As technological advancements in the transportation industry have increased, so has the prevalence of license plate recognition (LPR) in a wide variety of industries. Compared to manual license plate recording methods, these systems have greatly improved the efficiency of license plate recognition processes. To learn more, here is everything you need to know about license plate recognition.
What Is License Plate Recognition?
Also known as automatic number plate recognition, license plate recognition refers to a type of advanced traffic control technology that utilizes highly intelligent software and devices to read, store, and analyze images of the license plates of various vehicles.
Key Applications of License Plate Recognition
Another thing you need to know about license plate recognition is that it has a wide variety of different applications. For example, LPR is commonly used to help speed up the flow of electronic toll collections by allowing vehicles to drive by and pay online rather than have to stop. In addition, LPR can help improve security and serve as a crime deterrent to enhance the safety of private sector industries. Highway agencies also frequently utilize LPR technology to catalogue traffic patterns and create more efficient transportation systems.
One of the more prominent uses of license plate recognition is for law enforcement purposes. License plate recognition is often used by police forces to quickly check if a vehicle is registered or licensed or identify stolen cars. Law enforcement may also use LPR technology to enforce red-light compliance even when a cop isn’t physically at the scene of a traffic violation.
How License Plate Recognition Works
The operation of license plate recognition relies heavily on the use of advanced cameras. Such cameras are positioned in areas where they can get a clear shot of a vehicle’s license plate as it passes by. Once in position, the camera captures images and video of a vehicle’s license plate. Such images are then either stored for future review or analyzed using optical character recognition software. When necessary, the images and video can be referenced against an existing collection of license plate numbers.
