Milestone LPR 1.0 User Manual

Milestone Systems

XProtect® LPR 1.0

Administrator's Manual

Milestone XProtect® LPR 1.0

Administrator's Manual

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Contents

PRODUCT OVERVIEW ..................................................................... 5

MINIMUM SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS ........................................................................ 6

LPR LICENSES ................................................................................................... 6

ABOUT XPROTECT LPR...................................................................................... 7

LPR FAQs .............................................................................................................................. 8

COMPATIBILITY ................................................................................................... 8

REIMPLEMENT - DO NOT UPGRADE ....................................................................... 9

IMPORTANT PREREQUISITES ................................................................................ 9

INSTALL XPROTECT LPR ............................................................. 10

LPR SERVERS, SOURCES AND LISTS ......................................... 11

VIEW LPR SERVER INFORMATION ...................................................................... 11

ADD NEW LPR CAMERA ................................................................ .................... 12

LPR camera settings .......................................................................................................... 14

How to reduce CPU load in LPR ....................................................................................... 20

WORKING WITH LICENSE PLATE LISTS ................................................................. 21

Add new license plate list ................................................................................................. 21

Manage license plate lists ................................................................................................. 22

About unlisted license plates list ..................................................................................... 23

EVENTS BASED ON LPR ............................................................... 24

ALARMS BASED ON LPR .............................................................. 25

ALARM PROPERTIES ......................................................................................... 25

LPR IN XPROTECT SMART CLIENT ............................................. 28

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VIEWING AND INVESTIGATING LICENSE PLATE EVENTS .......................................... 29

LPR on the Live tab ............................................................................................................ 29

The LPR tab ........................................................................................................................ 30

Add license plates to license plate lists .......................................................................... 31

Remove license plates from lists ..................................................................................... 31

ABOUT LPR CAMERAS ................................................................. 32

CHOOSE THE RIGHT CAMERA ............................................................................. 32

CONTRAST ....................................................................................................... 33

LENS AND SHUTTER SPEED ................................................................................ 33

PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT ................................................................................... 34

PHYSICAL POSITIONING OF CAMERAS ................................................................. 35

RESOLUTION .................................................................................................... 36

UNWANTED CAMERA FEATURES ......................................................................... 37

LPR SERVER SERVICES ............................................................... 39

START AND STOP LPR SERVER SERVICE ........................................................... 39

SHOW LPR SERVER STATUS ............................................................................. 39

SHOW LPR SERVER LOG ................................................................................... 40

CHANGE LPR SERVER SETTINGS ....................................................................... 40

UNINSTALL XPROTECT LPR ........................................................ 41

GLOSSARY ..................................................................................... 42

INDEX .............................................................................................. 45

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2013 Milestone Systems A/S. Trademarks XProtect is a registered trademark of Milestone Systems A/S. Microsoft and Windows are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. App Store is a service

mark of Apple Inc. Android is a trademark of Google Inc. All other trademarks mentioned in this document are trademarks of their respective owners. Disclaimer This text is intended for general information purposes only, and due care has been taken in its

preparation. Any risk arising from the use of this information rests with the recipient, and nothing herein should be

construed as constituting any kind of warranty. Milestone Systems A/S reserve the right to make adjustments without prior notification. All names of people and organizations used in the examples in this text are fictitious. Any resemblance

to any actual organization or person, living or dead, is purely coincidental and unintended. This product may make use of third party software for which specific terms and conditions may apply.

When that is the case, you can find more information in the file 3rd_party_software_terms_and_conditions.txt located in your Milestone surveillance system installation folder.

Milestone XProtect® LPR 1.0

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Product overview

License plate recognition (LPR) is video-based content analysis (VCA) and recognition of vehicle license plates. To read the characters in question, LPR uses optical character recognition on images aided by specialized camera settings.

With XProtect LPR, Milestone provides an intelligent yet highly intuitive solution for interaction with your XProtect Corporate or XProtect Enterprise and your XProtect Smart Client. It lets you easily combine LPR with other XProtect surveillance features, such as recording, event-based activation of outputs, etc.

An event in XProtect LPR can, for example, trigger surveillance system recordings in a particular quality, match against positive/negative lists, open gates, switch on lights, push video of incidents to computer screens of particular members of security staff, send mobile phone text messages, and it can do this all at once.

XProtect LPR is therefore highly interesting in areas such as, transportation, industry and government, etc.

XProtect LPR also works in tight integration with solutions delivered by independent partners based on the Milestone Integration Platform (MIP). Note that such solutions may impact the performance of your XProtect Corporate or XProtect Enterprise.

This document is aimed at administrators and provides detailed descriptions of how to install and configure XProtect LPR.

This manual also covers XProtect Express, XProtect Professional and XProtect NVR. If you you are using XProtect LPR with one of these Milestone products, just replace all instances of XProtect Corporate or XProtect Enterprise with the name of your XProtect surveillance setup.

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Product overview

Operating System

Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional (32-bit or 64-bit*) Windows Server 2003 (32-bit or 64-bit*) Windows Server 2008 R1/R2 (32-bit or 64-bit*) Windows Server 2012 Windows Vista™ Business (32-bit or 64-bit*) Windows Vista Enterprise (32-bit or 64-bit*) Windows Vista Ultimate (32-bit or 64-bit*) Windows 7 Professional (32-bit or 64-bit*) Windows 7 Enterprise (32-bit or 64-bit*) Windows 7 Ultimate (32-bit or 64-bit*) Windows 8 (32-bit or 64-bit*)

* Running as a 32-bit application

CPU

Minimum Intel® Core™ 2, 2,4 GHz or higher.

RAM

Minimum 2 GB (4 GB or more recommended).

Network

Ethernet (1 Gbit recommended).

Graphics Adapter

AGP or PCI-Express, minimum 1024×768, 16 bit colors.

Hard Disk Type

E-IDE, PATA, SATA, SCSI, SAS (7200 RPM or faster).

Hard Disk Space

Minimum 80 GB free (depends on number of cameras and recording settings).

Software

Microsoft .Net 4.0 Framework.

Minimum system requirements

Machine where the LPR Server is installed:

Run the Milestone XProtect LPR Server installer on one or more machines especially allocated for the purpose. If preferred, you can use virtual machines for this purpose. You are recommended not to install the Milestone XProtect LPR Server on the same machine as your XProtect Management Server or Recording Server(s).

XProtect LPR must be installed with the latest version of XProtect Corporate or XProtect Enterprise only. That means XProtect Corporate 5.0b or newer or XProtect Enterprise 8.1a or newer. XProtect LPR requires XProtect Smart Client 7.0c or later versions.

LPR Licenses

For your XProtect LPR to run correctly, you must purchase the following LPR-related licenses:

o An LPR Base License which covers an unlimited number of LPR servers

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Product overview

o An LPR Camera License per LPR camera o An LPR License Plate Library license for each country/region you need in your LPR

setup (one License Plate Library license is included with the LPR Base License). To buy your LPR licenses, contact your vendor, or visit www.milestonesys.com to log into the software registration service center.

You can find the current status information on your licenses in the bottom part of the LPR Server Information window (see "View LPR server information" on page 11):

o LPR cameras available: Based on your license, this shows how many remaining LPR

cameras (devices) you are allowed to create and use on all your LPR servers in total.

o License Plate Libraries available: Based on your license, this shows how many

remaining License Plate Libraries you are allowed to use on all your LPR servers in total. It also indicates which License Plate Libraries are already in use on your all your LPR servers.

All License Plate Libraries are automatically installed when you install your XProtect LPR (see "Install XProtect LPR" on page 10). However, by default, all installed libraries are disabled and you must enable the libraries (see "Countries tab" on page 18) you want to use (considering any limitations in you license).

Example: You have a License Plate Library license covering five license plate libraries. You have installed 10 license plate libraries. Once you have selected five license plate libraries, you cannot select any more libraries. You must then clear some of your choices before you can select other libraries.

About XProtect LPR

Basic data flow of XProtect LPR:

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Product overview

1. XProtect LPR camera(s) sends video to XProtect Recording Server(s).

2. XProtect Recording Server(s) sends video to XProtect LPR Server(s) to look for license plates.

3. XProtect LPR Server(s) sends recognitions to XProtect Event Server for matching with license plate lists.

4. XProtect Event Server sends events and alarms to XProtect Smart Client for viewing.

5. The entire LPR configuration (matching of lists, setting up of events and alarms, etc.) is handled from the XProtect Management Client or Managemement Application.

LPR FAQs

What does LPR stand for? License plate recognition. What is LPR? LPR is video-based content analysis (VCA) and recognition of vehicle license plates.

To read the characters in question, LPR uses optical character recognition on images aided by specialized camera settings.

What is an LPR Server? An LPR Server handles LPR video from XProtect Corporate or XProtect Enterprise. It turns this video into recognitions and sends these to the XProtect Event Server from where it can be used for events and alarms. An LPR Server should be installed on a machine especially allocated for the purpose.

What is an LPR camera? An LPR camera defines from where an LPR setup receives video (typically a camera), and how this video is configured and processed. An LPR setup typically has several LPR cameras. Each LPR camera requires an LPR Camera License.

What is a license plate library? A license plate library is a set of rules defining license plates of a certain type and form as belonging to a certain country or region. In other words, it dictates plate and character specifics (color, type, hight, spacing, and similar, which is used during the recognition process). Each license plate library requires an LPR License Plate Library license.

What is a license plate list? A license plate list is a list that you create. License plate lists are collections of license plates that you want your LPR solution to treat in a special way. Once you have specified a list, you can set up events to recognize license plates on these lists and in this way trigger your XProtect Corporate or XProtect Enterprise events. It is also possible to create alarms built/based on LPR events.

Compatibility

XProtect LPR is compatible with XProtect Corporate 5.0b or XProtect Enterprise 8.1a and forward. You are recommended not to use XProtect LPR with older versions of XProtect Corporate or XProtect

Enterprise. It is also compatible with XProtect Express 1.1 and forward, XProtect Professional 8.1 and forward

and XProtect NVR 2 and forward. LPR requires XProtect Smart Client 7.0c or later versions.

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Product overview

Reimplement - do not upgrade

XProtect LPR 1.0 is a new product making use of new technologies such as the XProtect Event Server and Alarms. As a result, it is not possible to upgrade from former Milestone LPR solutions. Instead you must reimplement your solution.

Important prerequisites

Add cameras required for XProtect LPR: If you have not already added the cameras you are going to use with XProtect LPR, do so in XProtect Corporate or XProtect Enterprise before configuring XProtect LPR.

Adjust camera configuration for LPR: Once cameras are added, adjust each required camera's settings in XProtect Corporate or XProtect Enterprise so that the settings match the requirements for LPR. For the relevant cameras it is recommended to set:

 a frame rate of four frames per second  a low compression  if possible, a low sharpness value  the video codec to JPEG  resolution which is not too high.

Note that if you use H.264 codec instead of JPEG, only GOP-frames are supported (which is usually only 1 frame per second). For higher frame-rates, use JPEG codec.

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Install XProtect LPR

The XProtect LPR software can be downloaded from www.milestonesys.com/downloads. Here you must locate and download two installers, the Milestone XProtect LPR Plugin installer and the Milestone XProtect LPR Server installer.

 Run the Milestone XProtect LPR Plugin installer on (all) the machine(s) where your XProtect

Management Client or Managemement Application and XProtect Event Server are installed.

 Run the Milestone XProtect LPR Server installer on one or more machines especially allocated

for the purpose. If preferred, you can use virtual machines for this purpose. You are recommended not to install the Milestone XProtect LPR Server on the same machine as your XProtect Management Server or Recording Server(s).

You are recommended to install the Milestone XProtect LPR Plugin first.

1. For both installers, open the installer file.

Tip: Depending on your security settings, you may receive one or more security warnings (Do you want to run or save this file?, Do you want to run this software? or similar; exact wording

depends on your browser version). When this is the case, accept the security warnings (by clicking Run or similar; exact button names depend on your browser version).

2. The XProtect LPR installer wizard begins. In the wizard, click Continue and follow the installation instructions.

When installation is done, make sure you have the needed licenses (see "LPR Licenses" on page 6) for your XProtect LPR to run correctly.

If, after the XProtect LPR system installation, you need to install more LPR servers, simply run the Milestone XProtect LPR Server installer and make sure that it is pointing to your XProtect Corporate or XProtect Enterprise setup.

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LPR servers, sources and lists

To run XProtect LPR your must install (see "Install XProtect LPR" on page 10):

 at least one LPR Server  the LPR plug-in on all machines running the XProtect Management Client or Managemement

Application and the XProtect Event Server.

Your XProtect Management Client or Managemement Application automatically lists available LPR servers in the LPR Servers list in the Management Client's Site Navigation Pane or Management Application's navigation pane. Expand Servers and select LPR Servers.

Tip: If a recently installed LPR server is not visible in the list, click F5 on your keyboard to refresh.

You cannot add LPR servers from the XProtect Management Client or Managemement Application. They are added during the XProtect LPR installation or by subsequent LPR server installation (see "LPR Licenses" on page 6).

View LPR server information

1. In the Management Client's Site Navigation Pane or Management Application's navigation pane, expand Servers, select LPR Servers.

2. Go to the Overview pane. Select the wanted LPR server. The first part of the name of the LPR server consists of the name of the host machine where the LPR server is installed, like this: MYHOST.domainname.country

3. The LPR Server window opens with a summary of the server's status. From here the following properties are available:

o Name: Lets you change the name of the LPR server. o Host name: Shows the LPR server host name. o Status: Shows the status of the LPR server.

If the system is running without problems, the status will return All LPR cameras running. Alternatively the system might return:

 Service not responding  Not connected to surveillance system  Service not running  Event Server not connected  Unknown error  X of Y LPR cameras running

o Service up time: Shows up time since the LPR server was last down.

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LPR servers, sources and lists

o CPU usage: Shows current CPU usage on the entire machine where the LPR server is

installed.

o Memory available: Shows how much physical memory is available on the LPR server. o License plates detected: Shows how many license plates have been recognized by the

LPR server since it was last down.

o LPR cameras: Shows which LPR cameras are running on the LPR server and their status. o LPR cameras available: Based on your license, this shows how many remaining LPR

cameras (devices) you are allowed to create and use on all your LPR servers in total. License Plate Libraries available: Based on your license, this shows how many

remaining License Plate Libraries you are allowed to use on all your LPR servers in total. It also indicates which License Plate Libraries are already in use on your all your LPR servers.

o Finally, license expiration data is displayed.

Add new LPR camera

1. In the Management Client's Site Navigation Pane or Management Application's navigation pane, expand Servers, expand LPR Servers, and select LPR Camera.

2. Go to the Overview pane. In the LPR Cameras list, select the wanted LPR camera and right-click it.

3. From the menu that appears, select Add New.... In the Select Camera window, from the list of

cameras in your system, select a camera to add as an LPR camera. Click OK.

4. The LPR Camera window opens. Before you can configure LPR settings for the selected camera, you must make a test image (see "Select image for test" on page 15).

5. Furthermore, the LPR camera window contains the following tabs: a) Info tab (on page 14) b) Settings tab (on page 14), with the following sub-tabs:

1. Recognition Area tab (on page 15)

2. Character Height tab (on page 17)

c) List tab (on page 18) d) Countries tab (on page 18). Edit/fill out the needed properties on these tabs.

6. Optionally, you can test the results of your LPR camera. To do so, click Test... (see "Test current LPR configuration" on page 19). When done, click Close.

3. Reading Direction tab (on page 17)

4. Stop Criteria tab (see "Processing tab" on page 17)

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LPR servers, sources and lists

7. If prompted, confirm to save changes.

Your list of cameras also contains cameras from any available slave systems. Due to technical restrains, however, if you have XProtect Enterprise slave systems, some of these

might not be available in this view.

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LPR servers, sources and lists

LPR camera settings

From the LPR Camera Information window, you can configure LPR settings for the selected camera.

Info tab

Here the selected LPR camera is identified:

 Enabled: LPR cameras are by default enabled meaning that they are used for LPR. If a

camera should not be used for LPR, you must disable it. Disabling LPR on a camera does not stop it from performing normal recording in XProtect

Corporate or XProtect Enterprise.

 Camera: Name of the selected camera as it appears in the XProtect Management Client or

Managemement Application as well as in clients.

 Description: Enter a description (optional).  Change Server...: Click to change LPR server.

Tip: Changing LPR server might be a good idea with regards to load balancing. For example, if an LPR server is beginning to max out on CPU load, moving one or more LPR cameras to another LPR server is recommended.

Settings tab

The Settings tab consists of a Select Image... button (see "Select image for test" on page 15) and a number of sub-tabs for recognition settings:

 Recognition Area (see "Recognition Area tab" on page 15)  Character Height (see "Character Height tab" on page 17)  Reading Direction (see "Reading Direction tab" on page 17)

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LPR servers, sources and lists

 Processing (see "Processing tab" on page 17)

This allows you to select a test image and set recognition settings for a specific LPR camera.

Select image for test

Before you can work with LPR camera settings you must capture a test image, which is used to visualize the effect of the LPR camera settings as they are applied.

1. Click Select Image... and select Capture Image. Use Previous and Next to browse.

2. When you are satisfied with a snapshot, click OK.

3. Proceed to specify LPR settings on the sub-tabs as needed.

See individual sub-tabs for details of their functionality. When you are done specifying settings for your LPR system, test your setup (see "Test current LPR

configuration" on page 19) in live view to see if it recognizes license plates as expected.

Recognition Area tab

Here you specify the area of the camera image to be used for recognition. To ensure the best possible performance and low risk of false detection, it is highly recommended to select a clearly defined and "well-trimmed" recognition area. The area should cover only the part of the image where the license plate is visible as the vehicle moves in and out of the image.

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