logs interface.

Note: Region detection only supports DACH region.

[LPR Message Post Settings]: Check the checkbox to enable LPR Message Post. It will push information to some third-party devices or software that are compatible with ours. Information can be pushed by RTSP, TCP or HTTP.

More information about LPR Message Post, please refer to Milesight-Troubleshooting-Integration between LPR Camera and NVR(VMS).

Step4: Don’t forget to click “Save” after finishing all settings.

2. List Management

Add the license plates to this interface as Black or White type (Black/White List), and then you can set the alarm action for these license plates in the corresponding Black list mode or White list mode interface. When these license plates are detected, the camera will respond to your settings accordingly. 

[Add License Plate]: Select the license plate type as black or white, enter the license plate number, click the “Add” button, the license plate number will be added successfully.

[Batch Upload]: You can add a csv file of the license plates you want to add, click the “Browse”button to import the form to this interface, click the“Upload”button, the license plates will be added successfully.

[List Search]: Select Plate Type or directly enter the license plate number, click the “Search”button, the corresponding license plate will be displayed in the list as below.

[Export List]: Click the“Export List”button to export the license plates in the current list as a csv file locally.

[Delete List]: Click the“Delete List”button to delete all the license plates

 in the current list.

3. Black /White/Visitor List Mode

Step1: Check the checkbox to enable Black List Mode.

Step2: Schedule Settings. You can draw the schedule by clicking“Edit”button.

Step3: Set Alarm Action.

4. Black/White/Visitor List Mode

We provide you three modes for better event management, which is based on two license types.

Black List Mode: Manage event for license plates in black list.

White List Mode: Manage event for license plates in white list

Visitor Mode: Manage event for those license plates do not have license type.

Steps for settings:

Step1: Enable Black List Mode/White List Mode/Visitor Mode as your demand.

Step2: Set effective time which means Mode works during that.

Step3: Set action including Audible Warning, Email Linkage, PTZ Action, Alarm Output.

5. Set ANPR Record

Step1: Set Smart Analysis as Record Type in Device -> Select NVR -> Record Schedule interface.

Step2: Enable Black List Mode / White List Mode / Visitor Mode as your demand.

Step3: Set Effective time and Trigger Channels Record action of your selected mode(Full effective time and trigger channel record are set by default). 

Then NVR will record when license plate is detected .

Note:

Generally, record action is triggered by event. If you just enable ANPR function without enabling Black List/White List/Visitor modes nor setting record action, that means you just enable the function while record action is not set. Then no record will be triggered. So it is necessary to do all above three steps if you want to trigger record action.

6. Check/Backup ANPR Logs

①　Check ANPR logs

Step1: Search on Smart Analysis interface. 

Step2: Input corresponded information and click search button  to search.

Then you will get a whole ANPR logs list. 

License plate snapshot will be shown on the logs list while the complete image video and license plate information will be shown on the left of the interface.

Step3: Click  to play the video.

②　Backup ANPR logs

Two methods are available after searching ANPR logs out .

1. Backup license plates you want.

Step1: Tick license plates you want to backup and click backup button .

Step2: Select the Export File Path, File Type, Video stream type and Video file format, then click export button.

2. Backup all.

Step1: Click backup all  button.

Step2: Select the export file type, video stream type and video file format, then click export button.

Then you will get corresponded file as selected export file type.

VII.How to set ANPR with Milesight VMS Enterprise

1.Preparation

① Refer to the NVR section

② Upgrade your VMS Enterprise to corresponded version.

VMS Enterprise: V1.3.0.0 or above

③ Only the LPR cameras added by MSSP protocol support ANPR function for VMS Enterprise.

④ Make sure that VMS Enterprise can get the license plate information. Please set TCP as Post Type which is the default mode. It can be set in the Smart Analysis -> ANPR Settings -> Detection Settings interface.

2.Detection Setting

Here the configuration of the camera web side will be automatically obtained. If the camera web side is not configured, you can configure it in the interface of VMS. After the configuration is completed, it will be synchronized to the camera web side.

Step1: Select a camera in the devices list tree, then click  button to enable Detection.

[License]: Only LPR2 and LPR3 need to enter the license to activate the LPR function.

[License Status]: Show present license status, including Valid and Invalid. When the license status changes to be valid, the camera can start detecting the license plates.

[Process Resolution]: Resolution of the stream for LPR analysis, including 1920*1280, 1280*720.

Step2: You can click  button to enable LPR Night Mode. The LPR Night Mode supports the optimal LPR night recognition effect by adjusting different parameter levels. You can choose Auto Mode which can automatically switch to night mode according to illumination intensity, or choose Customize Mode to set effective time manually.

    Auto Mode                                                         Customize Mode

Step3: You can set up to 4 ROI areas by drawing the screen. If you choose Normal Mode, it supports configuring the LPR detection regions for the current area. If you choose Advanced Mode(Only for PTZ series), it supports configuring different LPR detection regions for different PTZ presets(Only support Preset 1~4 so far).   

     Normal Mode                                   Advanced Mode (For PTZ camera)

Step4: Schedule Settings. You can draw the schedule by clicking button, and then click  button after finishing the settings. 

Step5: Set Detection Settings and LPR Message Post Settings.

  Detection Settings                                             LPR Message Post Settings

[Detection Trigger]: If you choose “Always”, camera will always detect the license plates. If you choose “Alarm Input”, camera will only detect the license plates during Alarm Input is being triggered.

[Confidence Level]: You can set the confidence level from 1 to 10. When the confidence level of the license plate is higher than the set confidence level, it will push the license plate image to the ANPR Search interface.

[Repeat Plate Checktime]: Set the time interval for repeatedly reading the license plates to effectively avoid duplicate identification of parking vehicles.

[License Plate Serial Format]: Formulate identification rules and automatically filter wrong license plates information to achieve more intelligent and accurate license plate recognition.

[Features Identification]: Check All, Direction, Direction Region or Region(Only for LPR2) to enable Features Identification, and the corresponding information will be displayed in the ANPR Search interface.

[Enable LPR Message Post]: Click  button to enable LPR Message Post. It will push information to some third-party devices or software that are compatible with ours. 

[Post Type]: Information can be pushed by RTSP, TCP or HTTP.

[HTTP Method]: There are two HTTP push methods: Post and Get.

[Snapshot Type]: Three kinds of snapshot can be chosen: All, License Plate and Full Snapshot. When you choose All, License Plate Snapshot and Full Snapshot will be pushed.

Note: This option is available just for Post HTTP Method.

[HTTP Notification URL]: The camera can use the API URL to send LPR information to other devices when the license plate is recognized. The API URL format is defined by the HTTP Server.

[User Name]: User name for HTTP Server.

[Password]: Password for HTTP Server.

[Camera LPR Port]: This option is available for TCP Post type.

Step6: Click  button to apply all settings.

3.ANPR Preview

After enabling Detection in the ANPR Settings -> Detection Setting interface, you can click  button in the right Function Panel, and the real-time license plate information will be shown on the right of the interface once it is detected.

The license plate information includes Plate Snapshot, Device Name, IP, License Plate Number, Detected Time and Plate Type. 

Two License types: 

---- License plate from Black List

---- License plate from White List

No License plate type will be shown if the license plate does not exist in Black/White list.

You can right click on the ANPR notification push window to pop up a menu, and choose to add the license plate to White or Black List in the VMS system. If the license plate has already existed in the White or Black List of VMS system, then you can choose to change its type or delete the license plate from White or Black List.

Besides, you can click the license plate information to check the 20s video. (20s = the pre 10s + the post 10s of the license plate event)

Note:

Make sure that correct record schedule settings is made or the ANPR event rules are set to trigger recording, so that you can check the record in the ANPR Preview Panel. You can refer to 7(1) for operation steps.

4.List Management

Add the license plates as Black/White List as needed in the interface, and the license plates without the set types are the visitors. After enabling license plate recognition, VMS Enterprise will automatically receive the recognition result sent by the Milesight cameras and compare it with the black and white list added in VMS Enterprise.

1) Add license plates

You can choose either of the below two ways to add the license plates. 

a. Add license plates one by one 

Step1: Click button to pop up a Add Plate window, then input the license plate and select the license plate type as black or white list, and click  button.

Step2: Repeat the Step1 to add other license plates manually.

b. Batch import license plates 

Step1: Click button to pop up a Import Plates window. The imported file must be filled in according to the specified format. You can click  button to download the template.

Step2: After filling in, click button to import the plates file, then click  button.

After successful import, you can click  button to modify the corresponding license plate and plate type.

Note: 

• l The format of the imported license plates file must be csv. 
• l The CSV must be saved in UTF-8 encoding format.
• l A license plate can’t be repeatedly added to the plate list. 
• l Maximum quantity of license plates added in the list is 10000. 

2) Search license plates

You can select the plate types including All, Black List and White List, or directly enter the license plate number, and click the “Search” button, then the corresponding license plates will be displayed in the list below. 

Note: The text searched is a case-insensitive contiguous string.

In addition, you can click button to refresh the license plate list. And click  button to cancel the filter for the license plate list.

3) Export license plates

You can click  button to export the license plates in the current list to a csv form locally. If you filter the license plate list, only the filtered list will be exported.

4) Delete license plates

Click  button to delete all the license plates in the current list. If you filter the license plate list, only the filtered list will be deleted. You can also click button to delete the corresponding license plate.

5.Black List/White List/Visitor Detection

Here you can set effective detection schedules for different detection modes, including Black List Detection, White List Detection and Visitor Detection. Only when the detection is enabled and the corresponding schedule is set, the corresponding detection results will be saved and can be viewed in the ANPR Search interface.

Step1: Click button to enable the function, and then click  button to edit the schedule.

Step2: Click  button to apply the settings.

Step3: If you want to set related actions for ANPR trigger, you can refer to Method2 of 7(1) for operation steps. Then the set actions will be triggered once the corresponding license plate type is detected.

Step4: Once the ANPR event rules which you set take effect, you can check the ANPR event information in the Logs -> Event Logs interface. The event logs contain the event information about Date/Time, Event, Source, Action, Target and Details.

You can set filter condition as you need. In addition, if there is a recording video information about event, then you can click  button to check the event video.

6.ANPR Search

When the Black List/White List/Visitor Detection is enabled and the corresponding schedule is set, and the storage disk is enabled, you can view the corresponding detection results in the ANPR Search interface.

Step1: Check the cameras in the devices list tree, and select the plate type or directly enter the license plate number. 

Step2: Select Start Time and End Time, and click  button. Then the related license plate information will be displayed as below.

Click  button to show Thumbnail Mode.

Click  button to switch to List Mode.

Step3: Click on the thumbnail photo in Thumbnail Mode or license plate row in List Mode under the searched results, then the license plate details will be shown as below. If there is a recording video about the license plate recognition, then you can click button to play the video or click  button to play the video in the playback interface.

Note:

Make sure that correct record schedule settings is made or the ANPR event rules are set to trigger recording, so that you can check the record in the ANPR Search interface. You can refer to 7(1) for operation steps.

Step4: You can click  button to backup the ANPR files you want to a local folder.

Step5: After setting the backup file destination, type and format, click button to start the file backup. You can click  button to check task backup situation as below.

Note: 

The backup file of Plate List is csv format.

7.Set/Check ANPR Record

Before checking recording files, please make sure that you have proceed correct settings to make record action work.

Note: 

In the Settings -> System & Servers -> Server Settings -> Storage Management interface, make sure you enable the storage disk you are interested in to store recordings and images of VMS system.

(1) Set Recording

There are two methods to set the ANPR record.

Method1: The record schedule settings.

Step1: Select a camera in the devices list tree in the Settings -> Devices -> Camera Record Schedule -> Schedule interface, then click  button to enable Continuous Recording.

Step2: Set the Schedule, and then click button to apply the settings.

Method2: Set the ANPR event rules to trigger recording.

Step1: Click  button to add the ANPR event rules in the Settings -> System & Servers -> Event Rule Settings interface.

Step2: Then select the trigger type as ANPR, set the source of trigger, and select the detection mode as your demand. And set the schedule and the Do Recording action. After setting the event rules, click button.

Step3: Then the event rules will be added to the event rule list. Click button to apply the event rules. The recording is triggered when the corresponding license plate type is detected. 

Note:

Make sure the corresponding detection mode is enabled and the detection schedule is set. You can refer to 5 for operation steps.

(2) Check Recording

a. Playback 

Step1: Select the camera in the Playback interface, click button to select the time. 

Step2: You can check Show Event Mask to select the ANPR event, then the ANPR event videos will be displayed in the corresponding color.

Step3: Select the continuous recording or ANPR event recordings searched out on the time bar to play.

b. ANPR Preview

Click the license plate information to check the 20s video. (20s = the pre 10s + the post 10s of the license plate event)

c. ANPR Search

Click  button to check the latest 20 seconds video or click  button to play the video in the playback interface. (20s = the pre 10s + the post 10s of the license plate event)

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